Today is the day poker players around the world have been waiting for. The 48th annual World Series of Poker begins this morning with Event #1: $565 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em.
Casino employees from across the globe will take their seats to battle it out for the first coveted gold bracelet of the 2017 series. Last year's winner was Christopher 'CJ' Sand, a Las Vegas sports book writer and cashier from Caesars Palace. Sand earned himself a career-best $75,157 after topping a field of 731 entries.
Players begin the day at 11:00 a.m. with 5,000 starting chips and will play 20 levels with blinds going up every 30 minutes. Late registration will conclude at the end of six levels at approximately 2:20 p.m. As was the case last year, each player is entitled to a single re-entry during the registration period. There will be a 20-minute break every four levels, with a scheduled 90-minute dinner break at the conclusion of Level 12 at approximately 5:40 p.m.
Day 2 will start back up at 12:00 p.m. tomorrow, when blinds will start at 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante, with blinds increased every 60 minutes. Play will complete when a winner is crowned and the first gold bracelet of the series is awarded in this opening event.
The PokerNews team is proud to be providing coverage for the entire series, so keep following along for live updates on all the action.
PokerNews has activated the MyStack App for this event, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone.
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.
Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.
Tournament director and 2016 World Series of Poker November Niner Kenny Hallaert has taken his seat and is already off to a quick start.
The player from under the gun limped in, then a player in early position raised to 250. Hallaert defended his big blind, and the under-the-gun player called as well.
The flop came and all three players checked to the turn, which was the . Hallaert led out for 400, and the player under the gun folded. The early-position player took a look over at Hallaert's bet and decided to call.
The river was the . Hallaert thought for a moment and led out for 700 this time. His opponent dramatically lifted his cards up, rapped the tabled and said, "Nice hand" as he released his cards into the muck.
Dana Castaneda, a 2013 WSOP bracelet winner, has joined the field today and is setting a fast pace early on. With over $460,000 in live tournament earnings, Castaneda is looking to add to that total in the 48th running of the WSOP.
Just now Castaneda was involved in a hand in which the board read , and the small blind led out for 700 into a pot of around 1,000. Castaneda raised to 2,200 and her opponent called. The river was the and her opponent checked. Castaneda bet 2,300 and once again her opponent called. Castaneda showed for a straight and her opponent knocked the table and mucked his cards.
Castaneda shortly after announced to her opponent that she is a "luck-box," but with her previous results showing otherwise, she may just be toying with her opponents.
While a lot goes into the success of a tournament, and eventually the glory of completing a final table, the hard work of dealers is something that never goes unnoticed.
Shaun Harris and Heather Alcorn are seated at the same table and are looking to be on the other side of the final tables that they normally deal here at the World Series of Poker. The table also includes Media Contributor Molly Mossey, clearly making their table the most fun one in the room.
Harris has cashed this event twice, in 2010 and 2016, while Alcorn looks to book her first-ever WSOP cash to go with her nine WSOP Circuit cashes.
David Tuchman raised to 1,500 from the hijack, James Lambert called on the button, and the player in the big blind decided to defend.
The flop came and the big blind checked to Tuchman who bet 3,000. Lambert called, and the big blind thought for a moment before opting to fold.
The turn was the and Tuchman moved all in for 7,000. Lambert called for his remaining 5,900.
Tuchman showed but was dominated by Lambert's . The river was the and Tuchman was left with just 1,100 in chips.
In the very next hand, Tuchman moved all in from late position and Lambert called from the cutoff. Tuchman tabled but was dominated once again by Lambert's . The board ran out and Tuchman was sent to the rail.
The numbers are in! Event #1: $565 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em attracted a total of 651 entries, making up a prizepool of $325,500 paying out 98 spots.
First place will receive $68,817 along with the coveted gold World Series of Poker bracelet. A min-cash for 98th place is worth $834.
Results will be available under the Payouts tab as soon as players reach the money. In the meantime, here is a look at the official payouts:
Action folded to the cutoff, and he raised to 6,500. Matt Voskuil called on the button, and the player in the big blind moved all in for 20,000. The cutoff folded, and Voskuil tank-called.
Voskuil:
Big blind:
"That's it?", asked the big blind. "I'm ahead!" he continued. The flop came and the big blind yelled, "Ace!" as the hit the turn.
The river was the and Voskuil made a pair of queens to eliminate yet another opponent and increase his chip lead.
Victor Kim has been trending upward ever since he burst the bubble earlier today. In a recent hand, Kim limped in from under the gun, and a player in late position moved all in for his last 21,500. Kim thought for a moment and eventually called.
Kim tabled , while his opponent showed .
Kim was behind, but not by much. The flop came and a player at the table said to him, "Oh look. You just flopped the nuts."
The turn was the , and the river was the . Kim scored the pot and yet another knockout.
The last WSOP bracelet winner in the field, Brandon Barnette, has hit the rail.
He won this very same event in 2015 for $75,704, and cashed last year in 55th place for a payout of $1,278. Today's finish means Barnette has cashed in this event for three years in a row. Interestingly enough, these are also his only career cashes.
In his final hand, Barnette got his remaining stack in the middle with and was flipping with Jermel Stephens' .
The board ran out and Barnette's impressive run was over.
and all three players checked to the turn, which was the 
. Hallaert led out for 400, and the player under the gun folded. The early-position player took a look over at Hallaert's bet and decided to call. 
. Hallaert thought for a moment and led out for 700 this time. His opponent dramatically lifted his cards up, rapped the tabled and said, "Nice hand" as he released his cards into the muck.
![[user339872]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and the small blind led out for 700 into a pot of around 1,000. Castaneda raised to 2,200 and her opponent called. The river was the 
and her opponent checked. Castaneda bet 2,300 and once again her opponent called. Castaneda showed 
for a straight and her opponent knocked the table and mucked his cards. 
and the big blind checked to Tuchman who bet 3,000. Lambert called, and the big blind thought for a moment before opting to fold. 
and Tuchman moved all in for 7,000. Lambert called for his remaining 5,900. 
but was dominated by Lambert's 
. The river was the 
and Tuchman was left with just 1,100 in chips.
but was dominated once again by Lambert's 
. The board ran out 
and Tuchman was sent to the rail.
and the big blind yelled, "Ace!" as the 
hit the turn. 
and Voskuil made a pair of queens to eliminate yet another opponent and increase his chip lead.
, while his opponent showed 
and a player at the table said to him, "Oh look. You just flopped the nuts."
. Kim scored the pot and yet another knockout.
.
