Heshmati Leads Way to Day 2 of WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley $3,250 High Roller
The 2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Thunder Valley $3,250 High Roller got a late-afternoon start time of 4 p.m. on Thursday. When the day started, just six players were registered. That number nearly tripled over the first two hours of play, and it reached a total of 35 entries by end of day.
Mike Heshmati found himself atop the leader board upon the conclusion of Day 1, finishing the day with 172,500 in chips. Heshmati joined the tournament during the first two hours of play and chipped up slightly by the first break, taking his 40,000 starting stack to just over 46,000. That was only the beginning of his day, however.
As the day went on, he found himself over 60,000 moving into Level 9. He continued to build from there, eclipsing a six-figure stack shortly after the last level of the night. Less than two hours later, he found himself as the chip leader when eight hours and a dozen 40-minute levels of play had been completed.
Rounding out the top three include a few familiar faces to the Thunder Valley Poker room. Ian Steinman (157,000) and Noel Rodriguez (145,000) will enter the day second and third in chips, respectively.
Other notable players to find bags also happen to be well-known inside the venue. JC Tran (130,500) and Brett Murray (101,000) both will also enter Day 2 with six-figure stacks.
Top 10 Day 1 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | County |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Heshmati | 172,500 |
| 2 | Ian Steinman | 157,000 |
| 3 | Noel Rodriguez | 145,000 |
| 4 | JC Tran | 130,500 |
| 5 | Mike Lancaster | 111,000 |
| 6 | Mrityunjay Jha | 107,500 |
| 7 | Lee Markholt | 104,500 |
| 8 | Brett Murray | 101,000 |
| 9 | Glenn Miller | 80,000 |
| 10 | Alex Condon | 73,500 |
The field is sure to grow before Day 2 begins at noon on Friday as late registration will remain open cards are in the air for the beginning of Level 13. Like Day 1, levels will last 40 minutes each and play will occur until a winner has been determined.
PokerNews will be on hand to provide live updates from both Day 2 of the High Roller and the upcoming $1,700 Main Event.
