Day one of event number 15, $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em has come to an end. There are approximately 170 players remaining and they are all in the money. Play will resume tomorrow at 2 p.m. and will continue until the final table is established.

Joe Bartholdi was able to collect a nice pot right before tournament officials announced that the day would end. The player in seat five pushed all in from middle postion for about $10,000 and Bartholdi called from the big blind. Bartholdi had QQ and his opponent had AK. "You're not supposed to have that!" said Bartholdi, expressing his uneasiness about the strength of his hand. His fears were calmed a little on the flop when it came QJ9. Not wanting to see that ten, Bartholdi tensed a bit in his chair. The turn was the K and the river brought the 5. Bartholdi took down the nice sized pot and eliminated another player.

Phil Hellmuth continues to add to his recored of World Series of Poker cashes, this cash today sets the record again at 59.

Scott Kowalske, whom we all learned about earlier as having a terminal illness and being bought in by the members of his hometown, has been eliminated from today's event.

Come back tomorrow to watch all the action unfold at CardPlayer.com.

Following a very brief session of hand for hand play, the bubble has burst and the tournament has entered the money. Payouts started at 270 players and within one level the field has shrunk down to 216.  The players are on a brief break and play will resume for part of one more level until 2 a.m.

Phil Hellmuth continues to be the main attraction and has been playing a lot of pots in the last hour. Hellmuth limped in for $1,600 and got called by both the player on the button and the player in the small blind. The big blind only had $600 more and he threw it into the middle without looking at his cards. The three other players all made the call and the flop came 1072. Small blind checked, as did Hellmuth. The player on the button made it $4,000 and both Hellmuth and the small blind folded. Hellmuth called out that the player on the button most likely had aces and his suspicion was confirmed when he turned over AA. The player in the big blind turned over his cards one at a time and showed 96. The turn was a brick but the river brought the 8 keeping the players tournament hopes alive, if not only for a short while.

The very same player that had his aces cracked got involved in a heads up battle with Phil Hellmuth and was due for some good fortune. Hellmuth pushed all in before the flop and the player in seat four called from the cutoff. Hellmuth simply said "jacks" in a matter of fact tone, and turned over JJ. The player in seat four turned over KK and prayed for them to hold up. The board came 77327 and Hellmuth doubled up his opponent to the tune of $6,000.

The players have returned from dinner and play has resumed. Not even ten minutes into the level, this $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em event quickly became the Phil Hellmuth show. Having already built a very healthy stack before the dinner break, Hellmuth was on a roll and noticeably intimidated the players at his table. Hellmuth bet $2,400 before the flop and was called by the player in the big blind. The flop came 875 and both players check. The turn was the 10 and the player in the big blind checks. Hellmuth looks down at his cards again and then bets $2,800. His opponent in the big blind called and the river was the 2. The big blind checks again and Hellmuth checks as well. The player in the big blind turned over Q7 for the queen high flush. Hellmuth almost can't believe it as he mucked his cards. As the dealer scrambled the cards and pushed the chips towards the player in seat 6, Hellmuth dug through the cards to make sure his eyes didn't decieve him. Hellmuth pulled out the Q7 and then slammed them back down on the table in disgust. Hellmuth looked at the media and said, "Make sure you write that down. He called me with Q-7! They always have an excuse, (using finger quotes) "I raised his blind too much." Still steaming as the next hand was dealt Hellmuth added, "see what happens the next time. He'll do it again and I'll bust him. It's because it is a $1,500 event. There are still alot of bad players left." After having vented out his frustrations, Hellmuth told his opponent, "nice hand, nice catch sir."

Daniel Alaei was able to nearly double up and add to his growing stack as well. Alaei was all in with 98 and caught a queen high heart flush to nearly double up and eliminate his opponent.

The two unofficial biggest stacks heading into the dinner break were Phil Hellmuth and Joe Bartholdi. Bartholdi, with a much quieter and calmer table presence, is enjoying better fortune than Mr. Hellmuth. The player in seat one at Bartholdi's table bet out and the player in seat two responded by pushing all in. Bartholdi asked for a count but before his opponent could finish counting said, "Oh, I'm calling. I just wanted to know how much for." This announcement brought about the immediate fold from the player in seat one and the two remaining players turned over their cards. The player in seat two had AQ and Bartholdi turned over AA. The case ace hit on the flop and it was all over. Bartholdi picked up the nice pot and looked eager for a color up as his chip stack is starting to spread out in front of the players seated next to him.

Players are currently on a 15 minute break following level 6, and we have just received proof that there is a Poker God.  In one of the more interesting stories of the tournament, Scott Kowalske received a repreive from an extreme cold-deck situation.  Everyone comes into the World Series hoping for a story and Kowalske's is already one of note.  Kowalske, 42, has a rare medical condition, Chronic Wasting Disease, that has his doctor's telling him he has 4 months to live.  His one dream was to play in a World Series event, and the folks in his hometown raised enough money to make his dream a reality, and entered him into Event #15.  On the last hand before the break, Kowalske found himself all in with pocket Kings versus pocket Aces.  He received a miracle King on the flop to double up.  We will continue to follow Kowalske's progress throughout the tournament.

Other notable names were not so lucky.  Paul Wolfe was all in with pocket eights on a Queen-high flop, but his opponent tabled A-Q, and Wolfe was eliminated.  Shannon Elizabeth was all in with A-K versus her opponent A-J.  The Jack on the river crippled her down to $125.  After quintupling up on the next hand with 72, Shannon was eliminated a few hands later.  Also eliminated were Huck Seed and Freddy Deeb.

Bertrand  Grospelier has maintained his chip lead, but he has been joined at the top by Fabrice Souiler.  Joe Bartholdi and Phil Hellmuth are also both healthy in chips after being in dire straights earlier, each with about $30,000. 

Dinner break will occur at 7:30PST as usual.

With the third level containing antes beginning, many of the short stacks have begun to fall.  In the last hour, Erick Lindgren, Lee Watkinson, Chris Bell, Jason Strasser, Jon Friedberg, Erik Seidel have all been eliminated.

Daniel Alaei avoided elimination in a very big hand at his table.  The player in seat 6 raised preflop to $1,975 from the cutoff, Seat 7 re-raised to $5,000, and Alaei pushed all in over the top from the small blind for about $5,000 more.  Seat 6 called for less, and Seat 7 went into the tank.  Eventually the clock was called, and he mucked his cards.  Alaei flipped up AQ and Seat 6 showed KJ.  The flop came 976, with the turn A and 8 following.  Seat 7 said that he had pocket fives and would have made a straight.  Alaei's stack is now up to a healthy $15,000.  Other pros floating around that mark include Phil Hellmuth, Jon "PearlJammer" Turner, and Mark Gregorich.

Play will continue to the dinner break at 7:30.  There are at less than 800 players remaining.

Tables have been breaking all over the Amazon Room.  There are approximately 100 tables remaining going into the second break, meaning after only four levels over two-thirds of the field have been eliminated. 

 

Two notable pros managed to triple up right before the break.  Former WPT Championship winner Joe Bartholdi had what was termed the “livest card in the deck” when he was all in preflop with KQ versus his two opponents’ AK and AK.  The flop offered no help to Bartholdi coming J55, but the turn and river came Q and Q, to help him come from behind.  Everyone’s favorite poker brat Phil Hellmuth was all-in with two callers on a flop of KQ9. After the turn and river came 4 and 6, Phil flipped over Q9, and both his opponents mucked.

 

Joe Tehan who has emerged as one of the chip leaders eliminated one opponent calling his over-the-top all raise on a board of 96210.  Tehan showed 87 while his opponent showed 62.  The river J offered his opponent no help and Tehan stacked his chips.

 

But in perhaps the biggest hand of the last level current chip leader Bertand “Elky” Grospellier raked in a pot of over $20,000 when he called his opponent’s all in semi bluff on the turn.  Grospellier turned a set of twos, while his opponent merely had the nut flush draw with one card to come.  The river bricked out and Grospellier now has over $50,000 in chips.

 

Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for more live updates as the action continues.

It seems several pros have adopted a very wishy-washy attitude regarding any one player's chances against such a large field.  Several pros have been stating that they are simply trying to reach a certain number of chips or go broke by the 5pm HORSE event.  J.C. Tran is among those, finding himself all in with the worst of it three times in the last level.  First Tran found himself all in with Q-J suited against A-J, finding an 8 on the river to complete his nut straight.  Next he was up against John Racener on a flop of 982, Tran had 87 to Racener's AA.  The turn 8 bailed Tran out, and Racener missed his two-out redraw with the 10on the river.  Finally Tran's luck ran out as he pushed on a flop of J63 with A5 getting a call from his opponent with 44.  The 4 cut Tran's outs to two, and the J on the river ended Tran's day.  Other players to hit the rail included "Minneapolis Jim" Meehan, David Williams, Ed Moncada, and Gavin Smith.

Anthony Reategui was on the bad end of large pot at his mine-filled table.  In a five-way raised pot with a flop of 1075, Reategui led out with a pot-sized bet of $2,200, only to have two players move in behind it.  Reategui called quickly stating he had the right kind of hand for this pot.  Reategui showed A9, while the other two tabled 55 and 89.  The flop and turn came 7 and 9, filling up Reategui's opponent.  Phil Hellmuth also managed to create sufficient drama for his legion of railbrids, despite the event being in its early stages.  After Hellmuth raised preflop, two players moved all in over the top of his raise.  Hellmuth pondered the call.  He would be all-in himself, but he was getting 6 to 1 on his money.  Finally he folded his A-Q offsuit face-up.  His opponents showed pocket nines and pocket sevens, showing Hellmuth was getting the right price to call.  Both players ended up with sets by the river and Hellmuth patted himself on the back.

The official numbers have been released.  A total of 2,628 players entered today, generating a prize pool of $3,587,220 dollars.  The top 270 players will finish in the money, with 270th place receiving $3,049, and 1st place bagging $637,254.

Play has been moving considerably fast despite the overwhelming amount of entrants in today’s event. Tables have been breaking at an alarming rate, and all alternates have now been seated. With such a large field today, it is unusual to see many stacked tables, but as time has taught us, being an alternate is the easiest way to get stuck at a tough table. Alternate Table 44 is now host to Huck Seed, Erick Lindgren, Anthony Reategui, and Chris Bell.

There has however been one strong table from the start of the day with J.C. Tran sitting in the 2 seat followed by David Plastik to his left and John Racener to his left. Tran took an early chip lead at his table, bringing his stack up to roughly four times the starting amount, and although Tran may have most of the chips, it was David Plastik with all the moves. Within minutes of Level 2, Plastik had already pushed all-in several times, two of which were back-to-back from his blinds. The table folds to the button who limps in the pot followed by Tran in the small blind and Plastik checks his option in the big blind. The flop comes 854, and Tran and Plastik both check to the button who makes it $550 to go. Tran folds and Plastik looks this guy square in the eyes and pushes all-in. The button folds his hand.

The very next hand the player in Seat-10 raises to $325 and David Plastik makes the call, this time from the small blind. The flop comes K96, and Plastik checks to Seat-10 who bets $700. And for the second time in two hands, Plastik check-raises his opponent all-in and takes down the pot.

Some early eliminations include John Gale and Shannon Shorr. John Gale went broke in a three-way pot when he called a pre-flop raise of $425. The flop comes 1094 and Gale leads out for $750, leaving himself with only $900 behind it. The player in Seat-5 smooth calls his bet. The turn brings the A and Gale quickly moves all-in, but not as quickly as Seat-5 can make the call and flip over 1010 for a set against Gale’s AQ. The Q hits the river, not that it matters as John Gale is eliminated in Level 2.

Keep your browsers locked on CardPlayer.com for more updates and your favorite Pro Blogs.

The Amazon is at max capacity with all 258 tournament tables being used for this event.  Only one hour into the event twelve alternate tables have been seated, amounting to 120 alternates in the first hour.  So far the field looks thin in terms of professional players.  Many of them may be taking a break to take a shot at this afternoon's HORSE event.  But with many alternates yet to be seated who knows.  The entrants to this event have already reached 2,700.  We will have to see if that number will reach 3,000 before registration closes. 

Despite the lighter field there are a few tables containing more than one familiar face.  Table 204 houses Player of the Year frontrunner J.C. Tran, John Racener, and David Plastik.  Racener received a double up courtesy of Tran early in action today.  In a three-way pot with a flop of AQ8, Racener pushed all-in after Tran called the seat 9's raise of 625.  Tran and made the call and Racener had him crushed with 88 to Tran's AK.  Tran picked up some outs with the K on the turn, but the 5 hit on the river to send the pot to Racener. 

Also seen in the poker room are writer/director Kevin Smith, David Williams (two tables down from his mom Shirley), Jared Hamby, and recent bracelet winner Burt Boutin.  Keep your browser with Card Player today as we follow the progress of Freddy Deeb, Erica Schoenberg, and Chris Bell in our Pro Blogs.

Official numbers will be posted as soon as they are announced