Chris Johnson opened in middle position to 1,100 and Roland Deslippe flatted from the small blind. Stephen Diamantas took a quick peek at his cards and tossed out a raise of 3,300. Johnson was quick to put in a four-bet, making it 8,000 to go. Deslippe folded and Diamantas asked Johnson if he could move his hands so he could see his stack.
Diamantas sat there for a moment, his hand perched on top of his cards, protecting them as if his life depended on it. Johnson looked intently at Diamantas while he decided what to do. Ultimately Diamantas put in a five-bet to 15,300. Johnson quickly folded.
Diamantas might not be a big name in the Las Vegas poker world, but in Florida he's done quite well for himself with two six-figure scores over the last seven months at big regional events in Tampa, where he resides.
The board read when we found Scott Baumstein and Alex Gelinski heads up in a hand. Baumstein acted first on the turn and dropped out a bet of 1,275. Gelinski called and the completed the board on the river.
Baumstein reached for chips once again, this time dropping forward 2,325. Gelinski instantly called and Baumstein rolled over for queens and deuces. Gelinski held better, though, showing for a winning two pair of aces and deuces. He took down the pot, leaving Baumstein with about 68,500 in chips.
"Seat open Table 438," we heard a dealer yell. We made our way over to discover that Josh Arieh, who finished third in the 2004 WSOP Main Event and runner-up in Event #35: $5,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold'em earlier this summer, had just been eliminated at the hands of Minnesota's Jason Seitz.
It happened when Arieh shoved his last 5,300 holding and Seitz woke up with . An ace on the flop sealed Arieh's fate, and he made an early exit from the Day 2a field.
On one of the secondary feature tables, Tom McEvoy opened for a raise and Maria Mayrinck three-bet. It was folded back to McEvoy who let his hand go as well. Mayrinck showed and told McEvoy "I'm not bluffing this soon."
Not sure if McEvoy believed her. Mayrinck is a poker player after all.
Well, it didn't take long for the first player to fall in the Day 2a field over in the Amazon Room. On the first hand of the day online superstar Chun Lei "samrostan" Zhou, the man formerly known as "patpatpanda," was sent to the rail by Salman Behbehani.
It appeared Behbehani had raised from the button, Zhou defended from the small blind, and then the latter called bets on both the flop and turn. When the completed the board on the river, Zhou checked and then called off when Behbehani moved all in.
Behbehani rolled over for a flopped flush, and it was good as Zhou sent his cards to the muck before making his way toward the exit.
On one of the first hands of the day Dan Kelly raised to 1,200 under the gun plus one and the player on his direct left announced a three-bet to 2,800.
The action folded back around to Kelly who quickly made the call.
The flop came down and Kelly checked to Kobayashi who bet 4,100. Kelly called and on the turn the hit.
Kelly checked again and Kobayashi moved all in for about 15,000 chips, and his opponent snap-called.
Kelly:
Kobayashi:
The Japanese player had a lower set and was looking for the final five in the deck, but the river brought the . Kobayashi, who kept smiling, thanked the players at his table and quietly left the Brasilia room.
The World Series of Poker Main Event is always a massive affair, as players aim to maneuver his or her way through a sea of entrants in order to achieve poker immortality.
One of the reasons that the game of poker attracts people from all over the world is that it’s a game that mentally challenges you to be your best. Knowing that bad beats will happen, bad play will get rewarded from time to time, and variance can creep up at any moment, what does it take to last?
Recently, PokerNews went on a quest to find out what qualities a poker player should possess to make it through a large-field tournament such as the WSOP Main Event.
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when we found Scott Baumstein and Alex Gelinski heads up in a hand. Baumstein acted first on the turn and dropped out a bet of 1,275. Gelinski called and the 
completed the board on the river.
for queens and deuces. Gelinski held better, though, showing 
for a winning two pair of aces and deuces. He took down the pot, leaving Baumstein with about 68,500 in chips.
and Seitz woke up with 
flop and 
turn. When the 
completed the board on the river, Zhou checked and then called off when Behbehani moved all in.
for a flopped flush, and it was good as Zhou sent his cards to the muck before making his way toward the exit.
and Kelly checked to Kobayashi who bet 4,100. Kelly called and on the turn the 
hit.
. Kobayashi, who kept smiling, thanked the players at his table and quietly left the Brasilia room.
