Event 15: $550 Main Event [Day 1a]
Structure Chips counts Prizepool
Photo Gallery
Day 1a Day 1b Day 1c Day 2 Day 3
"Chip Leader Sam Higgs"
March 20, 2009
We're Done!
330 players turned out for flight one of the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series Main Event and the action didn't disappoint!After six and a half hours of play only 131 would survive to bag their chips with Sam Higgs being the flight one chip leader with a heavily-bagged 175,300 in chips.
Joe Hachem, Grant Levy, Michael Guzzardi, Gaz Edwards and Billy 'the Croc' Argyros would all fall and be forced to decide on whether or not to Repechage. Dean Nyberg (167,900 in chips), Vlad Veljanoski (133,000), Kent Hunter (129,500) and Dave Lee (109,900) would all be sitting in great position come Saturday when all three flights combine.
However the greatest story from today would be Chris Christofi who just a few levels earlier was down to his last 6,500. Following a great rush of cards, some luck and great play Christofi would work his final stack all the way up to third chip position to sit with 144,400 in chips.
Tomorrow however is expecting an even larger turnout with an even greater collection of players forking out $550. Jay 'Seabeast' Kinkade, Jonathan 'xMONSTERxDONGx' Karamalikis, Van Marcus, Lee Nelson and Tino Lechich are just a few of the players expected.
Make sure to join PokerNetwork tomorrow live from 12:10pm local time where we hope to add another $150,000 to the prizepool in the countdown to crowning a Main Event Champion.
For all you poker junkies at home make sure to jump on over to follow all the action from the final table of the $2,700 High Stakes Hold'em.
Tuam Lam And Ben Savage Are Off To The Repechage
As mentioned before there is nothing more painful then playing for a whole day only to get knocked out on the last hand of the day.Well that is exactly what happened to Tuam Lam and Ben Savage.
All the money went in preflop.
Sam Higgs:
Tuan Lam:
Ben Savage:
The board ran out 9 high meaning that both Tuan Lam and Ben Savage have been eliminated from Day 1a
Sam Higgs is now on 175,000 and he is now the clear chip leader after Day 1A.
Jumping James Doubles Just Before The Close Of Play!
High profile Pokernews reporter James Bernard Doubles up on the last hand of the day.The player in middle position raised to 2,500 and Bernard flatted in the cut off. Along with the big blind who also called three players went to the flop.
On the flop of
the player in the big blind insta-shoved his 27,000 stack into the middle of the table. This was enough to move the original raiser off his hand but Bernard wasn't convinced.'Do you have a 2?' Bernard asked as soon as he did this the other player smiled and Bernard snap called.
Bernard flipped over
and was estatic to see the other player turn over 
for complete air.The
turn brought a bit of sweat to Bernards brow as his opponent now had outs to a flush.The river was the
James Bernard doubles up to 50,200 and his opponent is crippled and destined to have a few nightmares in his sleep tonight.
End Of Day 1A
The last card has been dealt and the room is alive with players bagging their chips and preparing for day 2 action.Be sure to keep following here for final chip counts as well as a summary of Day 1a of the Joe Hachem Deep Stach Series Main Event.
A Special Hello To All Of Our Readers!
I have been asked to say a special Hello to everyone following on from home on behalf of Reuben.Reuben was a somewhat inebriated gentleman who just came up to have a chat to me. He was so amazed that I was reporting what was happening here to you at home that he asked if he could be a part of it.
So hello to you all from Reuben, one of the sweetest drunks I have ever met.
Tightening Up
It seems that a lot of players have set making Day 2 as a goal for themselves here today.The play has tightened up quite dramaticaly before the end as it seems that most people would like to tell their family and friends that they made it to day two of a major tournament.
For the sheer enjoyment of seeing other peoples downfall we will be paying extra special attention to any bustouts that happen over the next few hands.
Three More Hands
Tournament Director Jonno Pittock has paused the tournament clocks with five minutes to go and instructed the dealers to deal three more hands, after which today's first flight will come to a close.
"Yes . . . definitely got tilt!"
March 20, 2009
TassieDevil Dusted
Six players saw the flop including PokerNetwork's own Heath 'TassieDevil' Chick.The flop fell down
and Chick led for 5,000 and was only called by the under the gun limper. With the turn peeling the 
Chick's opponent checked which prompted him to move all in for his last 15,500 and was immediately called.Chick:
Opponent:
With Chick drawing dead, he sat there emotionless and blank as he witnessed another tournament go whizzing by for this online cash game pro.
Chick rose to feet and vacated the tournament floor after the
landed on the river and was bound to re-enter on Saturday in the repechage.
First Hand Horror For Junior!
As the first flight of this Main Event comes to a close, we were lucky to catch the very first hand of Anthony Hachem's casino poker career in his "Birthday Sit 'N' Go Special."Though it's going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons - Dennis Huntly and Junior got their chips all-in after a flop of
-rag with two clubs.Huntly:
Junior:
(suited)Though Junior was ahead, Huntly had both a gutshot straight draw and a flush draw.
"I can see the bad beat coming, it's hereditary!" said Father Joseph. Sure enough, after another
came on the turn, the 
landed on the river to fill Huntly's straight!The Hachem Brothers were quick to fish out the wallets for Junior's first rebuy!
