All-in gambles and bustouts get more frequent at World Series of Poker as cards trim field

Bustouts get more rapid at World Series of Poker

LAS VEGAS — All-in gambles and eliminations sped up at the World Series of Poker on Monday as 424 players were knocked out from the main event within two hours of their third session, trimming the field nearly 17 percent.

All 2,557 players left in the no-limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament began Monday playing at the same time for the first time during the marathon event. The first two sessions were split over multiple days.

“They’re just playing fast,” Tournament Director Jack Effel said. “They don’t have to go broke now — they choose to go broke now.”

Another 45 players were bounced within 15 minutes of their third hour.

Players started Monday with an average of 85,870 chips, nearly three times their original stack of 30,000 chips.

Top prize in the tournament is $8.94 million, and players aren’t eliminated until all their chips are gone.

Paul Hegyi, the 33-year-old chief of staff for California Assemblyman Van Tran, said after eliminating an opponent with a pair of queens that his table was not as loose as he expected.

“You hear a lot of all-ins, so I thought it’d be very aggressive,” Hegyi said. “But this table is very tight.”

His opponent had gambled with an ace high.

“I thought I had him beat,” Hegyi said.

Dealers announced each all-in gamble that was called by an opponent, while tournament staff shuffled players from outer tables into newly empty seats.

Trevor Taylor, a 31-year-old factory worker from Kitchener, Ontario, got up and turned his back to his table as he gambled all his chips with two sixes on a board with a four and two deuces, including two hearts.

Ludvik Ludviksson of Seltjarnarnes, Iceland raised Taylor’s bet to 30,000 chips, but Alexander Wice of Toronto pushed in a tall stack of chips, testing Ludviksson’s tournament. A red-faced Ludviksson folded after long consideration, and said he had the best hand after Wice revealed an ace-high flush draw.

The win tripled Taylor’s stack.

“If he wouldn’t have re-raised, I’d have been screwed,” he said.

Tournament officials expected players to not reach the money until Tuesday night. The top 747 players will win at least $19,000 after buying into the tournament for $10,000 each.