WSOP Event #36: Chino Rheem Barely Fails To Dominate The Field

With 1,695 participants, the $2,000 No Limit Hold'em Event counted a total of 305 late arrivals - including the likes of Andy Bloch, Nenad Medic and Allen Cunningham. Not all of them made a Phil Hellmuth appearance, though, and players like Kathy Liebert, Vitaly Lunkin, Theo Tran and many others could be found seated on their table on time.

J.C. Tran - who has just recently won his second WSOP bracelet - and Jason Mercier were among the amongst the early victims of the day. They didn't have to wait for company too long, as Antonio Esfandiari, Allen Cunningham and Theo Tran would join them behind the rails soon enough.

With a prize pool of $3,084,900, first place was worth $586,212 in prize money. Chino Rheem seemed to be on a good path to get there as he was able to take an early advantage and dominated the field with 49,000 in chips just shortly after the first break.

One of his first victims was Steve Gross who bet 625 on the flop - Rheem check-raised him and called Gross' all-in 3-bet. Gross was out in front with his , but Rheem caught a two-pair on the turn as it came down to his . The on the river didn't change the outcome as Gross was sent to the rails. It's never nice to take your leave from a tournament - even less so in case it's on a pre-flop all-in with aces. Liv Boeree (pictured left) had to suffer that fate today: when someone shoved all-in from early position with and someone else from middle position made the call with , she couldn't have wished for a better spot to get it in with her . The on the turn however turned the hand into a nightmare and Boeree will probably be left wondering "why me?" for the rest of the night.

A short-stacked Ylon Schwartz had to take his leave, too, when he shoved only to saw himself down to three outs when running into . The hit the the flop and he was now looking for running cards; but it didn't happen and he was done for the day.

In a notable hand, David Pham was involved in a four-way all-in - and got more than lucky. He was way behind with his against , and . On the flop, it looked like the player holding the ace would get lucky, but when turn and river came , everyone made a wheel and the four players chopped the pot. Just minutes later, Pham was eliminated as he lost a coin-flip with 77 against Q9.

Kathy Liebert was able to triple up with a very short stack in a three-way all-in. After shoving with , two players decided it was a good spot to gamble and try getting rid of her, calling with and respectively. While they failed to catch, Liebert made two-pair and was back to 6,900 in chips. The following push wasn't so lucky, though, as her ran into Al Barbieri's . She couldn't improve and was eliminated at the end of day one.

Chino Rheem (pictured right) also took a late hit before play was stopped. While he had been up to 137,000 in chips, he dropped a lot when he decided to call his opponent's all-in with on the flop. Even though his flush draw was good, he was in bad shape against the opposing top set with . Rheem couldn't improve and was down to 68,000.

Corwin Cole did better as he will return with a comfortable chip lead and a stack of 185,700 tomorrow. Guillaume De La Gorce and Chino Rheem - who had been chip leader for most of the day - will have to try and catch up again in day two. The tournament was an action-packed event so far, with only 213 players making it past the first day.

World Series Of Poker Event #36 Standings
Rank	Name	Chips
1st	Corwin Cole	185,700
2nd	Balasz Botond	160,000
3rd	Guillaume De La Gorce	148,700
4th	Dustin Dirksen	145,000
5th	Philip Sparta	145,000
6th	Karec Terrell	143,900
7th	Jordan Rich	128,900
8th	Theo Goethals	126,400
9th	Jonathan Plens	123,800
10th	Jason Gray	122,700