With six levels in the bag, registration for Day 1a has closed with a final tally of 137.
Will Kassouf has just arrived to some welcome heckling from Terry Jordon. His plan is to play the Satellite tonight and then Day 1b.
Niveau: 7
Blinds: 300/600
Ante: 100
The tournament clock shows 110 players of 137 remaining, and those players are going on a 15-minute break, their second of the day.
When they return the blinds will be 300/600 with a 100 ante.
Before Chris Moneymaker took to the tables in the PokerStars Festival Dublin Main Event, he had a go at learning some snooker in the capable hands of seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry, who is in Dublin in an ambassadorial capacity.
Head over to the PokerStars Blog to see how Moneymaker fared against the 'Ice Man.'
John Power opened the action for 1,200 and faced a three-bet to 3,800 from Mario Navarro in the big blind.
Power called and they went to a heads-up flop of 
.
Navarro continued the story with a bet of 3,000 but Power wanted to add a chapter of his own and raised to 7,700.
Navarro folded his hand and raised his eyebrows.
| Joueur | Jetons | Progression |
|---|---|---|
|
52,000 | |
|
27,000 |
Chris Moneymaker eventually found his way to his seat here on Day 1A of the Main Event and sat at a friendly table. The 2003 WSOP Main Event champion was warmly received, including by several players who said that they remembered following along all those years ago.
We stuck around to see how his first orbit went.
Hand 1 (HJ): The player in middle position raised to 1,200 and Chris Moneymaker called in the hijack. The button, small blind and big blind called too and the flop came 
. It checked to the initial raiser who bet 2,300 and Moneymaker folded.
Hand 2 (MP): Moneymaker open-folded.
Hand 3 (EP): Moneymaker open-folded.
Hand 4 (UTG): Moneymaker raised to 1,200 from under the gun. The small blind and big blind called. The flop came 
. It checked to Moneymaker who bet 1,700. The small blind called and the big blind folded.
The turn was the 
. The small blind checked, and folded when Moneymaker bet 3,000.
Hand 5 (BB): A player in early position raised to 1,700. The cutoff three-bet to 4,000 and Moneymaker folded.
Hand 6 (SB): The button raised to 1,100 and Moneymaker folded his small blind.
Hand 7 (BTN): A player raised to 1,500 from under the gun and Moneymaker folded.
Hand 8 (CO): The hijack raised to 1,100 and Moneymaker three-bet to 2,700 from the cutoff and the initial raiser folded.
| Joueur | Jetons | Progression |
|---|---|---|
|
29,000
29,000
|
29,000 |
|
||
Mantas Misevicius opened the action for 1,350 before Dumitru Achitei moved all in from late position for 8,800. The blinds folded and Misevicius called.
Achitei: 
Misevicius: 
The board ran out 
.
A pair on the flop for Misevicius meant he grabbed the lead and kept it to bust a stunned Achitei.
| Joueur | Jetons | Progression |
|---|---|---|
|
45,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
|
Eliminé |
Shane O’Neil opened the action from the cutoff to 1,600. Sean Foley on the button three-bet to 4,000 and action foldd back around to O’Neil who gave it some thought and then moved all in for 12,400.
Foley asked for a count and called.
O’Neil was at risk and in trouble with his 
while Foley had him dominated holding .
The board ran out 
.
A volley of expletives came from Foley as his man wriggled away with the turn card that gave him the winning pair.
“You’re running bad today,” another player said to Foley of his big stack in front of him.
“Yeah but I thought that one was in the bag,” Foley grinned at the teasing as he began to see the funny side.
A relieved O’Neil collected his double up.
| Joueur | Jetons | Progression |
|---|---|---|
|
115,000
115,000
|
115,000 |
|
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
Niveau: 6
Blinds: 250/500
Ante: 75
Matthias De Meulder moved all in from under the gun for not a whole lot and Michael Mazilu raised to 15,000 to isolate. With no other interested parties, the cards were on their backs.
De Meulder: 
Mazilu: 
The board ran out 
.
Mazilu's pair of tens held to bust De Meulder who can play the Day 1c event as his last Main Event chance.
| Joueur | Jetons | Progression |
|---|---|---|
|
48,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
Eliminé |
