Karel Kratochvil Bags the Chip Lead After Day 1b in NAPT Las Vegas $550 Mystery Bounty
The second annual PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas (NAPT) festival kicked off with the $550 Mystery Bounty event. Today, the first two of five Day 1 flights took place at Resorts World Las Vegas. Day 1a, which began at noon local time, attracted 232 entrants, with 35 players making the money and advancing to Day 2. The second flight started at 5:00 p.m. local time and drew 100 entrants, with 15 players set to advance to Day 2 and secure at least a minimum cash. The chip leader at the conclusion of Day 1b was Karel Kratochvil, who bagged an impressive 437,000 chips.
Kratochvil climbed to the top of the leaderboard largely due to a massive double up during hand for hand play, where he made quad threes on the river against his opponent’s turned wheel. Right behind him is Ryan Wolfson in second place with 414,000 chips, followed by Tim Reilly in third with 337,000 chips.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karel Kratochvil | Czechia | 437,000 |
| 2 | Ryan Wolfson | United States | 414,000 |
| 3 | Tim Reilly | United States | 337,000 |
| 4 | Roni Hakim | Australia | 334,000 |
| 5 | Robert Nolen | United States | 314,000 |
| 6 | Jeffrey Yarchever | United States | 254,000 |
| 7 | Kevin Lee | United States | 213,000 |
| 8 | Tao Qin | United States | 160,000 |
| 9 | Mitchell Halverson | United States | 159,000 |
| 10 | Rommel Liscano | United States | 101,000 |
Also advancing to Day 2 is World Series of Poker bracelet winner Nicholas Seward, who bagged 55,000 chips. Notable players who were unable to cash include Jeff Platt, Terrance Reid, Myles Mullaly, Daniel Willis, and Eric Siegel.
The 15 remaining players found themselves in the money after Sergio Dantas was eliminated in brutal fashion on the stone bubble. Action folded to the small blind Ryan Wolfson who jammed all in with pocket threes against the big blind Dantas pocket queens, who had a stack of 135,000. To the delight of several shorter stacks in the field, Wolfson flopped a set of threes, eliminating Dantas and bursting the bubble.
There are still three more starting flights for players to try to make the money, with two more flights scheduled for tomorrow and the final Day 1e flight on Sunday at noon. All remaining players will combine for Day 2 on Monday at noon, when the mystery bounties come into play. Day 2 will resume from the earliest finishing time of the starting flights, which is currently Day 1a, wrapping up with 15 minutes remaining in Level 17, featuring blinds of 3,000-6,000 and a 6,000 big blind ante.
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