WSOP Main Event: Quads

by C.J. Hoyt

If you had to pick one way to get welcomed to a new table, there's not really a better way to do in than doubling up with Quad Queens's. I suppose you could triple up with a Royal Flush, but we don't want to get crazy here.

Brian "toocharming" Vaughan spent 40 Frequent Player Points and found himself in the World Series of Poker Main Event. When he got moved to Table 146, he had barely made any headway from his starting stack. That's when he looked down at two lovely ladies. The flop brought a third Queen and the turn brought the fourth. And with that, Brian was feeling a lot better about his 23,000.

Travis "travdawgks" Garrod has been at Table 146 all day, and he's hoping his 16,000 will be enough to get him to Day 2. Brian "Showbizzzz" Gass isn't nearly as worried. He's worked his stack up to an impressive 40,000 chips.

Table 135

Ted "$urebet" Spencer has been dying to give me updates all day. Unfortunately, he hasn't quite found the right hand. This last time I walked by, he gave me a frown and fingered his small stack.

"I'm still at about 10,000..." he said, trailing off. I could sense the disappointment. It could have been much worse, though. The other PokerStars qualifier at his table, Ariel Schneller was out.

Table 162

This is the last update you'll get from this table. In fact, by the time I'm done typing this, there won't be a Table 162 anymore. It's the next table to break, and at this stage in the tournament, players are dropping fast.

Gordon "blotzilla" Cross had trouble counting his chips. It wasn't a math issue, there were just so many. With 35,000, he's in great shape. Endre "Loss Vegas" Eikeseth is still searching for his big hand at 14,000. Jim "Mooknows" Morris is in trouble. One big pot was pushed to the other guy in the hand, and Jim's down to just 5300. Sumit "Pool_shark_1" Kumar has worked his way up to 17,000.

The newcomer to the table is Stanley "StanDman" Statkiewicz. He says he plays only the biggest cash games on PokerStars. I'm not sure if that's for the other players at the table's benefit or not. Either way, Stanley's got a solid 19,500 at the moment.

Table 60

Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome didn't think she was going to last very long. She took a huge hit when her set ran into a bigger set. It's one of the worst feelings in poker. You see just what you want, and still lose a big pot. There's not a whole lot you can do.

"I actually feel pretty good, considering," Adrienne told me. She's got 11,000 and hoping to do some damage soon.

Table 123

At one point, they had more PokerStars players than any other table in the room. Seven of them were fighting for each other's chips. There's always a winner and loser in poker, however, and three of them are out.

Harinam "Gyr1" Khalsa is just hanging on with 8000. Team PokerStars member Emad Tahtouh is on a bit of a roller coaster, but he's up to 18,000 now. FPP Qualifier Tony "irishlust" Mucci is still rolling along with 25,000. And Seth Cohen is up to 15,000.

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All of these players now have one goal in mind: Day 2. With the clock winding down, no one wants to risk working all day just to have to go home now. But sitting back isn't going to win you money. It's a tough choice, but these players are looking for that perfect spot in the middle.