The biggest and most prestigious tournament in the world of poker, the WSOP Main Event kicked off on July 3 at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The event began with Day 1A – the first of 3 starting flights. A total of 1,335 entries were registered for Day 1A of the $10K NLH Main Event.
After five 2-hour levels of action, only 990 players advanced to Day 2AB out of the 1,335 entries. The bracelet winner Bryan Campanello managed to bag an impressive 417,500 and he will be leading the 990 Day 1A survivors to Day 2AB on July 6. Campanello had pocket tens and he rivered a full house against his opponent’s straight to move into the chip lead during the level 4 of the Day 1A.
2015 The Wynn Summer Classic $1600 NLH Event winner Raymond Travis Rice (335,000) and Timothy Su (297,300) ended the day as second and third in chips. 2016 WSOP Main Event champion Qui Nguyen chipped up nicely through the day and bagged a stack of 180,500, while 2003 WSOP Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker managed to bag 95,000 to qualify from the day.
Other notable players who progressed to Day 2AB included the likes of Patrick Serda (216,700), Jared Bleznick (189,100), Jeff Lisandro (180,100), Alex Foxen (173,200), Faraz Jaka (174,100), Martin Kabrhel (164,500), Jack Sinclair (153,800), Kelly Minkin (137,100), Billy Baxter (131,500), Brian Hastings (124,200), Elio Fox (73,400), Erik Seidel (57,400), and Stephen Chidwick (45,000) to name a few.
Team India
Progressing among 990 Day 1A survivors were five Indians and leading them was Abhinav Iyer who managed to bag 79,500 (99 big blinds). Currently holding $232,227 in live earnings, Iyer has been in amazing form over the last few months and his best score had come just this year in January when he won APT Vietnam Main Event for a hefty $98,055 in top prize. The player has scored several final table finishes on the international felts and will be looking for a deep run in the Main Event.
Trailing Iyer was Delhi’s Satchit Kapur who bagged 59,100 in chips. Vikram ‘Lungi’ Kumar, one of the late arrivals at the ongoing series, ended the day with 45,300. The other 2 Indians to progress were Rohan Dhawan (23,000) and the veteran Jasven Saigal who managed to bag just 18,600.
Top 10 Chip Counts At Day 1A End:
- Bryan Campanello – 417,500
- Raymond Travis Rice – 335,000
- Timothy Su – 297,300
- Quentin Roussey – 266,400
- Takehiro Kato – 259,200
- Charidimos Demetriou – 252,000
- Craig Chait – 249,600
- Stephen Graner – 247,100
- Mark Zullo – 245,600
- David Lolis – 245,100
