Another day in paradise was another day for high-stakes poker action at the Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas. Day 1b was another thriller in the $25,000 World Series of Poker Paradise Super Main Event which attracted a total of 254 entries in addition to the 461 entries that walked through the door on Day 1a. After ten one-hour levels, the field was whittled down to 85 players who advanced to Day 2 on December 16th.
From the third level when he joined the field, Fedor Holz hit the ground running with an early elimination of former WSOP Main Event final tablist Michael Duek. Throughout the majority of the day, Holz was the runaway chip leader and was able to coast through the final two levels of the day to bag a whopping stack of 4,880,000 chips. The German phenom already sits in 10th place on the all-time money list with over $47 million in career earnings, but will be looking to add to that total over the coming days.
Jiaze Li made a surprising comeback in the last two levels of the night to bag the second-largest stack of 3,510,000. Matthew Wantman spent some time on the feature table to close out the night which boded well for him, finishing in third place with 3,100,000 chips. As for Chris Hunichen and Alex Foxen, it took them three bullets today but they used it to their advantage to bag up 2,920,000 and 2,900,000 chips respectively.
WSOP Super Main Event Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fedor Holz | Germany | 4,880,000 | 163 |
| 2 | Jiaze Li | China | 3,510,000 | 117 |
| 3 | Matthew Wantman | United States | 3,100,000 | 103 |
| 4 | Aliaksei Boika | Belarus | 2,920,000 | 97 |
| 5 | Chris Hunichen | United States | 2,920,000 | 97 |
| 6 | Ihar Soika | Belarus | 2,905,000 | 97 |
| 7 | Alex Foxen | United States | 2,900,000 | 97 |
| 8 | Harvey Jackson | United States | 2,770,000 | 92 |
| 9 | Gytis Lazauninkas | Lithuania | 2,730,000 | 91 |
| 10 | Hossein Ensan | Germany | 2,600,000 | 87 |
Super Main Event Day 1b Action
To kick things off on Day 1b of the WSOP Super Main Event, it was former NBA legend Tony Parker to announce the "Shuffle Up and Deal" which would then commence on a 30-minute technical delay. Parker spent the majority of the day on the main feature table and managed to bag a stack of 995,000 for Day 2 on December 16th. While Parker is used to some stiff competition on the court, he faced a difficult task on the felt having Eliot Hudon, Timothy Adams, and Lucas Greenwood on his left throughout the day, all of whom were eliminated by day's end.
Jean-Noel Thorel was also back in the spotlight again today, not only with his own LED spotlight but also accumulating chips in magnificent fashion. Just before the dinner break, Thorel was the last of three players to stick all of their chips in the middle and he turned over the worst of the three holdings. However, a lucky river sent him into first place and Thorel nabbed a double elimination en route to bagging 1,500,000 chips.
Alan Keating also made his way back to the felt after unsuccessfully advancing through Day 1a. However, he started with the same aggressive strategy of ripping his chips into the middle regardless of the two cards in front of him. This time, Keating managed to pick up a quality holding of pocket queens which sent one of his opponents to the rail. Keating was also moved to the side feature table for the second half of the day but was eliminated in one of the last hands of the night.
It wasn't all roses for everyone though, as a few players had a frustrating day at the felt, burning through the maximum number of bullets during the flight and $75,000. Santhosh Suvarna, Eelis Parssinen, Boban Zhivkovikj, and Jason Mercier were all sent to the rail three times throughout the ten levels and will be forced to return tomorrow if they wish to have a shot at the title.
The PokerNews team will be back on the tournament floor tomorrow to bring you all of the live updates throughout Day 1c which will have the same schedule and structure as the first two starting flights.
