2011 World Poker Tour Prague Day 1a: Ranik Running Away
Day 1a of the World Poker Tour Prague kicked off on Thursday at the Corinthia Casino in the Czech Republic. Of the 231 players who entered on Day 1a, only 93 have advanced to Day 2. Leading the way with an impressive stack of 209,300 is Jan Ranik .
Those who were eliminated on the day have another chance on Friday because they are able to re-enter on Day 1b. Plenty of the eliminated players will be taking another shot, while the ones who advanced have a day off before returning for Day 2.
There were quite a few notable players in action on Day 1a. Among those who got behind a stack of chips were Toby Lewis, Andy Frankenberger and Melanie Weisner. All were eliminated on the day. Lewis was bounced when he ran pocket kings into pocket aces, and Weisner hit the rail thanks to Bryan Piccioli.
Frankenberger was done shortly after he ran pocket queens into Vojtech Ruzicka's pocket kings. He was crippled on the hand and sent his last 6,000 or so chips into the middle with pocket fives. According to the WPT Live Update Team, an opponent who held AxQx finished him off.
Chris Moorman was also eliminated. He raised from late position before Marty Smyth flatted. Another player squeezed in a reraise before Moorman jammed all-in. Smyth reshoved holding A♦A♥ and that knocked the squeezer out of the way. Moorman held Q♠8♣ and couldn't get lucky.
A few other notables moving on to Day 2 include Eoghan O'Dea (132,600), Grayson Ramage (128,300), Chris McClung (112,700), Dermot Blain (105,000), Brynn Kenney (48,600) and Vitaly Lunkin (38,900).
Day 1b began at 1400 CET (0500 PST) on Friday. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for the daily recap and to find out if anyone was able to eclipse the mark set by Ranik on Day 1a.
*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.
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