Picking up the action after the turn of a board with about 6,500 in the pot, the player under the gun and Mike Dentale on the button checked to see the river
The UTG player bet 3,000 and Dentale called.
Dentale's opponent tabled for a seven-high straight, Dentale mucked and his opponent won the pot.
In a pot of already 26,000 the action was picked up on the turn as Eimantas Adomavicius bet 9,100 and was raised to 20,200 by Brett Feder who was on the button. Adomavicius called after contemplating for a while.
The river came the . Adomavicius checked and Feder checked behind. Adomavicius revealed the for the turned nut flush and took down the big pot.
For the past six months, 888poker has been qualifying dozens of players for the 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Today, those players are all competing in the third and final starting flight.
Given online qualifiers have done well in the WSOP Main Event before – think Chris Moneymaker, Fernando Pons, etc. – we thought it’d be fun to take a look at some of the 888poker qualifiers chasing their poker dreams on Day 1c.
James Williams once studied sports coaching and development at the University of Gloucestershire, though he didn't finish his degree. Instead, he found poker at the age of 20 while playing home games with friends.
Williams, who has a long-term partner and a three-year-old son, has visited Vegas on two previous occasions (2010 and 2012) and lists Phil Ivey as his favorite poker player.
“He is such an iconic poker player and I have never been on the same table as him,” he said. As for his preparation for the Main Event, he revealed: “I have been going to the gym every day to get as fit as I can because I know I am going to need a lot of stamina to stay the course. Also, playing cycling and football.”
The preflop action saw multiple raises, and Hoang Dinh raised it to 8,000 from the cutoff. The action folded back around to Kenneth Broad on the cutoff, who went all in for 40,300 total.
"I think we have the same hand," Dinh said before making the call.
Hoang Dinh:
Kenneth Broad:
Dinh was wrong, as it was a coin flip. The flop came , all but sealing the win for Broad with the set of nines. The runout gave broad the double up, and the Englishman stood up in victory.
"My balls are so big you can shoot them," Broad explained.
Maria Lampropulos is in the running and still has around starting stack. She has joined the mix in Brasilia room and is on a neighboring table to another Maria in the field, Maria Konnikova.
Earlier this summer, 35-year-old Chris Dotson, a boiler operator from New Jersey, won a competition hosted by PokerNews’ sister company, Oddschecker. Today, he’ll live his poker dream of playing in poker’s premier event.
Dotson flew cross country last night and immediately headed to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to register. While there, he got to meet 2003 WSOP champ Chris Moneymaker and was interviewed by Joey Ingram on PokerNews social media channels. It’s been a whirlwind experience even before he fired the tournament, and believe it or not it almost didn’t happen.
“I saw a tweet from PokerNews mentioning the giveaway, clicked through the article and decided not to bother,” Dotson revealed. “Then a couple of hours later I saw the tweet again, figured what the heck, and filled out the giveaway. I’m sure glad I changed my mind.”
Chris Dotson meeting Chris Moneymaker at the 2019 WSOP
A World of Experience
Dotson grew up with two younger brothers, sons of a father in the Air Force. As such, they moved a lot and lived in locales such as Hawaii, Japan, and New Zealand.
“I moved back to the USA from New Zealand, and the family continued on to Australia, where my mom and youngest brother are still living,” said Dotson. “The old man is retired now, working as a contractor for the Air Force up in Alaska.”
"I guess I first learned to play poker while living in New Zealand, but never really played much until moving back to New Jersey."
For Dotson, he entered the workforce straight out of high school and is on a career trajectory to become an operating engineer. As for his love of poker, the seed was planted half a world away from the bright lights of Las Vegas.
“I guess I first learned to play poker while living in New Zealand, but never really played much until moving back to New Jersey,” said Dotson, who also revealed he’s a big fan of video games, board games, and escape rooms. “I then started playing tournaments in my local poker league and would play a bit online. That’s when I started taking things more seriously and progressed to taking trips to Atlantic City to play in the local casinos.”
Eyes on Vegas
Dotson first visited Las Vegas for the WSOP back in the mid-2000s, though back then it was just as a fan and to meet friends from the Full Contact Poker (FCP) forums. It wasn’t until 2014 that he fired a trio of bracelet events, all no-limit hold’em at the $1,000, $1,500, and $2,500 price points. Until today, those marked the biggest buy-ins he’s ever played.
“I’ve never played the Main Event,” he said. “It has always been a dream. This will be my first time, I’m so excited.”
Joey Ingram and Chris Doston
When asked about his proudest poker accomplishment to date, Dotson thought for a bit before answering.
“Not really sure what my proudest accomplishment would be,” he said. “I would probably say finishing runner-up in the poker league end-of-year finals, but no one remembers second place.”
Dotson often roots for the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Heat, and Team USA, and when it comes to poker he has some favorites.
“This is a hard question to answer, I certainly have a bunch of players I could pick as a favorite,” he responded when asked about his favorite poker player. “Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, but if I had to choose one it would probably be John Racener.”
Interestingly, Racener is also in action on Day 1c meaning there's a chance Dotson will get to square off against his favorite poker pro.
Frederick Goff and Alexandru Ivan had got all their chips in on a board. Goff had for top two pair and Ivan had for top set. Goff got up out of his seat until he realised he still had a little left. It may only be around 12 big blinds but a chip and a chair is sometimes all a player needs.
.
![[user139916]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
board with about 6,500 in the pot, the player under the gun and Mike Dentale on the button checked to see the 
river
for the turned nut flush and took down the big pot.
, all but sealing the win for Broad with the set of nines. The runout 
gave broad the double up, and the Englishman stood up in victory.
for top two pair and Ivan had 
for top set. Goff got up out of his seat until he realised he still had a little left. It may only be around 12 big blinds but a chip and a chair is sometimes all a player needs.
