Halysson Sala Doesn't Relent and Leads After Day 1a of the $1,650 PokerStars Festival Uruguay Main Event
Day 1a of the PokerStars Festival Uruguay $1,650 Main Event is in the books and leading the way after the first ten levels is Halysson Sala. Sala got off to a hot start early in the day and was one of the first players to have more than double his starting stack. He would ride that wave into the chip lead and he held onto it for most of the way. Sala only has roughly $30,000 in recorded live tournament cashes, so a victory here in Uruguay could definitely be his largest cash ever.
Near the end of the night, Francisco Araujo, who finished second in chips, cracked WSOP bracelet winner Andres Korn's pocket aces when he flopped a set and the two got it all in to take the tournament chip lead. Araujo has recorded live tournament earnings of over $300,000 with results from the WSOP and all over Latin America, with his biggest cash being for $112,724 two years ago in a WSOP side event. Araujo will advance to Day 2 with 226,00 chips and will look to carry that lead to a victory here in Uruguay.
In total, 104 players came out to play Day 1a of the Main Event and of those 104, only 33 survived. Several notable players and entered, fell, rebought, and fell again. Some of those who didn’t advance from this starting flight include Brett Trevillian, Mark Scacewater, Ezequiel Ferretty, Matias Scaffo, and Marcelo Blanco.
There are however several stars returning to continue their quest for the trophy. One of those is rising Brazilian star Hugo Marcelo. Marcelo recently earned accolades as the Brazilian Series of Poker player of the series, which earned him a package for this event. He’ll look to continue that hot run here in Uruguay as he bagged up 121,600 chips and has a chance heading into Day 2. Also surviving the first flight were the likes of Nicholas Malandre, Homar Rassi, Jesse Rosen, and Marcelo Cudos. They will return along with the rest of the field and the survivors from Day 1b on Saturday, September 20th at 12:00 p.m. local time.
Friday begins Day 1b of the Main Event and players will play through 10 levels starting at 12:00 p.m. The survivors will rejoin with the survivors from Day 1a on Saturday where Day 2 will begin. PokerNews of course will be here covering all the action through the entire tournament so make sure to stay tuned!