The action was folded around to the small blind who just limped in. James Dempsey checked his big blind and the flop came . The small blind led out for 13,000 and Dempsey called to see the on the turn.
The small blind fired out another 28,000 and Dempsey stuck around for the on the river. The small blind fired one last barrel, an all in shove for 116,000. Dempsey thought for a minute but decided to lay his hand down.
There was a raise to 15,000 in the hijack and a three-bet to 75,000 in the cutoff. Christopher Staats four-bet shoved all in from the big blind which got the hijack to fold but the cutoff called off his stack of around 125,000.
Christopher Staats:
Opponent:
The flop came to give Staats' opponent a pair and a flush draw. The on the turn took away the two pair outs and the on the river locked up the hand for Staats.
All the chips went in the middle on the flop of , and Marcelo Giordano was at risk for his last 41,000.
Marcelo Giordano:
Opponent:
Giordano was in bad shape against the set of fours, but the on the turn gave him a chance and the on the river locked in his double up, giving him a straight.
Lou Ojeda shipped all of his chips in the middle from under the gun, the action folded to the big blind who had 14,000 total. The big blind announced, "I'll call blind."
Lou Ojeda:
Big blind:
The board ran out , giving Ojeda the pot and knocking another player out of the tournament.
Tom Osnen opened to 29,000 in middle position and was called by the button. The small blind put his last 27,000 chips in the middle and the flop came .
Osnen led out for 30,000 and his opponent called to see the on the turn. Osnen checked this time and his opponent splashed in a bet of 150,000. Osnen called and the completed the board.
Osnen checked again and his opponent put in another 150,000, more than enough to cover Osnen's remaining 62,000 stack. Osnen thought for a minute and then finally decided to call. His opponent tabled but Osnen tabled for the better two pair.
It was an action-packed opening day for Event #42: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack that saw a total of 2,403 entries in this brand new event. After 20 levels of play over the course of 12 hours, the field was whittled down to just 195 players who have all secured a spot in the money.
By far the largest pot of the day came in the last couple hands of the night. Adam Lamphere flopped a straight while two of his opponents each flopped a set. Lamphere was all in for over 630,000 on the flop and held on through the turn and river. When all was said and done, the American put 1,870,000 chips in his bag, over half a million more than anyone else.
Lamphere is no stranger to the World Series of Poker with multiple cashes over the past few years, including in the Main Event last year. However, he is still looking for that one piece of jewelry that so many players crave, a WSOP gold bracelet. For the most part, Lamphere primarily sticks to no-limit hold'em tournaments, but the value in this mixed variation was one that he couldn't pass up.
While Lamphere accumulated the majority of his chips in one massive pot, Caleb Hershey went about things in a different way to bag up 1,242,000 chips. Hershey took over the chip lead prior to the dinner break and continued to stack chips throughout the day. One of his largest pots came in a spot where he turned a nine-high wrap in pot-limit Omaha but bricked off on the river. Hershey wasn't done with the hand as he stuck in a huge bet on the river to get his opponent to fold two pair.
Some other big stacks returning for Day 2 include Timothy Finne (1,116,000) and Dustin Goldklang (1,114,000). They both finished the night in the seven-figure category and are well within striking distance. Jake Schwartz (616,000), Rainer Kempe (586,000), and Jamie Gold (402,000) who mostly thrive in no-limit hold'em will also be ones to keep an eye on when the action resumes.
When the action got started at 11 a.m. this morning, there were already over 600 players registered to take their seats. That number quickly grew throughout the first few levels and players were scattered amongst three different rooms in the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. With a single re-entry option available, players were coming and going faster than anyone could keep up with. Late registration remained open through 12 levels and the dinner break which attracted a total of 2,403 entries.
Coming back from the last break of the night, the money bubble was on the horizon and wouldn't take long to burst. There were multiple all-ins during the hand-for-hand process and two players ended up splitting a min-cash. Jan Nakladal and Ben Eilers were both eliminated during the same hand and took home over $400 each.
Once the bubble burst, the short stacks couldn't get their chips in the middle fast enough. In the last couple levels of the night, the field went from 360 players down to just 195 who will return tomorrow. When those players return tomorrow, they will each be guaranteed at least $1,198. However, with the first-place prize of $194,759 looming large, everyone will have their sights set on one goal.
The action will commence at 12 p.m. local time with the blinds resuming on level 21. The blinds will be 8,000/16,000 with a 16,000 big blind ante when playing no-limit hold'em. The levels will be increased to 40 minutes on Day 2 with a 15-minute break after every three levels. The current schedule indicates that play will continue until a winner is crowned, but it is likely that an extra day will be needed.
Follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team to find out who will make it that much closer to a WSOP gold bracelet and the first-ever title of this new event.