Dov Markowich raised to 1,200 in early position and the player in the cutoff called.
The flop came down Q♦K♣Q♣ and action went check-check to the 2♥ turn.
Markowich bet 1,500 and his opponent just called to the 3♥ river.
Markowich bet again, this time 3,500, and the cutoff raised big to 18,500. Markowich waited for roughly 30 seconds before moving all in and his opponent snap-called with Qx2x for queens full of deuces.
Unfortunately for him, it was no good as Markowich rolled over the K♦K♠ for a flopped full house!
Alexandru Papazian opened to 1,100 from middle position before Alex Livingston three-bet to 3,500 from the button. Renan Menezes then four-bet shoved for 13,300 from the small blind, forcing a fold from Papazian.
"Let's gamble" Livingston commented before flicking in the call with a covering stack.
Renan Menezes: 10♠10♦
Alex Livingston: K♠10♣
Menezes was in great shape to double up and remained ahead on the 5♣7♥7♣ flop. That all changed when the K♦ turn left Menezes drawing to just one out. The 2♦ river was a brick and Menezes made his exit from the tournament area while Livingston took down a healthy pot.
Manuel Pochat raised to 1,200 and Ioannis Angelou-Konstas called. Philipp Gruissem then jammed for 19,500 from two seats further and Pochat was the only caller.
Philipp Gruissem: K♥Q♣
Manuel Pochat: 10♥10♦
The board ran out A♠A♣5♦6♦4♥ and Gruissem headed to the rail.
In a pot of more than 42,000 to the Q♥6♣5♣8♣6♠ river, Gary Thompson bet 18,700 out of the small blind and left himself with a single T-100 chip behind. Weiran Pu went into the tank and ultimately called to get shown the A♣J♦ for the busted nut flush draw by Thompson, which he had beat with the 8♥7♥.
One hand later, the last chip of Thompson vanished.
Curtis Knight opened to 1,200 from the hijack and received a call from Herbert Gonzalez on the button before David Williams three-bet to 5,100 from the small blind. Josh Arieh then four-bet to 11,000 in the big blind, forcing a fold from Knight and Gonzalez. Williams then five-bet shoved for roughly 50,000.
Arieh quickly folded, revealing that he had QxQx. Williams showed AxAx before taking down a nice pot while Arieh lost the minimum with his dominated pocket pair.
Szymon Bujok raised to 1,100 from the hijack and found two callers in Martin Raus from the cutoff and the player in the small blind before seeing the flop come 8♠5♠10♣.
The small blind checked it over to Bujok who continued with a bet of 1,300. Raus quickly asked, "Why so big?" before grabbing a stack of chips and raising to 10,500.
The small blind tossed his cards toward the muck and Bujok followed suit after a brief pause, prompting Raus to show the Q♠4♠ before collecting the pot.
Raus is less than 24 hours removed from winning his first WSOP bracelet in Event #4: $1,000 Mini Main Event.
Armin Rezaei opened in early position to 1,000 before the action folded to Kyle Carlston in middle position who put in a three-bet to 3,000. Rezaei called and they were off to a flop heads up.
The 4♠5♦Q♣ flop landed and the action checked to Carlston who continued for 2,500. Rezaei sat in the tank for a moment and then put in a check raised to 7,500. Carlston thought it over and then put in the chips for a call.
The 8♠ landed on the turn and Rezaei fired again for 7,000. Carlston sat in the tank for almost two minutes before he eventually found a fold. Rezaei dragged another healthy pot and is sitting towards the top of the leaderboard early on.
Michael Ruter opened the button to 1,000 before Shaun Deeb called from the small blind and the big blind defended.
The A♥6♠K♦ flop landed and the action quickly checked through to a Q♣ turn. When it checked to Ruter again he opted to bet for 1,600 and only Deeb called.
The blank 2♣ rolled off on the river and the action checked to Ruter for the last time. He sat in the tank for a moment and then sized up with a big wager of 7,200. Deeb went into the tank and attempted to use some table talk to get a read. Eventually he tossed in a call and got the bad news.
Ruter tabled J♦10♠ for the stone cold nuts and Deeb mucked.
Yasuhito Abe raised and Daniel Weinman defended the big blind. They checked the 9♠8♠4♠ flop and the 7♥ followed on the turn. Weinman bet 800 and Abe called.
On the Q♥ river, Weinman bet 4,800 and Abe reluctantly called to get shown the J♥10♠ for a straight.
"Never bluff," the 2023 WSOP Main Event champion declared with a big grin on the face.
The 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise here at the Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas has already featured several massive prize pools from the first several events of the series. Today kicks off the flagship event of the series as Event #10: $5,000 Main Event Championship, which features a staggering $15,000,000 guaranteed prize pool, begins at 12:00 p.m. local time.
The main event will take place over the next six days and feature a unique mix of poker pros and amateurs thanks to GGPoker's "Road to Paradise" promotion which saw numerous players from around the world earn a package to the 2023 WSOPP through a series of online tournaments. Included in each of these packages was an entry into today's prestigious event.
Day 1a Schedule
Level
Estimated Start
Duration
Small Blind
Big Blind
Big Blind Ante
1
12:00 p.m.
40 minutes
100
200
200
2
12:40 p.m.
40 minutes
200
300
300
3
1:20 p.m.
40 minutes
200
400
400
2:00 p.m.
15-minute break
4
2:15 p.m.
40 minutes
300
500
500
5
2:55 p.m.
40 minutes
300
600
600
6
3:35 p.m.
40 minutes
400
800
800
4:15 p.m.
15-minute break
7
4:30 p.m.
40 minutes
500
1,000
1,000
8
5:10 p.m.
40 minutes
600
1,200
1,200
9
5:50 p.m.
40 minutes
1,000
1,500
1,500
6:30 p.m.
75-minute dinner break
10
7:45 p.m.
40 minutes
1,000
2,000
2,000
11
8:25 p.m.
40 minutes
1,000
2,500
2,500
12
9:05 p.m.
40 minutes
1,500
3,000
3,000
9:45 p.m.
15-minute break
13
10:00 p.m.
40 minutes
2,000
4,000
4,000
14
10:40 p.m.
40 minutes
2,500
5,000
5,000
15
11:20 p.m.
40 minutes
3,000
6,000
6,000
Today features the first of four Day 1 starting flights, Day 1b and Day 1c take place on December 10 and December 11, respectively, while a turbo Day 1d will take place on December 12. Each player will start with 50,000 chips and play 40-minute levels for the first three starting flights, while the Day 1d turbo flight will feature 15-minute levels. The field will combine shortly after the Day 1d turbo flight on December 12 for Day 2 and the tournament will feature 60-minute levels from that point onwards.
One reentry will be permitted for each Day 1 starting flight, with late registration and reentries being open for the first nine levels of play. Day 1a will have a 15-minute break after every three levels and a 75-minute dinner break after Level 9 at approximately 6:30 p.m. Each Day 1 will play until only 15% of the field remains at which point all remaining players will be in the money.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you comprehensive tournament coverage throughout the event over the next six days.
