Aleksandr Gofman raised to 2,500 from mid-position and was called by Fabio Freitas on the button and Thomas Boivin in the big blind.
They all checked through the on the flop to the on the turn. Boivin check-folded to Gofman's bet of 5,500 and Freitas called.
The river completed the board with the , Gofman barreled a bet of 18,500 over the line and Freitas responded with a raise of a stack of 5,000-value chips. The dealer counted them out and determined the raise was worth 45,000 in total. Gofman quickly folded. Freitas looked at each of his hole cards once more, hesitating if he should show, but then just pushed both of them over the line.
Davidi Kitai bet 10,600 from the small blind and Allan Kean, a Platinum Pass Winner through the PSL London Cash Game promotion, called from mid-position.
The turn brought them the , Kitai shoved for his last 29,400 and Kean took a bit of time, cut out calling chips, and then made the call.
Davidi Kitai:
Allen Kean;
Kean had flopped a pair of jacks and was sitting on the nut-flush draw. Kitai held the overpair and just needed to avoid another jack, ace, or spade.
The river completed the board with the for Kitai to double up.
Alex Foxen checked in the small blind on and Dominik Nitsche overbet slightly with 12,500 into 11,400 from the button. Foxen dropped in calling chips and checked the river. Nitsche thought about 90 seconds and announced all in. Foxen needed only about 30 seconds before mucking.
On the flop of , Toke Jensen was all in and at risk for just over 43,000 and he was called by fellow Platinum Pass winner Sven McDermott.
Toke Jensen:
Sven McDermott:
McDermott spiked the magical on the turn, and the river was a blank.
Both players shook hands with the camera crew filming the outcome, and McDermott admitted in table chat with Sam Grafton that it was a "pretty cruel hand."
The clocks have been stopped with 12 minutes left in the level and the screens show 756 players remaining out of a field of 1,014 entries. They will play another three hands before bagging and tagging for today.
Fewer than 750 players bagged up for Day 1 and assorted chip counts can be found below. A recap of today's action is to follow and the full chip counts will be published once PokerNews receives them.
The PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship has established a new record for a $25,000 event with 1,014 runners even as registration remains open for another 14 hours or so until the start of Day 2.
That smashed the old mark of 639 set by the 2007 WPT Championship. It wasn't a sweat to beat that number either, as the number was secure from the start of Day 1 and only climbed from there. It seems the $9 million in value added by PokerStars was simply too much to resist for poker players everywhere, as they flocked to Atlantis Resort by the hundreds for this one-of-a-kind event.
With a prize pool pushing north of $25 million, it's safe to say the tournament has surpassed any expectations the PokerStars team harbored.
Talal Shakerchi lapped the field on Day 1 as he turned his 60,000 starting stack into 425,300 when the bagging was done. That's far above nearest competitor Dan O'Brien, who finished with 301,200.
Shakerchi owed his huge stack to a pair of flopped sets that sent him rocketing to the top of the counts starting in Level 6 (300/600/600). He flopped a set of fours and turned a full house, setting Daniel Strelitz all in for 50,000 into a pot of about 40,000. Strelitz called off with only four outs, having flopped second pair, and he missed a river miracle to overcome the boat.
The next level, Shakerchi flopped another set, this time in a three-bet pot with deuces against jacks. All the money went in on the turn again, this time with Shakerchi fading only two outs. After a safe river, he was stacking 260,000 when most of the field was dreaming of reaching the 150,000 mark.
Other players to bag north of 200,000 included Shyam Srinivasan (254,000), Scott Margereson (221,600), Steven van Zadelhoff (210,000) and Kristen Bicknell (207,900). Srinivasan is no stranger to success here, having finished sixth and 10th in PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Events in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Team PokerStars was also well-represented with Leo Fernandez, Chris Moneymaker, Kevin Martin, Lex Veldhuis and Jason Somerville among the 750 or so making it through.
Golf legend Sergio Garcia was among the busted, as were Joe McKeehen, Bryn Kenney, Erik Seidel, Steve O'Dwyer and Adrian Mateos. Those players will have to move on and find different tournaments to play as this one is a freezeout.
The PSPC continues Monday with Level 9 (600/1,200/1,200). Play resumes at noon, at which point registration will end, and PokerNews will be on hand for more live coverage.