Event #36: 5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-handed begins this afternoon, starting at 3 p.m. This is a four-day event with no re-entry. The schedule calls for 10 one-hour levels today, with a 20-minute break every two levels.
Last year in this event, Michael Gathy from Belgium bested the field of 541 players to pick up the first-place prize of $560,843 and his third World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Gathy has 20 WSOP cashes, two of them being from this summer, and 1,723,867 in WSOP earnings.
The $5,000 buy-in gets players 25,000 chips to try to run up. Registration is opened through the first eight levels and will close around 12:20 a.m.
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Many top tournament players are filling in the six-handed tables in Amazan Purple. Among them are players who have had much success here at the WSOP including 2010 WSOP Main Event winner and 2015 $111,111 High Roller for One Drop winner Jonathan Duhamel. Joseph Cheong, who took third in the Main Event the year Duhamel won, is here too.
Also in the field are Brian Yoon, Daniel Strelitz, Jonathan Little, Craig Casino, Ankush Mandavia, Dylan Linde, Galen Hall, Kitty Kuo, Andy Spears, and Eric Baldwin.
We will keep an eye out for more big names to get in before registration closes after Level 8.
Erik Seidel opened to 250 under the gun and was called by the button and the small blind. The flop came and the big blind checked. Seidel bet 500, the button called, and the small blind called.
On the turn, the big blind checked, Seidel bet 2,000, and both opponents called again. The river was the and the big blind checked once more. Seidel bet 5,000. He got two folds and took down the pot.
More top pros have joined the field. Among them are 2013 Main Event champion Ryan Riess, November Niner Antoine Saout, Kristen Bicknell, Giuseppe Pantaleo, Cate Hall, Sorel Mizzi, Fabian Quoss, Koray Aldemir, and James Obst.
With less than 6,000 in the pot on a queen-high board, Dylan Linde was in the cutoff, heads up against Michael Vanderwoude.
They were at showdown and Vanderwoude had tabled his pocket queens for top set. Before Linde mucked, he showed pocket aces and said, "That could have been grim," with a wry smile on his face. Both players are still around starting stack.
Several more recognizable players have joined the field, including three-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos, who won the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Heads-Up Championship earlier this series. November Niner Kenny Hallaert is also here.
Just after three-time bracelet winner Frank Kassela took his seat in the event, friendly chatting ensued. Kassela called it "the old-school table," and he had Jean-Robert Bellande to his immediate left and Australian pro and 2005 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Hachem in the next seat.
In Kassela's very first hand, Curt Kohlberg raised to 400 under the gun, Kassela three-bet to 1,000 in the next position, and Bellande cold-called in the cutoff. The button and blinds folded, and Kohlberg four-bet to 4,200. Kassela called and so did Bellande.
The flop came and it checked to Bellande. He quickly put his remaining 15,350 into the middle. After thinking for a few minutes, Kohlberg folded. Kassela looked at Bellande and smiled.
"You can do that with anything... This is my first hand," Kassela laughed. He called, and they showed down.
Bellande:
Kassela:
Bellande was ahead with a pair of threes and a gutshot straight draw, but Kassela had overcards. Kassela couldn't find an ace or a nine on the turn or river though, and Bellande doubled through.
Bellande said after the hand, "Nevermind that I put 29 percent of my stack in preflop with five-high. Let's skip that part."
Kassela said he thought Bellande had ace-seven of diamonds and added that he was okay with his call.
Kassela took a big hit to his stack that hand and was seen exiting the tournament area shortly before the end of the level.
The field is packed with poker talent, including one of the newest WSOP bracelet winners, Chris Moorman. Moorman just won Event #27: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed event earlier this week for nearly a half-million dollars.
Heads-up on a flop of , the first player checked, and Yevgeniy Timoshenko bet 500 in early position. His opponent called.
The turn was the , and the first player checked again. Timoshenko bet 1,500 this time, and his opponent called again. Both players checked the river, and they showed down.
First player:
Timoshenko:
Timoshenko's aces were good against his opponent's pair of jacks, and he took down the pot.
During the break, one table in the room got particularly tougher. Already at the table were Jonathan Little in seat 1 and Christian Harder in seat 5. During the break, bracelet winner Andrew Lichtenberger sat down in seat 2 and November Niner Joshua Beckley was seated in seat 6.
The player in seat 4 asked his tablemates who has the most tournament earnings between the lot of them. The answer is Andrew Lichtenberger, who has over $8,000,000. The table combines for over $24,000,000 in tournament earnings, according to Hendon Mob.
When the missing player in seat 3 returned late from break, the player in seat 4 told him, "Our table got harder."
and the big blind checked. Seidel bet 500, the button called, and the small blind called. 
turn, the big blind checked, Seidel bet 2,000, and both opponents called again. The river was the 
and the big blind checked once more. Seidel bet 5,000. He got two folds and took down the pot.
and it checked to Bellande. He quickly put his remaining 15,350 into the middle. After thinking for a few minutes, Kohlberg folded. Kassela looked at Bellande and smiled. 
, and the first player checked again. Timoshenko bet 1,500 this time, and his opponent called again. Both players checked the 
river, and they showed down. 
