Benjamin Schneider played a big pot early after his open raise from early position got a three-bet from the player in the cutoff. According to the players, the player in the big blind cold-called and when action was back on Schneider, he four-bet. He got a call from the cutoff, but the big blind folded.
The flop came 7♣Q♣2♣. Schneider checked and cutoff bet 5,000. Schneider called.
The turn was the 8♣. Schneider checked again and his opponent bet 8,000. Schneider went all in. Opponent folded and Schneider took down a nice pot early.
Action started with Liina Vark raising to 500 from under the gun. She was called by a player in early position and both blinds.
The flop came J♠K♥9♥. The blinds checked and Vark continued for 1,000. Early position folded, but the players in the blinds both called.
The turn was the 8♥ bringing in more possible straights and a flush. Vark continued for 2,200 after getting checked to. The player in the small blind folded, but the big blind called.
The river was the J♥, bringing in the fourth heart and pairing the board. The player in the big blind checked, and Vark bet 5,000. This time, her opponent released the hand and she was able to take down an early pot.
After a heartfelt introduction from Jack Effel, the Color Guard, and a special 99-year old guest and veteran, Gene Bellar, Event #67: $500 Salute to Warriors is underway.
Day 1 will feature 40-minute levels with a 20-minute break every third level.
Welcome back to PokerNews, the official media partner of the 2024 World Series of Poker and home of live updates from all bracelet events.
Today will see the start of Event #67: $500 Salute to Warriors No-Limit Hold'em at 10 a.m. local time here at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas with starting stacks of 50,000 and blinds of 100/200/200 with 40-minute levels.
Day 1 will play for 17 levels or down to 15 percent of the field, whichever is later, with 20-minute breaks every three levels and a 75-minute dinner break after Level 12 around 7 p.m.
Day 2 will pick back up at 1 p.m. Friday and will play for 15 to 17 levels, depending on how things are going, with 15-minute breaks every three levels and a 60-minute dinner break after Level 26 around 5:30 p.m. Day 3 will play down to a winner with 15-minute breaks every three levels and a to-be-determined dinner break.
Last summer, the Salute to Warriors event drew 4,303 runners and raised nearly $200,000 for veterans. Retired firefighter Steven Genovese took down the event for $217,921 and his first bracelet, while others at the final table included Dejuante Alexander (9th - $19,910) and poker media member William Butcher (3rd - $99,961).
"It feels amazing!" Genovese told PokerNews. "I was pinching myself the whole time!"
2023 WSOP Salute to Warriors Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Steven Genovese
United States
$217,921
2
Kelly Gall
Canada
$134,643
3
William Butcher
United States
$99,961
4
Ali Alawadhi
United States
$74,819
5
Ryan Stephens
United States
$56,464
6
David Elisofon
United States
$42,966
7
Raffaello Locatelli
Italy
$32,969
8
Youssef Hicham
Morocco
$25,512
9
Dejuante Alexander
United States
$19,910
Planning on playing this event? PokerNews activates MyStack for every WSOP event, regardless of that tournament's buy-in, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting
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