Bayley Tops Day 1b of €1,650 World Series of Poker International Circuit Rotterdam Main Event; Verhoeven Eliminated
On the second starting day of the inaugural €1,650 WSOP International Circuit Rotterdam Main Event, 143 players showed up at the beautifully renovated Holland Casino Rotterdam. 58 of them made it through to Day 2, and although the majority of survivors were from the home country, it was Great Britain's Lawrence Bayley who claimed the overall chip lead with 219,400. Kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven got eliminated on Day 1b.
During the last hands of the night, Bayley received a gift to his stack when a player opted to blind shove with ten-deuce. Bayley called with ace-five and held up to make him the only player on either starting day to bag more than 200k in chips. Bayley was followed by a slew of Dutchies, with Teun Mulder (177,600), Erik Tabak (132,400), Wladimir Stepanian (127,600), and Frits Heckler (114,300) rounding out the top 5.
Notables to make it through the second starting day were, among others, Ioannis Angelou-Konstas (110,000), Bart Lybaert (94,200), Jakub Wojtas (60,100), Jasper Wetemans (58,200), Kees van Brugge (36,100), and Jimmy De Barros Livramento (25,100). Another interesting name to make it through is Andreas Walnum (42,400). Walnum won the $10,300 Festa al Lago back in 2006 for a whopping $1,090,025. However, in the past seven years, Walnum has only made one small cash in his home country.
Kickboxing champion and WSOP Ambassador Rico Verhoeven got knocked out on Day 1b. After a strong start, in which Verhoeven quickly doubled his stack, the Dutchman fell in the penultimate level of the day. Verhoeven first missed a straight draw before losing the remainder of his chips with ace-nine against ace-king. Other notables that failed to bag include Rob Hollink, Michal Mrakes, Sander van Wesemael, Joep van den Bijgaart, and Georgios Zisimopoulos.
Tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time, the 58 survivors from Day 1b will join the 46 remaining players from Day 1a on the second day. Late registration is open up until the start of Day 2, and the total prize pool and payouts will be announced shortly after the start. The blinds will start at 400/800 with a running ante of 100 and levels will be 60 minutes. PokerNews will once again be on the floor to provide start-to-finish coverage of this event as we get closer to crowning a new WSOP International Circuit champion.