Fabiano Kovalski opened to 900 from middle position and Eddy Sabat called in the hijack. Thi Xoa Nguyen made it 4,900 out of the small blind and Kovalski folded, Sabat called. On a flop of , Nguyen opted to check-raise from 5,000 to 15,000 and Sabat called with another 20,400 behind.
On the turn, Nguyen gave it some thought and motioned with her hand to see the stack size of Sabat, then took another 30 seconds and moved all in. Sabat called and Nguyen knew she was caught, immediately admitted: "yeah, I am bluffing."
Eddy Sabat:
Thi Xoa Nguyen:
The river improved Nguyen and she apologized, then let out an "oops." For Sabat it was the first bullet in the event and he will re-enter.
"He was just bluffing, I never thought he has queens there," Nguyen said while she was busy stacking the chips.
There was around 16,000 in the middle and the board was completed. Rachid Ben Cherif was in the small blind and checked to Mike Watson on the button, who bet 9,000. Ben Cherif responded with a check-raise to 30,000 and Watson went deep in the tank.
The clock got called on "SirWatts" and the seconds ticked away. With three seconds left, he reluctantly splashed in the call.
"You win," Ben Cherif instantly said and he rolled over for an airball. Watson revealed and had the Dutchman covered. Since Ben Cherif also busted yesterday, his PCA Main Event is officially over.
Timo Kamphues opened and Ben Yu called on the button, Maria Konnikova then three-bet to 6,000 in the small blind and that was called only by Yu. On the flop, Konnikova made it another 8,000 to go and Yu called before the turn brought a second barrel worth 13,000. Yu moved all in and Konnikova asked for the chips to be pulled in to see how much more it was to call.
Yu was all in for another 14,800 on top of Konnikova's bet and a reluctant call followed to create the following showdown:
Ben Yu:
Maria Konnikova:
The on the river was a blank and Yu doubled, sending Konnikova all the way down to half the starting stack.
Markus Durnegger was the first player to come in with a raise, but he would end up being just the catalyst for further action. Samuel Bernabeu three-bet to his direct left and Carlos Hey cold-called one seat over.
Another player got involved as Pablo Melogno went for a cold-four from the blinds, getting Durnegger out of the way. Bernabeu peeled as well as Hey.
The flop prompted a 3,500 continuation bet from Melogno, which got called by Bernabeu. Hey raised it up to 16,500, Melogno folded after long thought, while Bernabeu slid in the extra chips.
On the turn, Bernabeu opted to lead for about one-third of his remaining stack, Hey stuck the rest in and Bernabeu called it off for about 20,000 total.
Samuel Bernabeu:
Carlos Hey:
Bernabeu had turned the flush and Hey, with middle set, was looking for the board to pair. The dealer slapped the on the felt to do just that and Bernabeu was gone.
Daniel Negreanu lost all but a few chips to the flopped set of deuces of Upeshka De Silva and ended up all in shortly after with against the of Antonio Saez. The board came and Negreanu was drawing dead on the turn.
"I will be back," Negreanu said and will soon return for the second bullet of the day.
Vojtech Ruzicka raised to 1,800 in middle position and Barry Greenstein called on the button. Scott Stewart moved in for his final 7,300 from the small blind and both Ruzicka and Greenstein called. On the flop, Ruzicka got rid of Greenstein with a bet of 6,000.
Scott Stewart:
Vojtech Ruzicka:
Neither the turn nor river helped Stewart and he headed for the rail. Ruzicka, who had 16k at the dinner break, is up to 56k.
In a three-bet pot between Kristen Bicknell and Timo Kamphues, it was the Canadian who bet 5,500 from the small blind on a flop. Kamphues came along with the call before both players tapped the table on the turn.
On the river, Bicknell moved all in for around 20,000, much to the dismay of Kamphues. He scratched his head and pondered for minutes, seemingly unsure what to do. One of the other players at the table called the clock on him and shortly into the countdown, Kamphues flung his hand wildly into the muck.
The second of two starting days of the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) $10,300 Main Event drew a sizable field of 486 entries over the course of ten levels. Together with the 356 that showed up for Day 1a, the field is up to 842 entries, outperforming last year's field of 582 by a wide margin, thanks in part to the PokerStars Players Championship earlier this week. Once late registration has closed, it will be the biggest prize pool at the PCA since 2014.
Around 200 players found a bag at the end of the night, led by German star Rainer Kempe (214,000). Kempe is already having an amazing week at the Atlantis Resort and won the $50,000 Single-Day High Roller on Wednesday for $908,100, as well as a fourth place in the $25,000 Single-Day High Roller the day before, winning $177,380.
The German high staker is followed by another high stakes specialist, Niall Farrell (202,000), Charles Furey (200,900), and Chino Rheem (197,900). The Red Spade saw Barry Greenstein (71,000), Daniel Negreanu (56,700), Aditya Agarwal (52,000), and Randy Lew (43,500) all advance to the second day.
Defending champion Maria Lampropulos had an uneventful day, but she managed to double up her starting stack and will come back with 59,600 for her title defense. Danny Tang (136,000), Michael Gathy (130,600), Steffen Sontheimer (115,600), Vojtech Ruzicka (81,500), and Davidi Kitai (71,000) were among the many notables that survived the second starting day.
It's the first time in history that two bullets are allowed in the Main Event, but even with an additional shot players such as Christopher Kruk, Brian Rast, Christian Harder, Rachid Ben Cherif, and Julien Martini failed to end the night with any chips.
Day 2 will resume on Sunday, January 13 at noon local time. Six levels of 90 minutes each are on tap, with the blinds returning at 800 / 1,600 and a 1,600 big blind ante. Late registration will be open up until the start of Day 2, and the prize pool and payouts will be announced shortly after the day has begun. Be sure to come back tomorrow for continued live PokerNews coverage of the 2019 PCA Main Event.