LAPC Champ Blieden Bags Day 1 Lead in Biggest WPT ToC Yet
After two seasons holding the Tournament of Champions in Florida in conjunction with the Seminole Hard Rock series, the WPT moved the tournament champions to run following the new Bobbly Baldwin Classic. The move appears to have been a success as 80 players turned out for the third running of the event, representing a sizable increase over the 64 and 66 who played the previous two years.
The first day of action saw 10 levels played out and the field reduced to 29. Dennis Blieden, who won the L.A. Poker Classic earlier this season to earn automatic entry into the Tournament of Champions, lapped the field as he bagged 593,000 from a 50,000 starting stack. That puts him miles in front of nearest competitor JC Tran, who finished with 305,000.
"I'm running pretty f****** good," Blieden admitted. "This is the first tournament I've played since LAPC, so I feel like I've picked up right where I've left off."
Blieden already had a huge stack that looked to be leading the field when a huge hand developed to end the night. On the very last hand dealt at his table, Blieden and a few other players saw a seven-high flop with two spades hit. Gavin Smith fired out 9,000 from under the gun, Blieden made it 25,000, Ryan Riess called and Aaron Mermelstein jammed out of the blinds for 139,200.
Blieden immediately reshoved and Riess splashed in all of his time extensions before folding. Blieden showed top set to trump the middle set of fives held by Mermelstein.
Aside from that monster pot, Blieden had two other coolers fall in his favor. Once, he held aces against an opponent's kings, and another time, he flopped top set of sixes against pocket aces.
"I would just say they don't trust me," Blieden said with a laugh when asked if his unorthodox, ultra-aggressive style was throwing opponents for a loop. "They think I'm terrible; I'm probably getting calls that most people wouldn't.
"I got a lot of coolers and it seemed like every time I bluffed, they folded and every time I got called, I had it. Just one of those days."
Blieden will undoubtedly hope that keeps up as the winner of the event is set to claim $463,375 — including $50,000 added by the WPT — plus a slew of other prizes valued north of $50,000. The $1 million guarantee got pumped up to $1,365,000 with rake-free entries from previous seasons' champions.
Some others in contention include Erik Seidel (223,000), recent record-setter Darren Elias (170,000), WPT Player of the Year Art Papazyan (166,500), John Hennigan (143,500) and Ryan Riess (118,000).
Although Elias could add yet another massive score to his impressive ledger, official word from the WPT indicates that a Tournament of Champions win doesn't count in the titles leaderboard. That means he's still stuck at four for the moment no matter what happens in the next two days.
Day 2 of the event gets rolling at noon local time here in Las Vegas with blinds and antes of 1,000/2,000/2,000 using a big blind ante. The bubble will burst when 10 players remain and the field will play down to an official final table of six for a televised finale at Esports Arena Las Vegas.
As things continue to develop, PokerNews will continue providing feature coverage and daily recaps, so stay tuned.
Photos courtesy of WPT
