WSOP What To Watch For: Ty Stewart Going for the Gold
The 2012 World Series of Poker kicked off on Sunday at noon. Not only is PokerNews proud to once again be the official live reporting team of the WSOP, we're proud to bring you a new series: What To Watch For. This series will take a look at the biggest story lines from 2012 WSOP events held inside the walls of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. First up, we have Event 1: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em.
WSOP Executive Director Stewart Making a Splash
Ty Stewart, executive director for the World Series of Poker and vice president of Caesars Interactive Entertainment, is one of the most influential people in the industry, let alone at the WSOP. Every year, Stewart enters this event and has a blast playing with casino colleagues from all over the world. This year was no different, and Stewart started things off having a blast. He was fortunate enough to make Day 2 of the event and will enter with 69,900 in chips.
Previously, Stewart's best finish in this event was in 2010 when he took 61st place for $1,070. With only 46 players returning for Day 2 on Monday, he has already bested that showing and guaranteed himself a minimum of $1,281. It would be absolutely amazing to see Stewart make the final table, let alone go on to win this thing.
Routos Dominating
For the better portion of Day 1, Jamie Routos' name was at the top of the chip counts. He stormed out of the gate and didn't seem to look back, an astonishing feat in itself given how volatile tournament poker can be in a faster structure. Routos bullied and busted opponents all day long while building his stack higher and higher. At the end of the day, he finished on 146,900 in chips and found himself right at the top once again in second place into Day 2.
Often in tournaments, you see a player jump out to an early chip lead but then seem to have the momentum taper off as things progress toward the end. Whether or not Routos' momentum continues to power him through is yet to be seen and certainly something to watch for when Day 2 rolls around.
Three Women Left
When the money bubble broke with the fall of Joshua Bailey in 82nd place, the remaining 81 players were all in the money. Among those players locking up a cash were nine women. When it was time to bag and tag, three of the nine to cash were still alive. Carisa Schweisberger finished with the most chips of those three with 76,400 while Trish Baker bagged up 36,400 and Amy Brady bagged up 31,000. All had a solid Day 1 and will be looking to get their hands on a very special piece of WSOP jewelry come Day 2.
As always, you can find PokerNews' coverage of the 2012 WSOP on our Live Reporting Pages. We look forward to having you follow along and stay tuned for plenty more from our What To Watch For series.
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