Phil Hellmuth has made his customary fashionably late appearance as he registered at the end of the dinner break.
Hellmuth's arrival was a bit more low-key than the fanfare entrances of past years, but it was heralded by an Allen Kessler paparazzi Tweet-celebrating the news that the record-holding 14-time WSOP bracelet winner was on his way.
Guess who just super late regged the @wsop main event. The one and only @phil_hellmuth https://t.co/Cgi1RxCOWZ
The first goal of many players when they sit down to play any WSOP bracelet event is to make the first break. Maybe then it's to make the second break.
The first big goal for any WSOP Main Event player is to make the dinner break, and that is where we are. Players will return at approximately 7:15 p.m. after their 90-minute dinner break.
Registration will then be closed for this year's Main Event!
Eric Baldwin opened from under the gun and picked up three callers including Laurence Grondin in the big blind.
The flop was and Grondin led out, picking up just one caller in Baldwin.
The turn was the and Grondin bet again and Baldwin called once more.
The river was the and a bet from Grondin saw a raise from Baldwin and then Grondin moved all in.
Baldwin was given pause for thought. He had more chips than Grondin , but if he called and lost, he would be left a lot shorter than the start of the hand.
In the end, Baldwin felt he could not fold and he called, That’s when the cards were turned over and the table, apart from the two players involved, went nuts.
Grondin :
Baldwin:
“Royal versus quads,” the cry went up as players and cameramen and reporters rushed over to witness and record the hand.
Grondin and Baldwin looked stunned, but it was Grondin who went to the dinner break the victor in this rarest of rare poker hand outcomes.
The action in the following hand was recently described to the PokerNews live reporting team:
There was a raise to 800 from under the gun that received three callers. Salvatore Dicarlo three-bet from the button to 3,300 with , the original raiser four-bet to 8,100, the others got out of the way, and Dicarlo five-bet to 18,300. His opponent called.
The flop came and the original raiser bet 7,600. Dicarlo raised to 24,000, his opponent jammed for about 45,000, and Dicarlo called. His opponent tabled for trip aces with a queen only to find himself out-kicked. The board ran out with the on the turn and on the river and Dicarlo took the pot to send his opponent to the rail. The two-time WSOP Circuit ring winner has chipped up substantially over the course of this level and, after scooping this pot, he's now among the top stacks in the Miranda room.
A player in early position raised and he got called by the button. 2013 champion Ryan Riess defended his big blind and the three players saw a flop of . All three players checked and the same action occurred on the turn. The completed the board and Riess fired out 1,500. Both of his opponents folded and Riess pushed his stack back up over starting just before the dinner break.
With approximately 9,000 chips already in the middle and the board reading , Stephanie Hubbard was in the cutoff and heads up against a player in middle position who checked. Hubbard checked behind and the fell on the river. The middle-position player checked and Hubbard bet 5,100, sending her opponent into the tank. After some thought, he folded, and Hubbard showed for queen high as she stacked her newly-acquired chips.