Ryan Laplante, who has already picked up one cash and one final table at this year's WSOP, has been taking control over on table 282 and is now up to 35,000 in chips.
On a board that read , the player in the cutoff led out for 600 before Laplante raised to 2,150 from the button. The cutoff player called, then checked to Laplante on the river of the . Laplante bet out 2,750 and after two minutes in the tank, the cutoff player folded. Laplante flashed before raking in the pot.
One of the trademarks of Laplante is his love of pink. Every time he's played here at the Rio, he's been wearing a pink hoodie and a pink Burberry cap. Between hands, Laplante also told us that he's donating 1% of his winnings to OneDrop and Bad Beat on Cancer, the official charities of the WSOP. Run deep, sir!
"Bob... are they doing a promotion for beef jerky... four jacks?!?"
So called out one of the tournament directors just now after being asked at one of the tables. A player had made quad jacks, and memories of last summer's Jack's Links Beef Jerky promotion -- free jerky for quad jacks -- prompted the question.
Sadly for Mr. Four Jacks, no free jerky comes with the chips he earned for the hand this time around.
Vitaly Lunkin raised to 250 preflop and received calls from the players in the blinds. It went check-check on the flop and Lunkin fired out 500. The small blind folded, but the big blind opted to make the call.
Both players then checked the turn, leading to the river. The big blind tried to take control of the pot by betting 750, but Lunkin wrested it back with a raise to 2,000. The big blind thought better of it and tossed his hand to the muck.
Adam Junglen raised to 375 only to have the player on the button pop it to 1,200. Action folded back to Junglen and he made the call, leading to a flop. After both players checked, the dealer burned and turned the , which prompted Junglen to bet 1,650.
The button came along to see the spike on the river. Junglen fired out another bet, this time 4,200, and again his opponent called. Junglen confidently rolled over for a straight and took down the pot.
Comedian Ray Romano just took his seat in the Black section of the Pavilion Room. The table was all smiles when Romano showed up with a box of cupcakes courtesy of the Cupcake Wars finalists.
Bobby Baldwin is not a familiar face on the poker circuit, but he is still one of the most recognizable and accomplished players in the game. Baldwin, who is nicknamed “The Owl,” has four World Series of Poker bracelets and 18 cashes totaling $681,811.
Baldwin’s bracelets:
- 1977 Event #2 $10,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball ($80,000)
- 1977 Event #3 $5,000 Limit 7 Card Stud w/ rebuys ($44,000)
- 1978 Event #11 $10,000 World Championship Main Event ($210,000)
- 1979 Event #1 $10,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball ($90,000)
While it has been three decades since Baldwin captured a bracelet, he continues to demonstrate his ability to go deep in large events. For example, since his World Championship win in 1978, Baldwin has managed to cash in seven Main Events, most recently a 352nd-place finish in 2009.
While Baldwin, who was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame back in 2003, may not have played a lot of tournaments in recent years due to his job (He was CEO of Mirage Resorts in 2000 before becoming the president and CEO of CityCenter), he always seems to make an appearance in the Main Event.
There's a term we like to use in the industry for that dreaded "all-in-with-kings-versus-aces". It's known as the über-cooler and it's just one of things you cannot avoid. Jason Young was the victim of said cooler and as a result has now busted from the Main Event.
All the money was in the middle before the flop; Young had the , but it was Sorel Mizzi that had woken up with the . The dealer spread the board of to give both players two pair, but as they say, "Just like that, huh?"
As Young took his leave, he spoke to our field reporter. "If it was anyone else on the table, I can fold that," before adding, "Sorel leads a blessed life."
Just like last November, 2010 WSOP Main Event winner Jonathan Duhamel is the center of attention today, sitting squarely in the five-seat beneath the spotlights at the feature table on the main stage. The seats are starting to fill in the surrounding bleachers to see how the first day of Duhamel's title defense goes.
Also at Duhamel's table is Michael DeMichele, best known for his runner-up finish in the 2008 WSOP $50K H.O.R.S.E. event. We'll keep an eye on the proceedings over there.
With 9,000 in the pot and a board reading , an unknown player fired out 5,050 and was called by Cody Slaubaugh, who ended up mucking after seeing his opponent's flush.
, the player in the cutoff led out for 600 before Laplante raised to 2,150 from the button. The cutoff player called, then checked to Laplante on the river of the 
. Laplante bet out 2,750 and after two minutes in the tank, the cutoff player folded. Laplante flashed 
before raking in the pot.
flop and Lunkin fired out 500. The small blind folded, but the big blind opted to make the call.
turn, leading to the 
river. The big blind tried to take control of the pot by betting 750, but Lunkin wrested it back with a raise to 2,000. The big blind thought better of it and tossed his hand to the muck.
flop. After both players checked, the dealer burned and turned the 
, which prompted Junglen to bet 1,650.
spike on the river. Junglen fired out another bet, this time 4,200, and again his opponent called. Junglen confidently rolled over 
for a straight and took down the pot.
, but it was Sorel Mizzi that had woken up with the 
. The dealer spread the board of 
to give both players two pair, but as they say, "Just like that, huh?"
, an unknown player fired out 5,050 and was called by Cody Slaubaugh, who ended up mucking after seeing his opponent's 
flush.