Jeremy Joseph, in the small blind, bet enough to cover Darryl Ronconi with him having elected to call with only a few chips behind his big blind. Both players flipped their hands.
Darryl Ronconi: 9♣2♠
Jeremy Joseph: 6♥7♦
The board ran out K♦A♥4♥7♥8♠ as Joseph scooped the pot.
Marc MacDonnell opened to 400,000 from under the gun and it folded to Yuan Li in the big blind who moved all in, covering the 2,600,000 total for MacDonnell, who quickly called.
Marc MacDonnell: J♣J♦
Yuan Li: A♥K♠
It was a coin-flip preflop, but when the board ran out K♥8♠8♦9♥6♣, it was the flopped king for Li that scored the pot to send MacDonnell out in 11th place.
Patrick Luong led out for 325,000 from early position as Colin Mchugh jammed all in for 1,540,000. Luong made the call as both players revealed their holdings.
Colin Mchugh: A♦9♠
Patrick Luong: A♣J♠
The board ran 2♥J♥7♦K♣2♣ as Luong scooped the pot to send Mchugh to the exit in 12th place.
Poker Hall of Famer Jennifer Harman has seen the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in all of its iterations. Harman won two bracelets when the World Series played at Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas and made several final tables after the transition to Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in the mid-2000s.
Now, 27 years after her first WSOP final table in 1996, Harman finds herself at yet another World Series rendition at the rebranded Horseshoe Casino on the Strip. And while the golden U-shaped emblem outside the hotel is by and large the same, Harman said the modern venue doesn't compare to the WSOP's original home.
"It was such a cool atmosphere playing at Binion's; it's just nothing like that," Harman told PokerNews. "Now it's just like, you know, poker blew up and it's more ... it's still a really cool atmosphere, but it's just different. It's not a small room, musty, that kind of stuff. But it's still really cool. Poker's still really popular, so that's a pretty awesome thing."
PokerNews caught up with Harman last week as she played Day 1 of Event #25: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship at the 2023 WSOP to ask about her summer schedule, pick for the Poker Hall of Fame and her memories with the late Doyle Brunson.
The action folded to James Kraetz on the button who moved all in for close to 1,800,000 and Ankush Mandavia made the call for his last 1,400,000 in the small blind. The big blind folded and the cards were on their backs.
Ankush Mandavia: A♥Q♠
James Kraetz: K♣Q♥
Mandavia was in great shape for a double up, but when the board ran out K♥Q♦7♥5♣2♥, it was the flopped two pair for Kraetz to take the pot and send Mandavia to the exit in 14th place.
Mark Seif led out for 215,000 from the under-the-gun position then Daniel Le jammed all in for 2,300,000 from early position. Seif called and both players revealed their holdings.
Daniel Le: K♥Q♥
Mark Seif: A♠A♥
The board ran out A♣J♥7♠2♦4♦ and Le was sent to the rail by Seif's top set.
Even though Jason Koon bagged Day 1 of Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP), he will not be joining the other High Rollers for Day 2. The high-stakes star had his stack pulled from the largest buy-in event of the summer after he received word that his wife was in labor with their second child just in time for Father's Day.
Koon, who bagged a stack of 1,740,000 — a little more than the starting stack of 1,500,000 — will be fully refunded for his $250,000 entry, according to WSOP officials.
"Prior to the end of registration in event 40 with more than a starting stack, entrant Jason Koon requested a void and refund so as to accompany his wife to the hospital who had gone into labor," WSOP told PokerNews. "Request was granted. Issuing a refund before the end of registration is clearly within the discretion of tournament officials and common practice at WSOP. We wish Jason Koon and all our WSOP dads a happy Father's Day."
Lee Piniatoglou moved all in from under the gun for roughly 1,600,000 and it folded to Mark Seif in the big blind who quickly called with a bigger stack.
Lee Piniatoglou: 8♣8♠
Mark Seif: Q♦Q♠
Piniatoglou was in need of help, but when the board ran out 9♦6♥5♣6♦J♥, he couldn't find improvement and was sent to the rail in 16th place.
Darryl Ronconi opened to 200,000 from the cutoff and Miguel Silva moved all in for 695,000 in the big blind, which Ronconi called to put Silva at risk.
Miguel Silva: A♦10♦
Darryl Ronconi: J♠9♣
Silva was in the lead preflop, but when the board ran out K♥J♥3♦K♠9♠, it was the flopped jack for Ronconi that took the pot to send Silva out in 17th place.