Marti Roca de Torres raised from the under the gun position and the only player that called was the one in the big blind. The flop came and Both checked.
The also checked on the turn, but when the river came down Roca de Torres couldn't help himself to put in a little 1,625 bet. His opponent called him and Roca de Torres' was the best hand and he took down the pot.
A short-stacked Preston Lee was all in for his last 14,125 on a and was called in two places. On the turn, one of the players check-called a bet of 10,000 but he folded on the river to a 22,000 bet.
Lee showed , which would be the last hand he'd play in the Main Event as his opponent tabled for the rivered higher set.
"Oh my God!" several people at the table yelled.
"That was sick," Lee said, seemingly in good spirits.
"Fours are cursed bro," another tablemate comforted Lee as he headed out of Miranda.
A late position opponent opened to 1,300, Chad Ryan called from the hijack, an opponent on the button called, and Gus Hansen called from the big blind.
The flop came down , all players checked and the turn came down the . Again all of the players checked and the fell on the river.
Hansen fired out a bet of 6,000, action folded to Ryan who made the call and the button opponent folded. Ryan then turned over for a rivered set and Hansen mucked his hand.
Since the World Series of Poker Main Event went to three starting flights in 2012, Day 1c has traditionally hosted the biggest turnout. With the July 4 weekend coinciding with Day 1c this year and larger-than-usual turnouts on Day 1a (925) and Day 1b (2,378), some wondered if Day 1c would be as massive as usual.
As it turned out, a record field showed up at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, packing the halls and the tournament areas like never before.
The 4,571 runners who came out for Day 1c made it the biggest single flight in the history of the WSOP since organizers began divvying up the field into more than one starting day. Combined with the Day 1a and Day 1b numbers, that pushed the total field to 7,874, making it the second-biggest Main Event ever, behind only 2006's 8,773 entrants. It's nearly a 10 percent increase over the 7,221 who showed up last year.
The total prize pool came out to $74,015,600, and this year's world champion will claim a first-place prize of $8.8 million.
WSOP Main Event Entries and Prize Pool Since 2000
Day 1a
Day 1b
Day 1c
Day 1d
Total
Prize Pool
2000
512
$5,120,000
2001
613
$5,946,220
2002
631
$5,931,000
2003
839
$7,802,700
2004
2,576
$24,224,400
2005
5,619
$52,818,610
2006
8,773
$82,512,162
2007
6,358
$59,784,954
2008
1,297
1,158
1,928
2,461
6,844
$64,333,600
2009
1,116
873
1,696
2,809
6,494
$61,043,600
2010
1,125
1,489
2,314
2,391
7,319
$68,798,600
2011
897
985
2,181
2,802
6,865
$64,531,000
2012
1,066
2,114
3,418
-
6,598
$62,021,200
2013
943
1,942
3,467
-
6,352
$59,708,800
2014
771
2,144
3,768
-
6,683
$62,820,200
2015
741
1,716
3,963
-
6,420
$60,348,000
2016
764
1,733
4,240
-
6,737
$63,327,800
2017
795
2,164
4,262
-
7,221
$67,877,400
2018
925
2,378
4,571
-
7,874
$74,015,600
The number of surviving players wasn't immediately available, but an announcement from a tournament supervisor during the bagging process indicated about 3,500 players made it through, which would roughly match the ratio of survivors from the first two starting days.
French player Samuel Touil bagged the unofficial chip lead after five two-hour levels of play, turning his 50,000 starting stack into 352,800. That gives him the overall lead heading into Day 2.
"I think I played very well all day long," Touil said. "I got very lucky on a big hand when I four-bet shoved with six-eight of hearts on the button and flopped two pair for a pot of more than 145K. I also made a really big bluff at the beginning of the tournament. I just played my game today and my stack has never been at risk."
Samuel Touil had a banner Day 1c.
Other big stacks included Jarod Ludemann (230,100), Patrik Antonius (208,700), Loni Harwood (194,200), Tyler Patterson (166,900) and Chino Rheem (149,500).
Antonius said he was making his return to the WSOP after six years away.
"It felt very special to be back," he said. "I got in after dinner break, brought a lot of action to the table and managed to get some big hands."
"It was great to see so many poker players I have not seen in so long. I am very tired and going to rest for a while after this."
Superstars Phil Ivey (92,300) and Phil Hellmuth (63,700), as well as former Main Event champs Martin Jacobson (38,400), Jonathan Duhamel (17,500) and Joe Cada (16,500) also made it through.
Speaking of Jacobson, he'll be joined on Day 2 by fellow 888poker AmbassadorsParker Talbot, Dominik Nitsche, and Chris Moorman, among others.
Another former Main Event champ did the honors of getting the day underway, but that proved to be the high point of Chris Moneymaker's 2018 Main Event. Moneymaker was eliminated in an early level when, already short-stacked, he flopped a set of fives and got his stack in there against an overpair of tens. A ten hit on the river to send Moneymaker packing.
Andrew Moreno, Marcel Luske, Chris Vitch, Jonas Mackoff, John Racener, Vanessa Selbst and Daniel Negreanu also hit the rail. Negreanu got all his chips in the middle with jacks but took a beat when an opponent with tens hit a set.
The players who made it through will battle it out again on Friday, 6 July, for Day 2c. They'll return to the Rio at 11am that day. In the meantime, Day 1a and Day 1b survivors will populate the venue at the same time on Thursday, 5 July. Come back to PokerNews then for more coverage of the Main Event.
and Both checked. 
turn, but when the 
river came down Roca de Torres couldn't help himself to put in a little 1,625 bet. His opponent called him and Roca de Torres' 
was the best hand and he took down the pot.
river to a 22,000 bet.
, which would be the last hand he'd play in the Main Event as his opponent tabled 
for the rivered higher set.
and Peters check-called a bet for 2,500. The turn was the 
and both players checked. Peters tossed his hand into the muck when his opponent showed 
, all players checked and the turn came down the 
. Again all of the players checked and the 
fell on the river.
for a rivered set and Hansen mucked his hand.
