A player under the gun opened with a raise, and it folded around to David Singer in the big blind. He paused amid enjoying a tin full of pasta, and with his free hand called the raise. The flop came single-suited -- -- and Singer checked. His neighbor continued with a bet, and Singer called.
The turn was the . Singer again checked, and this time the UTG player bet 2,200. Singer sat holding his plate in his left hand while gathering chips in right, looking for a response as he did. Finally he pushed his cards away and resumed his meal.
Singer has been satisfying a hunger for chips today thus far as well, having built a stack of 19,800 at present.
Chris Moneymaker (WSOP Rematches) Goes Bust Early in Day 1 Action
We stopped by Chris Moneymaker's former table to check on his chip count, but the players there informed us that the former Main Event champion had made an unceremonious exit. Apparently Moneymaker's fatal hand occurred against Jeremy Burleson just before the dinner break.
After Burleson min-raised to 400, Moneymaker three-bet to 1,200 from the small blind. Burleson decided to four-bet to 2,800 and the man who birthed the poker boom decided to shove the rest of his 11,000 or so into the middle. Burleson snap-called with his and hoped the bracelet winner didn't have the aces or kings he was representing. Fortunately for Burleson, Moneymaker was trying to use his image to pull of a bluff, as he held just .
The board offered no help and Moneymaker will have to wait for the next one to earn a second WSOP bracelet.
Players are back from dinner and already splashing chips around again. One of the Rio staff announced that with only 843 players remaining we have lost an average of 5.6 players every minute since the tournament began.
Well, Jean-Robert Bellande got his wish for somebody to shove. Turned out to be a simpler matter than he probably thought it was going to be.
With a player in the pot already, a late position player shoved his short stack and it folded back around to Bellande in the big blind who called the push, and the other player stepped aside.
"Before I turn my hand over," said Bellande's opponent, "I just want to say I'm going to EDC to see Swedish House Mafia."
The table laughed, then laughed again when he turned over his . Bellande showed pocket sevens. Five cards later Bellande's hand was still best, and his opponent was on his way to party.
The Electric Daisy Carnival is playing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located about 15 miles away. "It's the biggest rave in North America" says our friend and colleague, Remko ("who is going for sure"). It sounds like upwards to 100,000 may be joining Bellande's opponent there.
It also sounds like the Swedish House Mafia isn't going on until 1 a.m., though. Good thing for Bellande his opponent may not have been aware. Bellande has about 6,300 as we approach the dinner break.
Walking back to the PokerNews reporting desk, we spotted a hand going down that we just had to sweat. Three players, including Peter Fianu, had their whole stacks pushed forward before the flop and it was time to flip up the cards.
Showdown:
Fianu:
Opponent # 1:
Opponent # 2:
All of the players had above average chip stacks at the time and the player holding four-high must have been on a bluff. Unfortunately for him, he ran into a made pair and a suited big slick, and his move was not meant to pan out.
The final board rolled out and despite making a four-card straight flush, opponent # 2 had flushed his chips away. Fianu's pair of kings was good enough for the triple-up and he continued play, no doubt hoping to find more players willing to risk it all with four-deuce.
From our start of 2,890 players, more than two-thirds of the field has already hit the rail as we are now left with 950 players. It seems a lot of players like to take some chances in these earlier levels in an attempt to build a stack, but many end up busting out early as a result. There are still plenty of notable players left in the field so things will only get more exciting from here on out!
Jeff Sarwer (Event # 22) Seeks His Second Final Table of the Series Here On Day 1
We spotted Jeff Sarwer, former child chess prodigy and final table member at this year's $1,500 PLO tournament, in the field today. After his deep run in that event, Sarwer looked like he was still running good as he dragged another pot his way.
After raising before the flop and attracting two callers, Sarwer continued when the board came . His bet of 375 was enough to take the pot down and he looks to have a stack of near 5,200 as we near the dinner break.
![[user38338]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
-- and Singer checked. His neighbor continued with a bet, and Singer called.
. Singer again checked, and this time the UTG player bet 2,200. Singer sat holding his plate in his left hand while gathering chips in right, looking for a response as he did. Finally he pushed his cards away and resumed his meal.
and hoped the bracelet winner didn't have the aces or kings he was representing. Fortunately for Burleson, Moneymaker was trying to use his image to pull of a bluff, as he held just 
.
and his opponent held 
. The board ran out 
and Flowers took down the pot.
. Bellande showed pocket sevens. Five cards later Bellande's hand was still best, and his opponent was on his way to party.
and despite making a four-card straight flush, opponent # 2 had flushed his chips away. Fianu's pair of kings was good enough for the triple-up and he continued play, no doubt hoping to find more players willing to risk it all with four-deuce.
. His bet of 375 was enough to take the pot down and he looks to have a stack of near 5,200 as we near the dinner break.