Roland Israelashvili Finds Overall Lead in Day 1c of BFPO Championship
The last flight of Event #17: $2,700 Championship has now come to an end after eight levels of play and a total of 243 entry slips were sold, with just 121 remaining by the end of the night.
A well-known pro ended the night with lead in Roland Israelashvili, who bagged 228,200 after eight levels, which is also good for the overall lead headed into Day 2. Israelashvili instantly started to build a stack and seemed to constantly add chips as the night dwindled down.
The Forest Hill, NY resident has just over $3.4 million in live earnings and is the current leader of WSOP cashes with an immense 206 recorded cashes in the series. Israelashvili has three Borgata trophies on his mantle but is yet to add a six-figure cash in this building and is surely one of the favorites to do so as he leads headed into Day 2.
Two other players to land over the 200,000 mark were Sumit Kumar (206,100) and Christopher Agnello (205,900) who each caught wind under their sails late in the day, almost surging enough to surpass Israelashvili to take the lead, falling just short. Some other big stacks advancing includes Rafael Yaraliyev (199,900), Robert Bolte (188,600), David Gerassi (174,600), and Dien Le (154,700).
Familiar faces grabbing a Day 2 birth from this flight include the likes of James Campbell (147,100), Joseph Cashen (143,400), Dan Buzgon (137,900), Sean Thomson (132,600), Pal Zagreda (130,300), Michael Zhan (113,800), Joe McKeehen (112,000), Rick Lee (93,900), Eric Siegel (82,400), and Gregory Fishberg (66,600).
The remaining 121 players from this flight will combine with the other 73 Day 1 flight survivors, bringing back a total of 194 for Day 2 on Tuesday, November 19, to fight it out for another eight levels of play, ending after level 16. The returning field will only grow as the late registration period is still open until the start of level 11. The tournament will bump the blinds up to 75-minutes in length after level 10 and the last two days will have 90-minute levels.
That wraps it up for the PokerNews live coverage of the three flights of the BFPO Championship but tune in tomorrow for Day 2!