We just spotted Praytush Buddiga over in the black section. He may not be a household name in the poker world just yet, but that's because he's only 22 years old.
Buddiga was pretty famous as a 13-year-old though when he won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2002. He won $12,000 for correctly spelling the word "prospicience" which means foresight.
We actually had the prospicience to peg Buddiga as a player to watch when he played in his first WSOP event of the summer, the $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout. He made it to the second round of that shootout good for a cash of $4,998 and has cashed in two other events this summer including a 40th place finish in a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event good for $14,914.
We'll be keeping our eyes on Buddiga and perhaps we'll even test his spelling skills if we get the chance.
Erm, we sort of forgot about this other featured table over here in the Purple section, and we just scoped it out for the first time. It's got a pair of familiar faces, including a former WSOP bracelet winner. It's Andrew Brown in the seven seat, and David Steicke in the nine, and it figures to be a good one to watch today.
A player in the cutoff seat raised to 250, then Andrew Robl, sitting to his left in the cutoff, reraised to 800. The blinds got out, and Robl's neighbor announced he was reraising again to 1,900 total, slowly tossing out the chips for the announced raise one at a time. Robl made the call.
The flop came . "2,500" said Robl's opponent, tossing out an orange chip. Robl considered for a few seconds, then let his hand go.
Robl has been active in the early going, but cautious as well. He sits with about 28,500 at present.
Action folded to the player in the hijack and he raised to 250. Shaun Deeb called from the cutoff and the big blind came along for the ride as well. It was three-handed to the flop, which checked around to Deeb. The man known online as "tedsfishfry" took the opportunity to bet 450.
The big blind folded, but the hijack called, eventually leading to another check-call of 1,100 on the turn. Both players checked the river and the hijack sheepishly turned over , which was no good against the of Deeb.
With the board reading and 1,150 already in the pot, the under-the-gun player bet 450 and Ali Eslami called from the button. The turn was the and both players checked. When the fell on the river the first player checked the action over to Eslami who bet 500. The other player folded and Eslami won the pot.
Over on Table 290 in the Blue section, we find a gentleman using a golf ball in a clear, plastic display case as a card capper. We recognize him as Paul Pritchett, and he's here with one of the more interesting stories we've heard today.
Pritchett plays golf about 100 days a year, which is tough to do when you live in Ontario, Canada. On September 24th of last year, the Turnberry Golf Club hosted an 80-player golf & poker tournament, and Pritchett was in attendance. There were two Main Event seats up for grabs, one to the winner of the poker tournament, and the other to the first hole-in-one of the day.
Pritchett finished fourth in the poker tournament that evening, but he was already freerolling the seat. A 188-yard Par 3 had bene no match for his 4-Iron earlier in the day, and Pritchett put his tee shot dead in the cup, punching his ticket to Vegas today.
The lucky golfer is sitting at a table that includes Jan Fisher and Bill Gazes, and our gorilla math tells us that he has to be one of the favorites to win.
Odds of getting a hole in one: ~1 in 10,000
Odds of winning the Main Event: ~1 in 7,000
As we were walking by Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck's table we heard her lamenting the fact that she already has had to "lay down jacks twice" since play began. Another player at the table then said "I had aces twice against you!" but that didn't seem to make Maridu feel any better.
Maridu is obviously a bit upset over the fact that she hasn't won a big pot yet, but she seems to be managing her losses well as she is only down to 28,800.
It's always fun to keep an eye on former World Champs, which is exactly what we've been doing with 1998 WSOP Main Event winner Scotty Nguyen. In a recent hand, Nguyen bet 475 on a flop of . His opponent in the cutoff made the call and it was off to the turn.
This time Nguyen checked, the cutoff bet 750, and Nguyen snap-raised to 4,000. The cutoff made the call only to face a bet of 12,000 from Nguyen on the river. Perhaps it was the pressure of playing in the "Big One," but the cutoff was clearly distraught. He put both hands on his head and stood from his chair as he wondered what to do.
"Sir, you have to sit down," the dealer informed the player. The player was shaking his head as he took his seat, eventually making the call with his .
"I know that what you have, baby," Nguyen said before showing the winning . Nguyen is up to 47,000.
A player in early position raised to 250 and got four callers -- two behind him, including Silvio Crisari, and both blinds. The flop came , and the player in the small blind fired out a bet of 1,050 into the field. All folded except Crisari.
The turn was the , putting a second ace on the board. This time Crisari's opponent bet 1,550. Crisari rechecked his cards, and after a few seconds began to nod slightly. Finally he folded. As his headphones-wearing opponent gathered the chips, Crisari tried to communicate to him that he'd played a good hand, but the winner didn't hear. Finally Crisari caught his eye and gave him a thumbs up and grin.
It's been a thumbs-up level for Crisari thus far. He's chipped up over 50,000 as we approach the first break.
![[user38338]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. "2,500" said Robl's opponent, tossing out an orange chip. Robl considered for a few seconds, then let his hand go.
flop, which checked around to Deeb. The man known online as "tedsfishfry" took the opportunity to bet 450.
turn. Both players checked the 
river and the hijack sheepishly turned over 
, which was no good against the 
of Deeb.
and 1,150 already in the pot, the under-the-gun player bet 450 and Ali Eslami called from the button. The turn was the 
and both players checked. When the 
fell on the river the first player checked the action over to Eslami who bet 500. The other player folded and Eslami won the pot.
. His opponent in the cutoff made the call and it was off to the 
turn.
river. Perhaps it was the pressure of playing in the "Big One," but the cutoff was clearly distraught. He put both hands on his head and stood from his chair as he wondered what to do.
.
. Nguyen is up to 47,000.
, putting a second ace on the board. This time Crisari's opponent bet 1,550. Crisari rechecked his cards, and after a few seconds began to nod slightly. Finally he folded. As his headphones-wearing opponent gathered the chips, Crisari tried to communicate to him that he'd played a good hand, but the winner didn't hear. Finally Crisari caught his eye and gave him a thumbs up and grin.