Tournament director and 2016 World Series of Poker November Niner Kenny Hallaert has taken his seat and is already off to a quick start.
The player from under the gun limped in, then a player in early position raised to 250. Hallaert defended his big blind, and the under-the-gun player called as well.
The flop came and all three players checked to the turn, which was the . Hallaert led out for 400, and the player under the gun folded. The early-position player took a look over at Hallaert's bet and decided to call.
The river was the . Hallaert thought for a moment and led out for 700 this time. His opponent dramatically lifted his cards up, rapped the tabled and said, "Nice hand" as he released his cards into the muck.
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Today is the day poker players around the world have been waiting for. The 48th annual World Series of Poker begins this morning with Event #1: $565 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em.
Casino employees from across the globe will take their seats to battle it out for the first coveted gold bracelet of the 2017 series. Last year's winner was Christopher 'CJ' Sand, a Las Vegas sports book writer and cashier from Caesars Palace. Sand earned himself a career-best $75,157 after topping a field of 731 entries.
Players begin the day at 11:00 a.m. with 5,000 starting chips and will play 20 levels with blinds going up every 30 minutes. Late registration will conclude at the end of six levels at approximately 2:20 p.m. As was the case last year, each player is entitled to a single re-entry during the registration period. There will be a 20-minute break every four levels, with a scheduled 90-minute dinner break at the conclusion of Level 12 at approximately 5:40 p.m.
Day 2 will start back up at 12:00 p.m. tomorrow, when blinds will start at 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante, with blinds increased every 60 minutes. Play will complete when a winner is crowned and the first gold bracelet of the series is awarded in this opening event.
The PokerNews team is proud to be providing coverage for the entire series, so keep following along for live updates on all the action.
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and all three players checked to the turn, which was the 
. Hallaert led out for 400, and the player under the gun folded. The early-position player took a look over at Hallaert's bet and decided to call. 
. Hallaert thought for a moment and led out for 700 this time. His opponent dramatically lifted his cards up, rapped the tabled and said, "Nice hand" as he released his cards into the muck.
