There was a little over 2,000 in the pot and the flop was . Chris Moorman was in the cutoff position and was facing a bet from his opponent. Moorman raised to 2,800 and his opponent called.
The turn was the and the action was checked to Moorman who bet 1,900. His opponent thought for nearly two minutes before calling.
The river brought the and his opponent checked again. Moorman bet 15,000 which was enough to cover his opponent's 6,400-chip stack. His opponent went in the tank for another three minutes and finally threw his cards away in disgust.
On a flop of Yevgeniy Timoshenko was on the button and facing a bet of 1,500 from the small blind. Timoshenko called and the turn was the . The small blind checked and Timoshenko bet 2,000. His opponent raised to 7,000 and Timoshenko called.
The river was the and his opponent moved all in putting Timoshenko and his 20,500 remaining chips at risk. Timoshenko thought for a couple seconds and eventually pushed his chips forward. His opponent tabled and Timoshenko showed for a full house to win the pot.
Some more players who registered and took their seats as the first break approached included Ryan Reiss, John Racener, Jordan Young and Bertrand Grospellier.
Daniel Weinman raised to 500 from under the gun and was called by Joe McKeehen and both of the blinds. Everyone checked both the flop and turn, then the fell on the river.
This time the action checked around to Joe McKeehen who took a stab at the pot with a bet of 800. The small blind called as well as Weinman. McKeehen tabled , the small blind showed and Weinman showed the best hand with .
Ankush Mandavia is the defending champion of this event from the 2016 WSOP. He has five cashes already this year including a runner-up finish in the 10K Tag Team Championship where he narrowly missed out on his second ring, falling heads-up to the Championship team of Igor Kurganov and Liv Boeree. Kurganov and Mandavia went at it for the vast majority of that final day and it was a hard fought battle by two of the worlds biggest names in the poker world.
Watch for Mandavia to make a run today as he knows exactly what to do in a format like this, suited to his strong and aggressive playing style.
A player in early position opened to 450. Owen Crowe was on the button and three-bet to 1,200. David Sands was in the big blind and four-bet to 3,800. The player in early position called and Crowe folded.
The flop was and Sands led out for 3,200. His opponent called.
The turn was the and both players checked.
The river was the and Sands moved all in for roughly 15,000 and got a fold out of his opponent. Sands tabled as he scooped up the pot. Sands is on point and ready to fire. Watch out if he gets on a roll.