Day 1 is now over and play has ended for the night with only 142 players remaining, all of whom are in the money. Players finished off the night in Level 11 and will return tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the Day 2 restart. Many pros and plenty of notable players still remain in the field, so be sure to check back with CardPlayer.com to see all of the action live, as it unfolds.

After close to nearly a half hour of painfully slow hand-for-hand play, the last 198 players standing have all made the money and are guaranteed to cash for at least $4,080. There’s not much action to report as at least half of Level 10 was wasted during hand-for-hand play. The remaining 190 or so players are on a short fifteen minute break, and will return to Level 11 and a blind increase to $1,000-$2,000 with a $300 ante.

Right after making the money, and right before the break, Raymond Davis shoved all-in against an opponent’s raise and used some fancy trickery to entice the call. The player in seat no. 9 makes a pre-flop raise of $6,600 and Raymond Davis re-raises all-in for $18,400 more. The player in seat no. 9 is on the brink of folding when Davis grabs his bag and starts to gather his things as if he is certain that his opponent will call and eliminate him. Davis pulls the ole’ stand up and shake T.J. Cloutier’s hand routine as he prepares for his departure. A floor supervisor walks over and Davis makes a joke about him being there to escort him to the payout table, alluding to the idea that his hand is so bad that there’s no way he can win. Davis then goes on to tell everyone that he was just glad to make the money and it’s time for him to geo to bed now anyway. After some more deliberation and getting the clock called on him, seat no. 9 reaches for his chips and says, “This is a really bad call here.” Davis turns over 10 10 while seat no. 9 shows A Q.  The board comes 7 5 4 2 6, no help to either player as Davis’ tens hold up and he doubles up with seconds left before the break.

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Notable Chip Counts

Level 9 is in the books and the remaining 245 players have just entered level 10. With an average chip stack of $33,273, the remaining players will face a blind increase this level to $800-$1600 with a $200 ante.

All of the remaining players in today’s $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event have been consolidated down to 25 tables in the Amazon Room, and the tent is now empty for the night.

Jennifer Tilly is gathering chips and slowly starting to pick up some momentum as we approach the level change. She came in for a fairly large pre-flop raise when her opponent in seat no. 8 re-raised her from the button. Tilly re-raised and shoved all-in with 2 2, getting a call from seat no. 8 with A K. The board came Q 9 7 10 Q, no help for A-K as Tilly’s deuces stand strong and she doubles up. The next few hands Tilly would continue her aggressive behavior and get rewarded by taking down a few small pots, uncontested before the flop.

Eugene Todd has also began to gather even more momentum after a series of hands that included a big lay down followed by him knocking out yet another opponent at his table. In perhaps one of the bigger hands of the night, the player in seat no.4 raised to $3,500 with another $3,500 left behind it. Todd raises to $10,000 behind him and the player in seat no. 2 re-raises all-in while the player in seat no. 9 calls all-in for another $3,200 on top of the original $13,500. The player in seat no. 4 folds to the action and Eugene Todd goes into the tank. After several minutes of deliberation, another player at the table calls for a clock, and Todd eventually mucks his hand showing the J and the J. The remaining two players show A A and 3 3 while the board comes 9 4 2 7 5.

A few hands later and Eugene Todd calls his opponents all-in raise with A K and takes it down. On a  flop of  A 8 3, Todd bets $7,400 and the player in seat no. 9 pushes all-in. Todd quickly calls and turns over A K while his opponent shows 10 10. The turn and river bring the J and the 2, no help to seat no.9 and Todd not only rakes a solid pot, but eliminates one of his table mates in the process.

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Notable Chip Counts

Level 8 has just wrapped up and 380 players remain with an average chip stack of $21,452 going into Level 9, where the blinds will increase to $600-$1200 with a $100 ante.

Isaac Haxton raised to $2,200 and the player in seat no. 1 makes the call out of the big blind. The flop comes K  9 8, and the big blind moves all-in. Haxton calls (has him covered) and turns over A K while the big blind turns over J 9. The turn and river bring the 3 and the 4, no help to the all-in player and Haxton scoops the pot.

Stu Paterson was the next young online pro to send an opponent to the rail, managing to nearly double up in the process. The player in seat no. 5 moved all-in before the flop, and Paterson called behind him. Paterson had him slightly covered, turning over A 3 while the player in seat no. 5 showed Q J. The board came A 8 3 A 10, giving Paterson a full house and sending his opponent to the rail.

Nick Binger had a strong level as well, slowly building his stack and even managing to eliminate two players in the same hand. Binger makes a pre-flop raise of $1,800 and the player in seat no.8 moved all-in. The player in seat no. 1 moved all-in behind him for slightly more, and Binger quickly called (he had them both covered). Seat no. 8 turns over Q Q while seat no. 1 shows 10h10 and Binger flips over A A. The board came 9 7 4 3 9, no help to either of the all-in players as Binger eliminates both of them in the same hand.

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Notable Chip Counts

Faces in the Crowd

A few more familiar faces popped up in the field during the afternoon. Anna Wroblewski, Joe Pelton, Darrell Dicken, Roland De Wolfe, Michael Mizrachi, Burt Boutin, and Jonathan Little were all alive and kicking during the late stages of the afternoon. One familiar face who had been lost was Sean McCabe.

“Noooooooo”

The telltale voce of Humberto Brenes rose above the chatter and chip ruffling of the tournament field, when it rang out, “Noooooooo.” Upon further investigation it was discovered that he had flopped the nut straight, but received not a single call on his raise. “Nice flop for you,” said Young Phan after the hand, with a sheepish grin on his face.

Grinding

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi bet $1,500 from late position. Seat one, Juha Helppi, and seat seven all made the call. The flop rolled out Q 9 8 and Hellpi moved all in. Seat seven then reraised all in and Mizrachi tanked for a moment. He finally tossed in his chips and said, “These are horrible cards.” Seat one mucked and the player turned up their hole cards. Mizrachi showed Q 4, Helppi turned up 8 5, and seat seven turned over A 10. The turn and river brought the Q and the 10, and Mizrachi busted two opponents for the price of one.

To hear the table tell it, they now thought of Mizrachi as superman. He had over $60,000 at this point, which might have been as much as the rest of table combined. “Bring the alternates over here,” said Mizrachi in reference to the seat on his right. “I’m still offering my seat for 50 percent of your stacks,” said a player at the table who had position on “The Ginder.” Mizrachi then moved in for $20,000 preflop on the next hand, which would have put any player at the table all in, and everyone folded. Only one player had more chips than Mizrachi at this point, and that was Tony Cousineau, who held almost $80,000.

Day One Paces

Day one of the $2,000 no-limit hold’em continued through its paces and a couple of familiar faces were lost. Johnny Chan and Eric Lynch both hit the rail, as did Shannon Elizabeth. Noah Boeken held the chip lead with over $3,000 and he was followed closely by Sean McCabe, Raymond Davis, and Justin Shronk at the top.

Familiar Face Patrol

Many familiar faces where stationed in the field, although they were far and few between due to the large number of participants in the event. Clonie Gowen, Eugene Todd, Ali Eslami, Tom McEvoy, J.J. Liu, Jared Hamby, Alan Sass, Nick Frangos, Alan Sass, David Pham, Amir Vahedi, James Mackey and Jim Worth were located in the back half of the room. While, in the front half of the room one could see Barry Greenstein, Humberto Brenes, Young Phan, Stu Paterson, David Singer, T.J. Cloutier, Isaac Haxton, Adam Baker, Joe Sebok, David Chiu, Rick Fuller, and Nick Binger.

McEvoy vs. McCabe

On a flop of J J 4 Tom McEvoy had moved all in for $2,700, and Sean McCabe was pondering his next move. McCabe eventually made the call and turned over A 4. McEvoy turned up A 2 and the turn and river brought the A 10. They chopped up the pot and McEvoy survived.

Fuller Doubled up his Opponent

On a flop of 10 6 3 Rick Fuller bet $1,400 and his opponent reraised all in. Fuller made the call and flipped over K Q. His opponent showed down J 10 and the turn and river brought the 8 J.