Lori Berumen limped in early position, Jeff Lisandro made it two bets on the button, the big blind called and Berumen called. The flop got checked to Lisandro, who bet. The big blind folded, Berumen made it two bets and Lisandro called.
Berumen bet the turn and Lisandro called before both players checked the on the river. Berumen showed for top set, Lisandro double-checked his hole cards, then mucked.
Valentin Vornicu played in the $3,000 Shootout without success and jumped into this event, but the start has been rather mediocre thus far. The record 12-time WSOP Circuit ring winner has dropped to just over half the starting stack within the first one level and some.
On the three-way flop of , Michael Russel bet and picked up two callers including Wendy Freedman. The fell on the turn and Russel bet, Bryan Pimlott called and Freedman raised. Russel made it three bets to force out Pimlott, Freedman called. After the river four bets were made and both then flipped over ace-jack each to chop it up with the nut straight.
On an board, Brandon Shack-Harris bet the big bet, Dao Bac made it two bets, Mickey Craft folded and Shack-Harris flung his hand with a big spin in the muck as well.
"Nut-nut," laughed Bac, who tabled the near perfect for a boat and a wheel.
On the four-way flop of , action checked to Tony Cousineau and he bet while saying "I have a really strong hand." All three opponents called and Cousineau sighed "wow that really helped." After the turn, Cousineau bet once more and this time just Scott Mackowski called while Don Zewin and another player folded. "Two wise players," Cousineau joked.
After the river, Mackowski bet and folded to a raise by Cousineau. Since then, the stack of the American has taken a hit and he dropped below the starting stack. A few tables over are Kate Hoang, Andrew Yip and Aditya Prasetyo all seated together. Yip has had the best start of the trio and almost doubled his stack already.
After one level of play, the field has grown to 755 players. Last year, Benjamin Zamani topped a 905-strong field to capture the WSOP bracelet. Late registration will be open up until the end of level 8, which will be around midnight.
Mikhail Semin, Russian poker commentator and mixed game enthusiast, has had a rather bad start into Day 1 but just chipped up in a four-way pot to get back close to the starting stack.
On the river of a board , he check-called a bet out of the small blind and ended up in the showdown against three other players with for the nut low. Barry Marfleet ended up scooping the high portion of the pot with for a full house, while another player had a straight with five-six.
Ian Johns also boosted his stack. He bet the flop and picked up one caller. After the turn, his sole opponent bet and Johns raised, the other player in the hand called. The on the river brought a single bet by Johns and a call, the three-time WSOP bracelet winner rolled over for the ace-high flush and that won the pot.