Arun Kumar Singh opened to 1,300 from the cutoff once action folded around to him, and he was met with a 3-bet to 5,500 from Andre Noce in the small blind. He made the call and the two went heads-up to the flop.

Both players checked on the flop, and Andre fired 11,000 once the dealer pealed a on the turn. Arun called the bet, and a was dealt on the river. After a quick pause, Andre announced he was all-in, and without hesitation Arun threw in some calling chips and tabled for a full house.

Andre flipped over for a lower full-house, and then cut out 56,400 chips to pay his opponent. Andre’s once chip-leading stack was more than cut in half during this hand, bringing him back near the current average stack of 48.5K.

The players continue to grind away at Day 1D, presently at level 8. The average stack is near 50,000, with a total of 147 currently still sitting in their seats out of a total of 237 entries. With more than an hour left in the registration period, there is still plenty of time to come down and make a last minute appearance.

And while the two players featured in the photo may or may not make the cut at the end of the day, both of them have already won something: each other’s respect and friendship! So come to Playground and experience some of the fun at the felt at the WPT 500, you never know what you’ll find!

Midway through level 6, there is still plenty of hands to play.  The night is over however for Nghi van Tran, who just busted with an ill-timed bluff versus Michael Korovine at table 79.

Six players decided to limp in and see the flop after an initial bet from of 800 from Gieseppe Niro, who is back for a second try at Day 1 today.

Flop:

All six players checked the flop.

Turn:

Korovine was utg in seat 4, and he bet 3K. It was enough to send 4 players packing, not surprising considering the amount of limps and checks during the initial stages of the hand. Tran re-raised to 8K, however, which would turn out to be a fateful choice. He was called by Korovine.

River:

Korovine checked again utg.  Sensing this was his moment, Tran shoved all in. He was mistaken. Korovine called the all in, and Tran threw away his cards in disgust without even waiting to see what Korovine had, knowing instantly that his timing was off on the bluff.

Tran walked away from the table without even flipping his cards. The dealer was forced to flip his hand over for him, which was a nothing nothing 9-3 off suit. Korovine gladly flipped over his two pair (Kings and 7s), something he had had since the flop, officially ending Tran`s night.

As the entries mount (now at 203), it is time for the players to take their first break of the evening. While the players grabbed an opportunity to stretch their legs and take a breather away from the table, we took the opportunity to quickly tally up the stacks at the empty tables.

While it is still in the early goings, some chip leaders have begun to distance themselves from the pack, Pascal Monarque foremost among them.