Event #35: $5,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold'em
Day 1 Completed
2014 World Series of Poker
Event #35: $5,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2014 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$5,000
Prize Pool
$2,585,000
Entries
550
Level
28
Blinds
25,000 / 50,000
Ante
5,000
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
Event #35: $5,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold'em is a popular one on the World Series of Poker schedule. In 2013, the tournament attracted 481 players, but this year it was bigger and better as 550 players created a prize pool of $2,585,000, which will be distributed to the top 56 players with the winner taking home $633,341.
After 10 one-hour levels of play, just 170 made it through to Day 2 with Sam Trickett and his stack of 172,000 leading the way. Others who bagged up big stacks were Dan Smith (144,000), Steven Kerr (122,900), Fred Kulikowski (122,500), Noah Vaillancourt (119,000), and Josh Bergman (118,300).
Kerr won a big pot from Zimnan Ziyard on a board of 
. Ziyard's 
was no good against Kerr's 
.
PokerNews actually caught up with Steven Kerr, who considers himself an amateur, to talk about his Day 1 experience against some of the game’s best:
Of course, not everyone was so lucky. Among those to fall on Day 1 were Antonio Esfandiari, WSOP.com qualifier Brandon Merrill, Jesse Sylvia, Andrew Lichtenberger, Scott Seiver, Jonathan Little, Paul Volpe, Liv Boeree, Erik Seidel, and Phil Hellmuth.
The “Poker Brat” fell in Level 8 (250/500/50) when Samuel Bernabeu opened for 1,025 and Hellmuth three-bet to approximately 3,000. Bernabeu held 
and opted to flat-call. Bernabeu then check-called a bet of 3,500 on the 
flop before both players checked the 
turn. When a 
appeared on the river, Bernabeu simply moved all in. Hellmuth couldn't seem to believe it, double checked his cards and then called off his last 7,000 or so with . Unfortunately for him, his rivered set was no good and he was sent out the door.
Hundreds fell by the wayside on Day 1, but plenty of notables managed to survive the night. Among those returning on Day 2 are Jeff Madsen (114,500), Chris Tryba (111,900), Sorel Mizzi (84,000), Jason Somerville (78,200), Dan Shak (77,000), Mike “Timex” McDonald (51,000), Vanessa Selbst (39,500), Igor Kurganov (39,200), Jennifer Tilly (36,200), Philipp Gruissem (28,700), John Juanda (25,200), and Jason Mercier (18,200).
Day 2 action is set to get underway at 1 p.m. local time on Tuesday, and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to bring you all the action and eliminations from the tournament floor, so be sure to join us then. In the meantime, check this video where poker veteran Steve Zolotow talks about his first WSOP experience:
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
172,000
86,000
|
86,000 |
|
||
|
151,200
98,200
|
98,200 |
|
||
|
144,400
16,400
|
16,400 |
|
||
|
123,900
3,900
|
3,900 |
|
122,500
-6,500
|
-6,500 |
|
119,300
34,300
|
34,300 |
|
119,000
1,000
|
1,000 |
|
114,500
14,500
|
14,500 |
|
||
|
111,900
-8,100
|
-8,100 |
|
|
||
|
110,500 | |
|
109,200 | |
|
|
||
|
103,500 | |
|
101,500 | |
|
101,500
-5,500
|
-5,500 |
|
94,100 | |
|
87,100
38,100
|
38,100 |
|
|
||
|
|
86,900 | |
|
86,500 | |
|
86,200
59,900
|
59,900 |
|
86,100
71,100
|
71,100 |
|
||
|
85,500
15,500
|
15,500 |
|
85,200
10,200
|
10,200 |
|
||
|
84,000
26,000
|
26,000 |
|
83,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
80,200
200
|
200 |
|
|
||
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
Sorel Mizzi opened to 1,800 from the hijack, Sam Stein folded in the cutoff and Kristina Holst called on the button. Niall Farrell was in the small blind and he moved all-in, prompting quick folds from his two active opponents.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
29,000
1,500
|
1,500 |
|
|
||
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
The tournament staff has just announced that each table will play five more hands before bagging and tagging for the night. We're headed out to catch any last-minute action and to compile a list of chip counts. Stay tuned for those as well as a full recap of the Day 1 action.
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
As the day approaches its finish we have discovered two big stacks here in the Brasilia Room.
One belongs to Fred Kulikowski and the other to Noah Vaillancourt. Both of these gentlemen stand a real chance of being the overnight chip leader.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
129,000 | |
|
|
118,000 |
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
Action folded to Matt Waxman on the button and he moved all in for 12,500. Jeff Madsen took a long time before calling from the small blind, which put action on the player in the big.
"This should be a fun squeeze," he said before looking at his cards. He squeezed them alright, and he liked what he saw as he called off for 12,000 total.
Waxman: 
Madsen: 
Big Blind: 
"That's why I don't call," Madsen said. The 
flop was safe for the big blind, and so was the 
turn. The 
river allowed the big blind to wake down the main pot, there was 1,000 in the side that went to Waxman, who saw his ace come into play after Madsen was counterfeited.
Unfortunately for Waxman, there would be no "a chip and a chair" story for him as he fell in the very next hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
Dan "King Dan" Smith looks to be our chip leader right now with a massive stack of 128,000 which is around 110,000 more than when we last checked up on him. We will have a word in his ear and find out what happened to give him such a boost.
Half hour remains on Day 1 of this $5,000 buy-in tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
128,000
113,000
|
113,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
86,000
-4,000
|
-4,000 |
|
|
||
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
We heard a commotion over at Table 1, and by the time we made our way over the action had completed. Here's what we know.
A 
flop saw action explode between three players — the small blind, Jay Conley, and Andy Philachack. We're not sure how things went down, but we do know all three got their stacks in. Philachack was in for around 20,000, Conley 37,300, and the small blind had them both covered.
Conley: 
Philachack: 
Small Blind: 
Conley and the small blind both flopped flushes, but of course the former's was best. Meanwhile, Philachack had flopped top pair with a jack-high flush draw. The 
turn opened up some full house options for Philachack, but the 
failed to help him.
Philachack was eliminated on the hand while Conley took down a pot of 100K.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
100,000 | |
|
Busted |
Level 10
: 400/800, 100 ante
Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler moved all-in from late position with 
and the small blind looked him up with 
. A board reading 
kept Kessler's hand best and he doubled to 14,200.
The next hand played, Kessler moved all-in again and won the blinds and antes when everyone folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
16,200
6,200
|
6,200 |