Day 1B of Zynga Poker WPT500 Las Vegas at Aria Resort and Casino is already in the books. The day saw a total of 239 entries but only 12 players managed to advance to Day 2. Marco Bognanni bagged 842,000 (105 big blinds) to emerge the chip leader among 12 survivors, while Adda52 Team Pro and India’s first female bracelet winner Nikita Luther ended with the fourth largest stack of 713,000. Luther took to twitter to update about her progress in the prestigious tournament:
After a looong grind 12 players advance to day2 from Day1B of WPT500 Aria. We bag one of the chip leads! Can we make the Final Table again?!? #Dream #TeamAdda52Pro pic.twitter.com/l8lQtIN2U8
— Nikita Luther (@nikitaluther) June 24, 2019
Along with Luther, there were two more Indian players progressing from Day 1B and they were Sanjay Taneja (171,000) and Meherzad Munsaf (151,000) who had recently won DPT Colossus 50K Warm Up in Goa. The payouts began during the day itself with the top 30 places receiving minimum $900. Darren Rabinowitz was the first player to finish in the money, taking home $900 for the 30th place, while the last player to exit was Zachary Mullennix who exited in 13th place for $1,200.
Luther is currently in good form. In February this year, she won the DPT 15K Deep Dive and just a few days back, the Delhi girl had cashed in the 2019 WSOP’s $ 1,500 NLH Bounty (Event #44) for $ 1,603. Two years back, Luther had finished 5th in the same event and once again she is on her way to the coveted final table as she progresses to Day 2 with a massive stack of 713,000 in chips.
- Marco Bognanni – 842,000
- Trey Morris – 820,000
- Mo Nuwwarah – 718,000
- Nikita Luther – 713,000
- Hong Zhang – 488,000
- Yo Hwan Lim – 339,000
- Colton Blomberg – 181,000
- Sanjay Taneja – 171,000
- Meherzad Munsaf – 151,000
- Rich Dixon – 145,000
- Noam Fater – 141,000
- Johannes Mueller – 72,000
Day 1A
Day 1A of Zynga Poker WPT500 Las Vegas ended with the 205-entry field coming down to just the final 11 players. Sung Joo Hyun ended the day as the chip leader with 690,000 in chips. There were several Indians participating on Day 1A but only the 2018 WPT Vietnam Main Event champion Dhaval Mudgal could survive and finished the day with a stack of 408,000. Mudal is 5th in chips.
Mudgal has already bagged three cashes in Las Vegas last month and will be looking to better his all previous scores when he returns for Day 2 in this event. The pay-outs began during the day itself with the top 26 receiving a minimum of $900. Among ITM players, there was one Indian Gokul Parvathaneni who cashed in 12th place for $1,200 and he was eliminated by Mudgal himself.
Day 1A chip counts:
- Sung Joo Hyun – 690,000
- Christopher Usude – 651,000
- David Wood – 645,000
- Mark Adkins – 641,000
- Dhaval Mudgal – 408,000
- Jeff Kim – 246,000
- Christopher Korotky – 239,000
- James Hundt – 211,000
- Helen Martynov – 169,000
- Marius Meier – 152,000
- Johnny La – 50,000
Day 1D & Day 1C
There were 113 entries for Turbo Flight 1D of Zynga Poker WPT500 Las Vegas (the same number of entries were registered on Day 1C) and only 6 players survived from the field with Sheldon Gross bagging 540,000 in chips to emerge as the chip leader. Here the chip counts of Day 1D Flight:
- Sheldon Gross – 540,000
- Michael Senter – 448,000
- Alfredo Fernandez – 435,000
- Mathieu Rabalison – 347,000
- T.K. Miles – 318,000
- Ryan DePaulo – 169,000
As for Day 1C, it also saw 113 entries and the chip leader to emerge was Zakhar Galper who bagged 615,000 in chips among the 6 survivors. Here the chip counts of the Day 1C survivors:
- Zakhar Galper – 615,000
- Adam Cader – 507,000
- John Caldwell – 449,000
- Jim Agate – 346,000
- Gina Bacon – 231,000
- Ilya Rogov – 112,000
Day 1E begins on Monday with the late registration and re-entry period closing at the start of level nine. Day 2 begins on Wednesday, June 26 and the final table will begin on Thursday, June 27.
