2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Day 1a: Laz Hernandez Cruises to Chip Lead
On Sunday, the $3,000,000 Guaranteed WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship kicked off with its first starting flight. Day 1A saw 422 total runners come out and by the end of the day approximately 248 of them bagged up chips. At the end of eight levels it was Laz Hernandez who sat on the biggest stack with 258,175 in chips.
Unofficial Day 1a Top Ten
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laz Hernandez | 258,175 |
| 2 | John Racener | 186,250 |
| 3 | Barry Ostad | 185,000 |
| 4 | Calvin Lee | 169,050 |
| 5 | Jordan Cristos | 169,000 |
| 6 | Randy Pfeifer | 150,100 |
| 7 | George Lambert | 146,000 |
| 8 | Matt Brady | 145,200 |
| 9 | Steve Levy | 144,250 |
| 10 | Bob Panitch | 140,000 |
Hernandez started his path to domination halfway through the day when he eliminated Ryan D'Angelo from play. In D'Angelo's final hand, the player under the gun raised to 500. D'Angelo three-bet to 1,400 and Hernandez called from late position. The original raiser called as well and the trio took a flop of 9♦7♥Q♥. The original raiser checked, D'Angelo fired 10,600, and Hernandez announced an all-in bet. It folded back to D'Angelo who called for his tournament life.
Hernandez: 9♥7♦
D'Angelo: A♥A♣
Hernandez was ahead with his flopped two pair and sealed the deal after the turn brought the 2♥ and the river the 9♠. D'Angelo fell victim to the full house and Hernandez started on the path to his chip lead.
Later in the day, Hernandez engaged in a hand where the board read 9♠A♦Q♠2♣. His opponent checked and Hernandez fired out 12,000. His opponent shoved all in over the top for 17,000 more and Hernandez snapped him off, rolling over A♥2♥ for two pair. Hernandez’s opponent showed A♣K♠ for top-top and was behind in the hand. The J♥ dropped down on the river and Hernandez was pushed yet another sizable pot.
The field was packed with notable players all looking to become the next WPT champion. At the end of the day, players like Scott Baumstein (102,775), Matt Salsberg (87,525), Lee Childs (74,300), Greg Merson (67,050), Matt Affleck (53,325) Chris Reslock (50,850), Jacob Bazeley (27,900), and Erick Lindgren (22,600) all bagged chips and will return Tuesday for Day 2.
Other players who participated but were not as fortunate included Vanessa Selbst, Jonathan Little, Cliff Josephy, Chino Rheem, Men Nguyen, and Roland Israelashvili.
Day 1b kicks off at 12 pm local time, so be sure to stay tuned to the PokerNews Live Reporting page for up-to-the minute coverage from the tournament floor!
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