Mark Kroon and Michael Mizrachi Dominate Day 1c of 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event
The third and final starting flight of the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event took place on Monday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. As expected, Day 1c was the busiest of the three flights, as 3,467 players filled the three massive rooms of the Rio Convention Center. When registration closed, a total of 6,352 entrants had put up the $10,000 buy-in, creating a prize pool of $59,708,800. The eventual champion will take home a top prize of $8,359,531 as well as a bracelet worth $500,000.
Leading the way after Day 1c is Mark Kroon, who eliminated former November Niner Ylon Schwartz on the final hand of the night to increase his stack to 246,300. Joining Kroon in the 200K club was Imari Love, who was very active all day in the Amazon Room and finished with 214,300. Meanwhile, three-time bracelet winner and former WSOP Main Event finalist Michael Mizrachi ended the day third in chips after spending much of the afternoon as the chip leader.
UNOFFICIAL END-OF-DAY 1C CHIP COUNTS
| Place | Name | Chips |
| 1 | Mark Kroon | 246,300 |
| 2 | Imari Love | 214,300 |
| 3 | Michael Mizrachi | 176,100 |
| 4 | Frederik Brink Jensen | 169,975 |
| 5 | Kevin Doszak | 155,075 |
| 6 | Josh Pollock | 154,025 |
| 7 | Ercan Olgun | 147,550 |
| 8 | Joseph Cheong | 143,375 |
| 9 | Ryan Hughes | 139,900 |
| 10 | Darryl Ronconi | 136,125 |
Many of poker's biggest named entered the mix on the final Day 1 flight. Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier, Joe Hachem, Allen Cunningham, Nick Schulman, Antonio Esfandiari and Ben Lamb were amongst those in action today, and all of them advanced to Day 2. Two other well-known high-stakes superstars, Gus Hansen and Tom Dwan, also registered for Day 1c, but never actually showed up. Instead, their stacks were put into play and blinded off. Hansen's stack was 17,975 at the end of the day, and Dwan finished on 18,075.
There were also several sports stars and celebrities in the field on Monday. The biggest name was European footballer Gerard Piqué, widely regarded as one of the best centre backs in the world. While playing for FC Barcelona and Spain, his résumé includes a World Cup win, a Premiere League title, four La Liga titles, two UEFA Champions League titles, and three consecutive selections (2010-2012) to the UEFA Team of the Year. While Piqué peaked at nearly 100,000 in chips midway through the day, his stack dipped below 10,000 during the final level. He managed to find a double-up in one of the final hands of the day to finish with 19,400.
Among those who failed to survive the day were Brandon Cantu, Phil Laak, Vanessa Rousso, Tom Schneider, Eric Buchman, Shaun Deeb, Jennifer Tilly, Prahlad Friedman, Jeff Madsen, Loni Harwood, 2010 champ Jonathan Duhamel, and 1996 champion Huck Seed.
Deeb was actually eliminated by former Main Event champion Phil Hellmuth, who arrived late in the day but managed to chip up to 92,850 before the end of the night. In Deeb's last hand, Hellmuth raised to 1,000, and Deeb three-bet to 2,800. After asking for a count on Deeb's stack, Hellmuth bet enough to put Deeb at a decision for his remaining 15,000. Deeb called and showed A♣K♦, but Hellmuth turned over K♥K♣. The board ran out 9♣2♦6♠6♦8♣, shooting Hellmuth up to 38,500 n chips, and eliminating Deeb from the Main Event.
Hellmuth and the other Day 1c survivors will return on Wednesday for Day 2c action. On Tuesday, the survivors from Day 1a and Day 1b will pack into the Rio for their own Day 2 action. The two flights will still be separated, but they'll each play five levels beginning at 12 p.m. local time.
Video of the Day
Dani Stern had a lousy Day 1c of the 2013 WSOP Main Event. Not only did he have a rough day at the tables, but he lost a bet to a friend that resulted in him wearing a Washington Redskins jersey all day. Stern is a New York Giants fan. Yikes. Kristy Arnett caught up with Stern early in the day.
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