WSOP Hand of the Day: Kevin MacPhee vs. Tommy Vedes

World Series of Poker / Short-Stacked Shamus / 11 July 2011 / Leave a Comment

Kevin MacPhee made Tommy Vedes get up from his comfortable chair on Day 1d (Photo credit: PokerNews / WSOP.com)

As expected, Day 1d of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event drew the largest field of the four Day Ones, with 2,809 entrants choosing Sunday as the day to start their tourney journeys. While most thought Sunday would be the biggest Day One, few believed it would be quite that big, with the overall total number of entrants -- 6,865 -- well exceeding most predictions. Among that huge crowd who came yesterday were American players Kevin MacPhee and Tommy Vedes, and it was a hand between them that gives us Day 1d's WSOP Hand of the Day.

There were some other interesting hands from yesterday that might have been chosen, including one memorable one between 2009 $50K H.O.R.S.E. winner David Bach and Joe Moize in which the latter was eliminated. Moize won his Main Event seat via a state lottery. He told the table early on that he'd never played poker before, although his final hand -- in which he bet all of his stack into Bach's quad aces -- kind of gave that away. (Read about that one here.)

Another hand of note was won by end of Day 1d chip leader Maynard Little, a huge-pot hand that in fact resembles in some ways the one played between MacPhee and Vedes. (See here.)

Tommy Vedes caught our eye early on thanks to the fact that unlike everyone else in the Pavilion Room, he was sitting in a large, reclining office chair he'd brought in especially for the occasion. Not quite sure how he was able to get away with doing so -- indeed, I'd covered an event earlier in the Series when a player had tried to swap his seat for an unused dealer's chair and was told he couldn't as it would give him an unfair advantage. But no one seemed to have a problem with it yesterday, and Vedes was thus allowed to use his throne-like chair all afternoon and into the early evening.

Adding to his comfort level was the fact that Vedes was steadily accumulating chips, and by the end of Level 4 (blinds 150/300, ante 25) had around 50,000. Meanwhile, MacPhee, sitting in a less comfortable chair to Vedes' right, had about 55,000 when the following hand took place.

We picked up on the hand after the flop, which had come 6h-10s-Ks. The scene suggested a cutoff raise had been called by both MacPhee (small blind) and Vedes (big blind). Those two checked to the preflop raiser who bet 2,300, and MacPhee called the bet. Vedes then check-raised to 6,100, the cutoff got out, and MacPhee called.

The turn was the 7h and MacPhee again checked. Vedes bet 9,100 -- probably between 1/2 and 2/3 of the pot -- and MacPhee responded by shoving all in for the 40,000 or so he had left. Vedes called, showing Kd-10h for top two pair, while MacPhee tabled Qh-Jh for an open-ended straight draw plus a flush draw. With one card to come, Vedes was about a 70% favorite to win, but the Ac on the river gave MacPhee the Broadway straight and the 100,000-plus chip pot, and sent Vedes to the rail.

In this one both MacPhee and Vedes picked up playable hands in the blinds -- particularly with stacks so deep -- and the flop fit both players' holdings well enough to encourage further action. MacPhee picked up extra flush outs with the heart on the turn and decided to put Vedes to the test.

Both players were gambling, of course, with Vedes committing all of his chips and MacPhee most of his in a spot where either could be significantly behind (the made straight being possible). In other words, it wasn't necessarily one of those inevitable blind-vs.-blind hands in which the players were destined to get it all in, but a combination of factors -- including the significant presence of the third player postflop -- that had helped create just such a circumstance.

On his way out, Vedes wheeled his big office chair to the side of the room, then sent a tweet: "@WSOPTD Left you a gift for your office, see a floor guy in the black section. Good job running the show again. #itscomfy."

Day 2a is just getting started, so check over at PokerNews' live reporting to see what big hands arise today as the field -- the third-largest in WSOP ME history -- continues to shrink.