Another day at the 50th Annual World Series of Poker and another tournament. Next up on the schedule is Event #26: $2,620 No-Limit Hold'em Marathon. The tournament will play down to a winner over the next six days and the first day will start today at noon local time.
The Marathon features 100-minute levels and a starting stack of 26,200 and the first level of the day is 100/100 without an ante. It will take a little over three hours of play to get to the antes and that will be in Level 3 where blinds will be 100/200 and a big blind ante of 200. The slow structure provides plenty of room for patience and creativity of play.
Last year's Marathon attracted a big field of 1,637 players and the slow structure produced a stacked final table with players like Anton Morgenstern, Martin Jacobson, and Bart Lybaert. Australia's Michael Addamo picked up his first bracelet last year and is now looking for number three after winning another bracelet on the other side of the pond at the WSOPE. Addamo picked up $653,581 for his win last year in the Marathon.
The Marathon will run for six levels today with a 15-minute break after every level. There will be a 75-minute dinner break after level four. Late registration will be open until the end of level eight, which is the second level of Day 2 (approx. 4:50 p.m. on June 11).
PokerNews will be on the tournament floor to provide live updates.
On a flop with 8,500 already in the middle, Michael Gathy bet 2,200 for the small blind position and after a minute, his opponent raised it to 5,100. Gathy quickly moved all in, putting his opponent's tournament at risk and the latter snap-called:
Michael Gathy:
His opponent:
A didn't change anything and the river fell a , giving the nut flush to his opponent and leaving Gathy with a stack worth 4,000.
Bart Lyabert opened to 600 and James Moutsatsos made the call. The dealer brought on the flop and Lybaert continued for 1,000, quickly called by Moutsatsos.
The same action happened on the turn , this time for 4,000.
A fell on the river and Lybaert thought about his move for a minute before pushing all in for a stack around 20,000. Moutsatsos made the call, showing for a set of sixes, dominating Lybaert's hand with and eliminating him from the tournament.
Lybaert, who finished third in the Marathon last year for $ 290,315, only played for one level this time.
The flop read when Loni Harwood, in the big blind position, bet 2,000. Jamie Gold made the call from the button.
Things heated up when a showed up on the turn. Harwood continued for 3,500 this time and faced a raise to 10,000 from Gold. Harwood decided to push all in with a slightly bigger stack than Gold, putting him to a decision.
"I have the second nuts!" said Gold, adding "Am I good enough to fold here? I don't think I am". After a minute he ended up calling, revealing .
Harwood tabled for a lower flush. "I wasn't slow rolling you," told Gold, "I really had a decision here". A completed the board and Gold grabbed the massive pot while Harwood was left with around 3,000.
Jamie Gold raised to 1,200 from middle position and Andre Akkari three-bet to 2,700 from the hijack. Another player on the button four-bet to 6,200 and Gold folded. Akkari called.
The flop came and Akkari check-called a bet of 3,100 to see the turn. Akkari chose to lead out this time with a bet of 4,200. The player on the button called again and the river was the .
Akkari decided to pull the trigger and put his opponent all in for effectively his last 10,500. The player on the button didn't take too long to call, showing down .
Akkari showed for two pair and took it all down, knocking his opponent out of the tournament in the process.
Corentin Ropert opened to 900 and Faraz Jaka made the call from the hijack position, followed by the big blind player.
The flop appeared and after two checks, Jaka made a bet for 1,800. The big blind folded and Ropert opted for a re-raise to 6,200. Jaka quickly moved two stacks of chips in front of him for a re-raise, leaving him with a short stack behind. Ropert announced all in, putting Jaka's tournament at risk and the latter made the call.
Corentin Ropert:
Faraz Jaka:
With a set of eights, Ropert had the dominated hand, facing a flopped straight in Jaka's hand, but a fell on the turn, giving a full house to the French player and Jaka was eliminated from the event after a fell on the river.
The first day of Event #26: The Marathon - $2,620 No-Limit Hold’em has been completed, and in its the third year, the event which gives players a starting stack of 26,200 chips attracted a field of 941 entries and ended with just 467 players still racing towards Day 2. Registration is still open until the end of level 8 tomorrow, and with 100-minute levels, that gives players time to limber up, but plenty of players set a strong pace today to get the tournament running.
Peter Hong led the field when the chips were bagged up, with 179,000 chips, but players such as Christopher Godfrey (pictured left) was one of the biggest stacks at close of play too, ending just behind Hong with 177,200 chips, but there are other big stacks in the running, including Uri Reichenstein (163,400), Corentin Ropert (134,200) and Matt Berkey (103,300).
Jamie Gold, the 2006 Main Event Champion, managed to keep a comfortable stack the whole day and doubled his stack thanks to a big hand versus the two-time bracelet winner Loni Harwood to climb around 100,000 chips by the close of play.
On a flop of , Harwood bet 2,000 and Gold made the call. Things heated up when a showed up on the turn. Harwood continued for 3,500 this time and faced a raise to 10,000 from Gold. Harwood decided to push all in with a slightly bigger stack than Gold, putting him to a decision.
"I have the second nuts!" said Gold, adding, "Am I good enough to fold here? I don't think I am." Gold ended up calling, revealing and when Harwood tabled for a lower flush, Gold grabbed the massive pot while Harwood busted a few hands later. Gold lost a few pots before the end of the day, but still bagged a stack of 50,200.
Other notables who found a bag for Day 2 are Matt Stout (52,700), Tony Miles (63,500), Dan O'Brien (59,200), Sam Grafton (47,800), Marvin Rettenmaier (18,800),Nial Farrell (41,800), Diogo Veiga (24,900), Athanasios Polychronopoulos (24,400), Maria Lampropulos (35,900), Adrian Mateos (32,300), Seth Davies (28,000) and Kristen Bickell, who bagged up a short stack of 6,500 chips.
Many familiar were also lost along the run, such as Bart Lybaert, who finished third in this event last year. He was joined on the rail by Jessica Dawley, Griffin Benger, Maria Ho, Faraz Jaka, Antoine Saout, Danny Tang, Michael Gathy and Phil Laak right at the end of the day. The Belgium pro Thomas Boivin busted on the very last hand of the day, pushing his last 1,600 in the middle with and got called by the big blind player holding . The board didn't help Boivin who was eliminated from the tournament at the very last minute of the day.
Day 2 starts at 12 noon Tuesday, June 11th and six more levels will be played with a 15-minute break after every level. The total prize pool will be announced after play has started, so be sure to keep your eyes on PokerNews to find out what the winner will take home.