Event #20: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Day 1 Completed
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #20: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2018 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$5,000
Prize Pool
$2,408,700
Entries
518
Level
34
Blinds
120,000 / 240,000
Ante
240,000
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Nearly 500 players registered for Day 1 of Event #20: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em, filling up the entirety of the Amazon purple section over the course of the day. By the end of the night, only 170 of them remained. Chipleader after the first day of play was Dan Colpoys with 403,000. Colpoys' had an amazing last ten minutes of the day to bag up the chip lead
In a five-bet pot that started rather innocuous with a few limps, Colpoys eventually got it all in against Vojetch Ruzicka. Colpoys was holding aces against Ruzicka's kings and held up to send the former November Niner to the rail with just a few minutes left on the clock. Before the night ended, Colpoys sent another player to the rail with aces against queens and bagged up a substantial chip lead just like that.
Players played a total of ten 60-minute levels on Day 1 and many notables fell along the way. Some of the players who did not make it through to Day 2 included Mike Matusow, Robert Mizrachi, Joseph Cheong, Alex Foxen, Daniel Negreanu, Shaun Deeb, Maria Ho, Christian Harder and Jerry Wong.
Wong was one of the last to fall towards the end of the night and he was eliminated by Kitty Kuo in a big pot. In the hand, Wong three-bet from the big blind and Kuo called from the small blind. Kuo got it all in with an open-ended straight draw and Wong called with an overpair. Kuo rivered her straight to take down the massive pot, making her one of the biggest stacks in the room with 144,100.
Along with Kuo, some of the other players returning for Day 2 include the likes of Justin Bonomo and Kristen Bicknell, who both hold a top ten spot after Day 1. Erik Seidel, Scott Blumstein, Kristen Bicknell, Anthony Spinella, Olivier Busquet, Pete Chen, Kenny Hallaert, Seth Davies, Cliff Josephy, Greg Merson, David Pham and Kathy Liebert were among the other notables that advanced.
Liebert and Pham tangled for much of the day after Liebert was moved to Pham's direct left. In one massive pot, Liebert and Pham flipped for nearly 100,000 chips with Pham holding ace-king and Liebert holding queens. Liebert's queens held up and she was able to ride on that stack for the rest of the day to find a bag.
Action will resume at 2 p.m. local time on Saturday, June 9, where players will return to play another ten 60-minute levels with 15-minute breaks every two levels. Blinds will resume at 600/1,200 with an ante of 1,200. Registration will remain open until the start of Day 2, which means players still have some time to join the field. The prize pool and payouts will be announced on Day 2 shortly after late registration has closed. PokerNews will be back with all the action, so be sure to check back in.
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Dan Colpoys knocked out Vojtech Ruzicka in a massive cooler towards the end of today's play, clashing with aces against kings. Then he busted another player with aces over queens, taking a runaway chip lead into Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
403,000
403,000
|
403,000 |
|
||
|
229,600
229,600
|
229,600 |
|
180,800
180,800
|
180,800 |
|
175,800
70,800
|
70,800 |
|
||
|
175,300
-2,700
|
-2,700 |
|
170,800
76,800
|
76,800 |
|
||
|
155,800 | |
|
155,500
155,500
|
155,500 |
|
149,600
149,600
|
149,600 |
|
144,100
-45,900
|
-45,900 |
|
139,700
139,700
|
139,700 |
|
136,100 | |
|
||
|
134,900
102,900
|
102,900 |
|
||
|
133,000
-12,000
|
-12,000 |
|
|
||
|
131,600
131,600
|
131,600 |
|
131,500
131,500
|
131,500 |
|
128,000
128,000
|
128,000 |
|
127,800
127,800
|
127,800 |
|
124,400
124,400
|
124,400 |
|
123,900
123,900
|
123,900 |
|
120,000
120,000
|
120,000 |
|
118,300
6,300
|
6,300 |
|
||
|
116,600
116,600
|
116,600 |
|
116,000
41,000
|
41,000 |
|
|
||
|
115,700
115,700
|
115,700 |
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused and each table will play last seven hands before the surviving players will bag their advancing stacks.
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Galen Hall reshoved for roughly 15,000 over David Peters' raise. Peters called and they were off to the races.
David Peters: 
Galen Hall: 
The board ran 
and Hall doubled after spiking an ace on the turn.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
35,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
|
||
|
20,000
-18,500
|
-18,500 |
|
|
||
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Action was on the river with a board of 
and there was a pot of roughly 30,000 already in the middle of the table. Sam Cohen was facing off against one other opponent and she was on the button. Action checked over to her and she moved all in with her stack of 18,900. He opponent dropped into the tank.
After over a minute, Valentin Vornicu who was also at the table called the clocked.
"I've called the clock on this same guy three times already," Vornicu said.
The floor was called over and the player was given a 30-second clock. At the very end of his time, he decided to call, but Cohen showed 
for the nut flush and she scooped the pot for a double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
80,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
We caught the action when Greg Merson four-bet from the second position, following Gaurav Raina's three-bet to 7,500 on the button. Raina called and they continued to the flop with an inflated pot in the middle.
The dealer revealed 
and Merson fired 16,800. Raina called.
The turn saw Merson check and Raina took his time before checking back.
The 
river paired the board and Merson checked one more time. Raina thought for a moment but then decided to play it safe and knuckled back.
Merson had a tough time against his opponent's range on that texture as the board looked all but pleasant for his 
. Raina indeed hit much better, showing 
for a turned straight.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
145,000 | |
|
|
||
|
51,000
-42,000
|
-42,000 |
|
||
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
A player opened in middle position to 2,500 and another player at the table called. Kitty Kuo called from the small blind before Jerry Wong made it 11,800 from the big blind. Action folded around back to Kuo who took a look at Wong's stack before calling.
The flop was 
and Kuo checked to Wong who bet 13,500. Kuo looked at Wong's stack again, then put forth a stack of orange T5,000 chips, enough to put Wong all in. Wong snap-called.
Kitty Kuo: 
Jerry Wong:
The turn was the which made Wong a massive favorite in the hand with a set, but Kuo got there on the river when the 
came, filling in her straight. Kuo laughed after the hand and stuck her tongue out a couple of times in jest as she raked in the pot. Wong wasn't offended though. He gave Kuo a hug, asked her in the hand was going to be on her twitter, then asked for a photo-op. He headed to the rail while Kuo scooped up another massive pot to put her just under 200,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
190,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Justin Bonomo has been storming through 2018 like a hurricane. His heater is already comparable to those of Fedor Holz or Dan Colman, and it's debatable whether Bonomo has already exceeded them - and we're still in the first half of the year.
After crushing high rollers elsewhere in town, Bonomo arrived in Rio to play for bracelets. And, of course, he immediately snatched one today when he came out on top in the $10k Heads-Up event.
When you ride a gigantic wave of success, why'd you stop? That seems a rule for Bonomo who recently took his seat in the $5k NLH event. He's already up to 105,000.
The latest player to experience Bonomo's unbeatable aura was Christian Harder. We arrived at the table when a 
flop was dealt and Harder fired 6,500 from under the gun. Bonomo called in the hijack and there was at least one player also on the flop. However, Harder and Bonomo remained heads-up to the turn as no other calls were made.
The turn was the and both players checked. The 
river then double paired the board and Harder checked again. Bonomo threw in enough chips to cover Harder's remaining 16,000. Harder grabbed his cards, lifted them in the air, looked at them and then threw in his chips.
Bonomo showed 
for a boat and Harder exited the tournament, mucking his cards. The dealer turned them up as it was an all-in situation, and it became clear that Harder was calling with pocket aces.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
105,000 | |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
180,000
-30,000
|
-30,000 |
|
|
178,000
133,000
|
133,000 |
|
|
170,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
129,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
95,000
36,000
|
36,000 |
|
|
||
|
87,000
-28,000
|
-28,000 |
|
80,000
-13,300
|
-13,300 |
|
68,000 | |
|
|
60,000
18,000
|
18,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
50,000
36,000
|
36,000 |
|
50,000
16,000
|
16,000 |
|
|
||
|
45,000
2,500
|
2,500 |
|
|
||
|
40,000
1,500
|
1,500 |
|
|
38,500
-6,500
|
-6,500 |
|
|
||
|
37,000
-1,000
|
-1,000 |
|
|
||
|
36,000
-49,000
|
-49,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
33,000
17,000
|
17,000 |
|
|
||
|
32,000
-15,000
|
-15,000 |
|
24,000
-2,000
|
-2,000 |
|
|
||
|
18,500
-2,700
|
-2,700 |
|
|
||
|
15,000
5,500
|
5,500 |
|
14,500
-2,500
|
-2,500 |
|
14,500
3,700
|
3,700 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |