Charlie Hawes went all in from under the gun for his remaining 1,700,000 in chips. Two seats to his left, Russel "Rusty" Probasco went all in for more, totaling 8,500,000. The rest of the players at the table folded.
Charlie Hawes: J♥5♦
Rusty Probasco: A♦K♠
Hawes was initially pleased to see he had live cards but when the flop came the 8♠A♣5♣, it was a far cry for Hawes to have a chance. The 5♠ on the turn did keep some hope alive, but the Q♥ on the river sealed his elimination.
John Cooper and Robert Gittelton were all in preflop. Cooper was the player at risk.
John Cooper: A♠K♦
Robert Gittelton: 4♥4♠
Gittelton couldn't bear to look at the cards and Cooper watched on in horror as the Q♣3♠8♦6♦ rolled out on the board. He was unable to catch one of his over pairs and Gittleton moved into contention for the chip lead.
Sean Ahrens, who was in the blind, defended a raise from Robert Gittelman. Heads up, they saw a board of 8♥4♣10♠ and Arehs went all in. Gittelman called.
Sean Ahrens: Q♥8♣
Robert Gittelman: K♣K♦
Ahrens realized he was behind and stood up, while hoping to hit a queen or an eight. The J♥ and the 5♠ squashed any hope of the gold for Ahrens and Gittelman soared up in the chip counts.
Ka Chun Kan raised under the gun before Andrew Dudley jammed his 3,100,000 into the middle. The action quickly folded around to Kan and he wasted no time making the call.
Andrew Dudley: K♥K♠
Ka Chun Kan: A♠A♥
Dudley ran into the best hand in the game and couldn't find a king on the 7♦7♥2♦5♥9♠ run out, sending him home in 26th Place for $13,438.
Erik Cajelais raised to 600,000 in early position and the action folded around to Kenneth O'Donnell in the big blind who announced all-in. Cajelais had about 6,000,000 in chips and pushed a stack across the line to make the call.
Erik Cajelais: 10♠10♦
Kenneth O'Donnell: Q♥Q♠
Cajelais' pocket tens weren't quite good enough to take down the queens of O'Donnell as the board ran out 6♠4♥4♣7♥7♠, sending him to the payout desk.
Olga Iermolcheva raised to 2,700,000 in the cutoff and the button instantly pushed his 3,000,000 across the line. The blinds got out of the way and the action was back on Iermolcheva as she had 50,000 behind. After taking some time and eying the clock, she tossed in the rest of her chips.
Olga Iermolcheva: 4♥4♣
Button: A♥Q♦
It was a flip as the dealer ran out the board of 8♥5♦2♦7♠7♦ for Iermolcheva's fours to hold as she collected a double up.
A player raised in early position before Hugo Nazar jammed his 140,000 in the middle. Phil Hellmuth was in the big blind and quickly announced a raise to 350,000, forcing the original raiser out of the pot.
Hugo Nazar: A♦7♥
Phil Hellmuth: A♣Q♥
Hellmuth had Nazar dominated and the J♠6♥3♦A♥A♠ board gave both players trip aces, but Hellmuth's queen kicker played to eliminate Nazar from the tournament.
Camille Brown went all in from early position and was called by a player in late position. Cards were quickly on their backs.
Camille Brown: 6♦6♣
Opponent: A♣J♦
Nothing kills a sweat like having an opponent say, "I folded sixes!", which prompted Brown to stand up and start collecting her belongings. It ran out clean for her as the dealer fanned, 10♣3♣2♠4♥ and when Brown pleaded with the dealer for a clean card, the K♥ peeled, she settled back into her chair to stack her newly won chips.
The very next hand, Brown won a small mult-way pot with pocket fives, putting her comfortably in contention.
Action folded around to Phil Hellmuth, who was in the small blind. He chose to just call and his opponent thought for a moment before checking his option.
With little action the board ran out 10♣6♣A♦A♥9♣, on the river Hellmuth bet and when his opponent folded, he couldn't help but show the 9♥9♠ for a rivered boat. Hellmuth famously won the Main Event with pocket nines against Johnny Chan in 1989.
Hellmuth, rather pleased, said, "I limp in, in case you want to move all in... I call!".
Yesterday's Day 1 of Event #11 $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack at the 2023 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas played down from a tremendous 6,085 entries to just 318 competitors vying for the $351,098 first place prize that goes along with the hardware.
This event has managed to create a star-studded field that included Main Event Champions like Phil Hellmuth and Greg Raymer, as well as, new up-and-coming hopefuls like the Day 1 chip leader Kevin Daily, or new vlogger and poker personality Benjamin "Pyzza" Teston. According to the latter, "I came down here in an old, shitty limo and convinced my friends to pay $50 a night so we could stay all summer in a mansion, problem is I'm totally broke". Hellmuth, on the other side of the spectrum financially, bagged a healthy 665,000 and will be trying his best to extend his bracelet lead, while his fellow Main Event Champion, Raymer, failed to bag.
Indeed, the introduction of these lower buy-in bracelets has allowed people to transition from poker fans into bracelet winners, which can be seen by the reaction of last year's winner, Tamas Lendvai.
Play will be picking up again today at 11 a.m. at the Horseshoe and Paris. Of a total prize pool of $3,098,760, all players returning are guaranteed $1,702.