With the board reading , Andreas Freund and Quan Zhou tangled in a big pot.
There was 11,000 in the middle and Freund, sitting in the big blind, checked to his opponent. Cutoff Zhou announced, "Pot," putting Freund to a tough test.
Freund seemed to have a decent hand, but he remained stoic, quietly studying the situation. He took over a minute to decide his action, which eventually resulted in a fold.
Wearing an extravagant suit today, Zhou is already up to 62,000, earning 60 big blinds through the first hour of play.
Erez Hamerov checked on the flop of and Jan-Peter Jachtmann bet 1,500. Hamerov check-raised to 4,000 and after some deliberation Jachtmann called.
The turn was the and Hamerov led for 6,000. Jachtmann called. The river card was the and both players checked.
Neither player wanted to show first, so the dealer indicated Hamerov was required to show. Hamerov turned over for the flopped set and Jachtmann pushed his cards away.
Last year, Loren Klein came close to winning the $10,000 PLO Championship, finishing second to Brandon Shack-Harris for a giant $552,713 reward.
“There are a lot really great players in this final table. But I didn’t want to play against Loren heads-up… Loren is a really special player,” said Shack-Harris just after defeating Klein heads-up.
“He plays a very unorthodox style. We played some street PLO. He plays great. Even the bracelet when I won, he was the chip leader in that going into Day 2. I was reminded why he’s done so well,” Shack-Harris added.
Klein had entered the tournament fresh off his victory in the $1,500 Mixed No Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha where he scooped his first WSOP bracelet.
This year may possibly offer a similar story. Klein won his second bracelet last week, taking down the $1,500 PLO event for $231,483. He's now sitting in the Pot-Limit Omaha Championship again. And he'll surely do his best to return to heads-up.
The tables will slowly be filling up over the first few levels, but one player seated and raring to play is Ireland’s Andy Black who was involved in an early pot.
After three players saw a flop of , a 1,100 bet from Black got one of the others to fold. Then following the turn, Black bet 2,200. His remaining opponent in late position thought for a while before letting go of his cards, and Black collected the pot.
While the 11 a.m. start might be too early for some of the world-class players often seen taking part in $10K Championship events, some have already taken their seats to battle it out from the first minutes.
dans Safari
, Andreas Freund and Quan Zhou tangled in a big pot. 
and Jan-Peter Jachtmann bet 1,500. Hamerov check-raised to 4,000 and after some deliberation Jachtmann called.
and Hamerov led for 6,000. Jachtmann called. The river card was the 
and both players checked. 
for the flopped set and Jachtmann pushed his cards away.
, a 1,100 bet from Black got one of the others to fold. Then following the 
turn, Black bet 2,200. His remaining opponent in late position thought for a while before letting go of his cards, and Black collected the pot.
