Day One (A) at the WPT World Poker FinalsA Tale of Two Tables |
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Foxwoods is a perennial stop on the World Poker Tour, and it has been since the beginning. It is one of the charter casinos on the tour, and starting with season four, two stops have been made at Foxwoods every year. The total prize pool created by the first five editions of the World Poker Finals is a staggering $17,673,681. That number will only grow tomorrow when the official prize pool is announced, and that type of money is going to attract a lot of sharks.
Rousso was very active at table No. 15 table throughout the day, accumulating chips with aggressive play. She grew her stack to 70,000 by the start of level four, but ended the day with 54,575. It was Kessler though, who went on the wildest ride during day one (A). His pocket aces were cracked very early in the day to knock him down to 5,500, which he got all in a few hands later: Kessler was all in with aces against the pocket kings of Rousso. Another player at the table confessed that he had laid down pocket queens and he muttered, "So sick," as the board rolled out Q
9
7
7
J. Kessler doubled up and now held 12,000. A few hands later, Kessler and Rousso were at it again: On a board of 8 8 7 J 3, Rousso bet 2,000 and Kessler made the call. Rousso flipped up A 9 and Kessler showed down K Q. Kessler's king-high flush lost to the ace-high flush of Rousso and he was knocked back down to the poker equivalent of the Mendoza line once again. Kessler was able to turn things around once again, though, when he woke up with pocket kings. He faced the A-Q of Froehlich (who he had covered by 200) and the board bricked out. Froehlich was eliminated and Kessler doubled up to 14,000.
As the embers at table No. 15 began to die down later in the day, the fire really started to roar over at table No. 39. It was the worst of times for Zolotow, who busted about midday, but it was the best of times for Giannetti, who made a statement with his strong play. He tangled with Tran on this hand: On a flop of J 8 6, Giannetti bet 500 from early position, and Tran made the call from the button. The 5 hit on the turn and Tran opened the action for 1,800. Giannetti thought for a minute and raised to 5,000. Tran made the call and the river fell 3. Giannetti fired out 8,500 and Tran made the call. Giannetti turned up pocket eights and Tran mucked his hand. Giannetti grew his stack to 70,000 during the middle stretch of the day and he grew it even more when he tangled with Markholt: Tran raised to 1,700 and Markholt called from the button. Giannetti decided to call from the small blind and the flop came 9 8 3. Gianetti and Tran checked to Markholt, who bet 2,600. Gianetti made the call and Tran mucked. The turn was the 9, and Markholt bet 6,000. Gianetti casually made the call and the river was the J. Both players checked and Gianetti showed down A 8 to take down the pot and vault his stack up to 89,000. Although Markholt lost the aforementioned hand, it should be noted that this is the 20th WPT event of the calendar year 2007, and Markholt has already cashed in eight of them. He finished the day with 52,250, and he is looking to improve his amazing cash-rate in WPT events this year.
Table No. 39 was home to more than its fair share of poker drama on day one (A) in Foxwoods, but it was also home to the largest act of human drama as well: In the last hand before the last break of the evening, Tran was involved in a very unusual situation: Tran and his opponent were all in on a flop of 9 9 5, but when Tran showed he had J 9 for trip nines, his opponent mucked his cards. Well, sort of … he tossed his cards at the dealer face down, conceding defeat. He was ready to leave the tournament area, but the dealer turned over his hand (A-7), and then ran out the last two cards on the board, the 8 and 6! Tran's trips had suddenly lost to the other player's runner-runner nine-high straight. Tran immediately questioned why the dealer turned over his opponent's cards when he clearly mucked, and a floorman was called over. The floorman ruled that since the cards never physically touched the muck, and the player was all in, his hand was still live. A crowd gathered as the dealer pushed the pot to the other player and Tran continued to dispute the outcome. Tran took a hit on the hand, but he was still alive with about 27,500. He ended the day with 24,725.
Amidst the chaos of the day, a number of players made their exits from the tale, and the notable bustouts included: Jonathan Little, Jon Friedberg, Fred Goldberg, Barry Greenstein, Chad Brown, Bernard Lee, and Mimi Tran. Bill Edler found his way to a familiar spot on the leader board by the end of play - right near the top. He was the first to cross the 100,000 mark, and ended the night with 109,450. He will return two days from now, but not before he first jumps on a plane to Vegas, so he can accompany his wife at the Latin Grammy Awards tomorrow night. Edler (who is currently fourth in the Card Player Player of the Year race) and the rest of the day-one (A) field that remains will join the surviving field from day one (B) two days from now. Day one (B) will begin play at noon tomorrow and you can tune in to all the action at CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, and videos.
Here is a look at the top of the leader board at the end of the night:
1: Michael Farris -157,750
2: Brent Roberts - 148,325
3: Bill Edler - 109,450
4: Kevin Saul - 99,325
5: Tuan Le - 98,400
6: Roy Winston - 94,450
7: Andrew Kloc - 94,125
8: Matt Giannetti - 89,975
9: Giuseppe Galluzzo - 85,525
10: Kyle Bowker - 84,700
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