Oleksii Khoroshenin has already made three final tables at this year's PokerStars Championship Bahamas festival, including winning one silver spade. He's off to a fast start today in the $25,750 High Roller, as is Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier who seeks to reprise his huge 2008 PCA Main Event title with another big win on Paradise Island. Check the PokerStars Blog for more from the first half of Day 1.
Sean Winter, who finished runner-up in this event one year ago for $914,580, was just eliminated at the hands of Igor Kurganov.
We missed the action unfold, but we learned the two each put in 23,000 preflop, which left Winter with just 200 back. Of course those ended up in on the flop.
Kurganov:
Winter:
Winter was ahead with a set, but Kurganov had a flush draw. The turn gave him the flush, and the river actually improved him to a straight flush.
"Get this guy out of here," Kurganov jokingly shouted, much to the amusement of the table.
"You're a gambler, Igor," Winter said before adding that he was going to finish his meal and fire a second bullet.
An extremely long hand played out between Russian pro Maxim Lykov and Greek player Georgios Vrakas, with the board of almost being incidental to the stare-down action.
Lykov had moved all-in for 21,500 into a pot of 26,500, with Vrakas had the decision. Eventually, Vrakas called and was shown Lykov's flush with .
Poker had long been part of Benjamin Wittams-Smith's family life growing up. But the Spin & Go winner never dreamed he'd get the chance to live out a poker adventure like the one he experienced this week — one that also involved a trip back through some of those family memories, too, as it turned out.
Richard Seymour made it 4,500 to go on a flop of . He was called in two spots, including Keven Stammen. On the turn of , Seymour was at it again, barrelling off 9,500 into what was becoming a juicy pot.
After much deliberation, Stammen made the fold, intimating that he was really confused as to Seymour's hand. The three-time Superbowl champion was in no mood to help his opponents by showing his cards.
Action folded around to Mohsin Charania on the button and he raised to 1,800, which Vojtech Ruzicka three-bet to 6,200 from the small blind. Charania made the call and then called a bet of 5,300 on the flop.
After the dealer burned and turned the , Ruzicka checked and Charania bet 12,500. Ruzicka thought long and hard before making the call, and then he checked for a second time on the river. Charania checked behind and then mucked when Ruzicka tabled the for ace-jack high.
It was a classic race situation on Liv Boeree's table, or to be more specific, the table she has just moved to where she now sits to the direct right of Igor Kurganov. A tough draw any way you choose to look at it, but Boeree isn't getting any luck from the deck either.
All-in against the shorter stack of Pablo Fernandez, Boeree held and was racing to eliminate against Fernandez's hand of .
The board gave Boeree no help and she dropped the 27,500 that Fernandez's stack was worth, sliding all the way down to around 38,000 chips.
![[user38338]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
.
flop.
turn gave him the flush, and the 
river actually improved him to a straight flush.
, Seymour was at it again, barrelling off 9,500 into what was becoming a juicy pot. 
flop.
river. Charania checked behind and then mucked when Ruzicka tabled the 
