On a turn of Q♦9♠7♣J♠, Leo Soma called a bet worth 1,000 by his table neighbour and they headed to the 8♦ on the river. His opponent checked and Soma then bet 3,000. That bet was paid off with the question "do you have a ten?" which Soma indeed had, as he rolled over the A♣10♣.
Sergio Benso, who was on the button, found himself in an action hand before the flop.
A player in middle position limped, and then the player in the hijack position raised to 400. Benso peeked down at his hand, and then three-bet the action to 1,600. The player in middle position limp-called, and the original raiser in the hijack called.
The dealer fanned A♥3♥8♣, and the player in early position bet 1,500. The player at the hijack position mucked his hand.
Benso looked over at his remaining opponent, who showed 13,000 behind, and then Benso raised to 20,000, which his opponent immediately called.
Benso: A♣J♣
Opponent: A♠2♠
Benso was ahead after the flop, and sealed the hand after the 10♦ appeared on the turn and Q♠ hit the river to send his opponent to the rail.
With now more than 440 players in the field, the notables keep trickling in. Among them is also 15-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Maurice Hawkins, who is involved in the action early on. In a small pot to the 10♠10♥7♦4♥2♣, Hawkins bet 400 and his table neighbour called.
Hawkins showed 8♥7♥ but was pipped by a notch as his opponent held the J♣7♣. However, Hawkins already chipped up in the early stages.
Action folded to the blinds, and James Shouldis, who was in the small blind, checked his option.
The player in the big blind, however, responded by raising to 400. Shouldis flatted and the action went to the flop, which produced K♦4♣4♠.
Shouldis checked, and the big blind bet 400, which Shouldis check-called. The turn produced 6♣, which Shouldis checked. The action from the flop repeated, as the big blind bet 400, and Shouldis check-called.
The river saw 9♣ on the board, and this time Shouldis took charge of the betting by leading out with 400. The big blind mucked his hand and the pot was awarded to Shouldis.
"He got me covered?" Junhyoung Ki inquired and once the dealer confirmed, the South Korean player headed to the rail to potentially become the first casualty in the tournament. His chips were shipped over to Scott Ko and it was the most classic of setups to cause the knockout.
Ki's K♥K♦ were dominated by the A♦A♥ of Ko and nothing changed on the 7♦7♠6♠7♥9♠ runout.
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Eric Fields had clicked it back to 2,600 only for Ben Ludlow to make it 5,600 to go out of the small blind on a four-handed table. That forced out Daniel Jones while Fields called. Ludlow continued for 3,000 on the 5♥5♣3♦ flop and received a call before he then bet another 7,000 on the K♦ turn. Fields gave it some consideration and folded.
The tables aren’t full yet as players continue to make their way to their seat, but some players are adding chips to their stacks even in 4- or 5-handed play.
Phil Melancon is an example.
On a board showing K♥Q♦6♥J♣2♥, Melancon led out with a 4,000 bet. A player to his immediate left called by tossing out a 5,000 chip. The next player to act paused to study the board, then took a few moments to ponder the situation before eventually also calling.
Melancon tabled A♥8♥ for the nut flush. The other two players mucked their hands as the 13,000-plus pot was pushed to Melancon.