The trio of starting days at this year's World Series of Poker Main Event are in the bag, as are the remaining chips of a number of Black Belt Poker players.
6,598 hopefuls stumped up the $10,000 buy-in fee, of which 3,418 registered for Day 1C, thus making it the largest one-day Main Event field in its 43-year history.
This year, eight Black Belt Poker players entered the Main Event on behalf of the Vegas Prize Fund promotion, in which 2% of all winnings will be spread equally among our Orange, Purple and Green Belts.
Despite the formidable lineup, there were two casualties: Jamie Burland and Jerome Bradpiece, the latter tweeting in the aftermath: "Did a kamikaze semi-bluff for half my stack. Did the rest with qq vs aa of table idiot."
The remaining six managed to survive the day with their tournament life in tact, including Greg Moore who was Black Belt Poker's highest finisher in 2011 when he came 157th place for $54,851.
Greg Moore - 40,975
James Mitchell - 23,100
Kevin Williams - 55,725
Neil Channing - 43,700
Sam Razavi - 38,825
Tristan McDonald - 50,975
"Chad Brown was on my left, and playing well, so I didn't have the easiest of tables," reported Black Belt Sam Razavi, "I ended up getting most of my stack in pretty early on when I three-bet the table 'Internet superstar' with Q-Q and moved all in on a 9-3-4 two-diamond flop. I held against his K-4 of diamonds. It was a roller coaster for most of the day, and it was looking like I'd bag up 22,000 until they announced last six hands. On the penultimate hand, I opened with K-T and fired twice on a 9-7-2-Q board before over-shoving to a lead with the nut straight on the J river. I thought he could have T-8, but he quickly folded."
"The only face I recognised at my table was Greg Raymer," confessed Blue Belt Kevin Williams, "and I had a chance to bust him at one point but had a bad feeling and folded in a spot where I probably should have called. I got up to a peak of 80,000, but the lineup became unfavourable later in the day and I ended up with four aggressive players to my left. I had the choice of entering into a high variance war, or playing pretty tight and running the risk of blinding down if I didn't win any pots - I chose the latter, although I did play a few pots and yoyo-ed around a little before taking over 50K into Day 2, so I'm happy."
"I started well, but then went really cold," regaled Neil Channing. "I then gambled A-K versus K-J and T-T and busted two people to hit 50K. From there, I cruised to 100K where I lost a 'flip for 50K three hours from the end. After that, it just got worse and worse, and I think I only won one pot. I'm happy to have a day off."
"I had the best table imaginable," beamed BBP shareholder Tristan McDonald. "Lots of limping and folding to three-bets, and the one 'hoodie pro' got moved early on - the look on his face was hilarious. There weren't too many highlights to my day. I won a nice pot when I turned a straight with 7-5, but lost a 10K pot with Q-Q just before the end against A-T which had check-called a T-high flop and checked an ace on the river! Phew."
Keeping Tristan company at his table was Black Belt Poker qualifier Chris Nicol, who finished the day on 46,625 and kindly offered to donate a further 2% to the Vegas Prize Fund. "It was a pleasure to play Chris," added Tristan, "and the highlight was seeing him get the table rock to bet into him on the river when he had quad kings!"
Talking of generous donations, a special thanks should also go to Andy Miles who offered an incredible 5% of his winnings from event #59 into the Fund. Despite a whopping 4,620 entries, he finished an impressive 46th place for $10,811, thus getting the kitty up and running to the tune of $540.55.
The majority of the Black Belt Poker team played Day 1B and so will be returning to action later today along with the survivors from the opening two starting days, of which includes Hasmukh Khodiyara who carries over 25,500, and fellow Brits such as Niall Farrell (100,950), Barny Boatman (98,200), and Marc Wright (88,150).
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