Under the gun, Matthew Waxman opened to 46,000, and Tam Ly called next door, across the dealer from Waxman. Two seats over from them, Chris Bonita squeezed all in for an additional 284,000 on top. Waxman tanked for a good long while before surrendering, and Ly gave his opponent just a cursory stare-down before his cards hit the muck as well.
On the first hand of the day, the table folded around to the blinds, and we nearly looked away for a moment. Brandon Croft was in the small blind, and he opened the pot to 70,000. From the big blind, Mike Summers announced a reraise all in for his 466,000. After a moment to make sure, Croft made the call, and Summers was in danger as the cards were turned up:
Croft:
Summers:
There was an ace on the flop for Summers as it came to pull him into a big lead. The turn didn't change anything, and the river sealed the deal and the double for the at-risk player.
Things change quickly around here, and that first pot of the day was worth nearly a million chips. Put Summers at 959,000 now, while Croft falls out of the chip lead and back under a million with 928,000.
John Arthur spent a few minutes on the mic introducing the players to the room. Matthew Waxman lists his favorite poker player as fellow-Floridian Mike Beasley, and that announcement draws a big belly laugh from the players and spectators gathered along the rail.
The nine have been introduced, and the dealer has been given the command. With 20 minutes left in the level, the cards are in the air at this Main Event final table!
(And we've got some action brewing on the very first hand!)
Welcome back to Harrahs Atlantic City for the final table of the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event.
A field of 352 is left with just nine hopefuls, looking to earn the title of champion and the first-place prize of $117,797. Leading the way is Brandon Croft with 1,397,000, but we all know that entering the final table with a chip lead does not necessarily translate into a victory. Matthew Waxman is right on Croft's heels with 1,334,000 and will be looking to claim the crown. Here is how the final table shapes up:
Seat 1: Tam Ly - 738,000
Seat 2: Dave Cubeta - 434,000
Seat 3: Chris Bonita - 339,000
Seat 4: Mark Sykes - 1,024,000
Seat 5: Brandon Croft - 1,397,000
Seat 6: Mike Summers - 469,000
Seat 7: Manish Patel - 194,000
Seat 8: Jesus Cabrera - 1,128,000
Seat 9: Matthew Waxman - 1,334,000
It should be an exciting afternoon and we are scheduled to get under way in about half an hour. PokerNews will be live from the tournament floor then. See you at the top of the hour!