Action was opened under the gun to 12,000 by Luigi Santaro. It folded to Joe McKeehen in the cutoff who called and the rest of the players folded.
The A♦6♠Q♦ flop hit the felt and Santaro led for 10,000. McKeehen called.
The 9♠ landed on the turn and Santaro led again for 30,000. McKeehen called.
The river brought a 5♠ and Santaro slowed down and checked. McKeehen gathered some chips and bet out for 75,000. Santaro thought it over and eventually folded. McKeehen dragged a pot right before the stone bubble.
Last week the PokerStars Summer Series at Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia kicked off with a great turnout in Event #1. The hopes were high for Event #2: $1,100 No Limit Hold’em and the crowd did not disappoint. Some big names made an appearance, and some big action took place as 20 players found a bag and advanced to Sunday's Day 2.
A total of 156 entrants made their way to the tournament floor to take their shot at the $300,000 guarantee and in just this first flight, half of said guarantee was reached. After the dust Robert Elias was among the chip leaders with a massive 776,000 stack. Elias started slow but gained some momentum late in the day. He rocketed up the leaderboard after he won a massive flip late in Level 12. He will hope to take the run-good into Day 2 with a top stack.
There were multiple players on the heals of Elias by days end including Chan Kim (634,000), Julian Penza (594,000), Kevin Grabel (521,000), Jonathan Stoeber (472,000), and 2015 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe McKeehen (472,000).
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Robert Elias
United States
776,000
2
Chan Kim
United States
634,000
3
Julian Penza
United States
594,000
4
Kevin Grabel
United States
527,000
5
Jonathan Stoeber
United States
473,000
6
Joe McKeehen
United States
472,000
7
Benjamin Duronio
United States
463,000
8
Michael McNicholas
United States
414,000
9
Jugal Daterao
United States
382,000
10
Joe Cutler
United States
227,000
Speaking of McKeehen, the Philadelphia Local stayed quiet early on as he played off a middling stack most of the day. However, he could still be found putting in the well-timed three-bet in a few instances. Around level 10 he found some steam and began to move up the leaderboards as most figured he would. Expect to see him fighting for pots and the Philly bragging rights on Day 2.
However, not everyone was so lucky. Another Philadelphia local, Bin Weng made his appearance to battle it out for a similar opportunity at the local bragging rights. He was cruising early on, even making a great call with bottom pair early in the day. Unfortunately, some large pots didn’t go his way and he hit the rail before the bags. We will likely see him returning on another flight to take his shot at the $300,000 guarantee.
There are still two flights left to take a shot at this awesome event. If today was any indication, the next two days will be jam-packed with action. Players will be battling for the top spot, the money, and the bragging rights of the best in Philadelphia.
Stay tuned into PokerNews for all the coverage of the last two flights in Event #2 of the PokerStars Summer Series.