2013 World Series of Poker

Day 1 of Event #45: $1,500 Ante Only tournament has come to an end. After 939 entered last year’s inaugural Ante Only tournament, 678 players started the this year, generating a prize pool of $915,300. There would be 72 players to enjoy those riches with each guaranteed $2,581. Only one player could win the top prize and the gold bracelet. That top prize equated to $201,399.

In this very interesting format players were given a starting stack of 4,500 in chips. There were no blinds but only antes. Each player started the day having to ante 25 chips each. By the end of the day they were anteing 400 each. This created a lot of action and many multi-way pots. Some people could not handle or figure out the structure but others handled it as a way to dominate their competition.

One player to have no troubles with this Ante Only format was the chip leader Chris Moorman. He found every opportunity to gain many chips from his opponents. At the end of the day he took his starting stack of 4,500 and turned it into a monster stack of 143,900. His next closet competitor Sam Panzica had 118,000. Other notables who stayed on top of the counts were Aaron Massey (99,200), Gabriel Nassif (89,500), Allen Cunningham (83,400), and David Vamplew (78,000).

Many players had troubles figuring out the ebbs and flows of the ante structure. Those that did not make it to day 2 were Jennifer Tilly, Phil Hellmuth, Rex Clinkscales, Vince Van Patten, Jake Schwartz, Brent Hanks, and defending champion Greg Hobson. Hobson was eliminated early when he got his flush draw in three ways but did not catch.

An interesting scenario occurred in the last ten minutes of play. The staff told the dealers to deal three more hands and then bag up for the night. The tournament only needed to eliminate five players to reach the bubble at that time. Within three hands four players were eliminated and the bubble was upon the event. The staff decided to play through the bubble and went hand for hand. Robert Tepper assumed after losing set over set that he was the bubble boy. But after calculating the chips the tournament discovered Tepper had actually been the 72nd place finisher. That meant he got to receive $2,581.

The other 71 players will come back tomorrow at 1:00 pm PST. All the players have reached the money. They will play 10 levels or until a final table has been reached. Stay tuned to PokerNews to find out which players will make the final table in this second installment of the Ante Only Event.

The bubble has burst on the first hand of hand for hand. During the hand Robert Tepper was eliminated. He found himself in a cooler situation when he got his in on the turn of a board of . His opponent Kazou Oshima flipped over a bigger set of . The river came out the . That officially ended the tournament for Tepper.

Tepper started heading for the exit assuming he was the bubble boy. The staff stopped him and let him know that after verifying the counts Tepper was actually in the money and not the bubble. This meant that Tepper was not the bubble boy and had been the 72nd finisher. This also meant Tepper got to walk out of here with $2,581 for his min-cash. He was ecstatic to find out he made some money.

The remaining 71 players were also relieved to find out that they too were in the money. They cheered as they all started bagging up there chips. The players finished play today and will be back tomorrow at 1:00 pm.

An interesting scenario has happened as we the player count reads 73 players. The players will play through the bubble instead of just the three hands. This will allow all players to return to tomorrow in the money.

The tournament floor has just announced that the players will play three more hands and then bag up the chips for the night. He instructed the dealers to let the staff know if a bust out occurs as we are five away from the money and there is a slim chance of the bubble hitting tonight.

Blair Hinkle was all in and at risk preflop. His opponent had him covered and had the best hand when they flipped up their cards.

Hinkle:
Opponent:

Hinkle needed his CB hand to come from behind. The flop gave Hinkle the chance as it came . The turn however came the and put Hinkle in a serious hole. But the river did not send Hinkle out as it came another .

With that Hinkle got trip fours and sucked out on his opponent. He doubled to 23,000 which is much needed as the players approach the bubble.

With the bubble looming, and players forced to ante up on every deal, the shorter stacks in the room have started to sweat.

Byran "The Icon" Micon, on the other hand, just played things cool.

After dwindling down to around 12,000 during the last level, Micon remained patient and waited for his spot. When he woke up with , his last chips went into the middle, and with a full house by the turn "The Icon" secured a desperately needed double.

As has been the custom here at the 2013 World Series of Poker, the field has pared itself down in short order through the first 10 levels of play, and the money bubble is quickly approaching here on the first day of play.

Just ten eliminations stand between the surviving 83 players and a WSOP cash, which means play figures to tighten up considerably during the last level.

We will be sure to keep you updated if and when hand-for-hand play begins, and if the bubble does burst tonight, we will make every effort to relay the brutal details as they happen.