Roman Korenev Chip Leader at End of Day 1a; Engel and O'Hara Bag Impressive Stacks
Day 1a, the first of three starting flights in Event 84: $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold'em, has come to an end and 30 of the original 463 players have progressed to Day 2.
Russian online poker pro Roman Korenev, who won Event #26: $2,620 Marathon No-Limit Hold’em earlier this series, is the chip leader with 1,198,000 in chips, but Griffen Abel (1,000,000) is close behind. Others that bagged impressive stacks at the end of play included recent bracelet winner Ari Engel (936,000), Ian O’Hara (756,000) and Fabian Gumz (628,000).
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roman Korenev | Russia | 1,198,000 |
| 2 | Griffin Abel | United States | 1,000,000 |
| 3 | Ari Engel | Canada | 936,000 |
| 4 | Ian O'Hara | United States | 756,000 |
| 5 | Fabian Gumz | Germany | 628,000 |
| 6 | Steven Wolansky | United States | 610,000 |
| 7 | Daniel Neilson | Australia | 538,000 |
| 8 | Brian Croak | United States | 520,000 |
| 9 | Christoper Fisher | United States | 500,000 |
| 10 | James Pavlick | Canada | 400,000 |
The day started off with around 135 players in their seats when the first cards went in the air, but with an unlimited re-entry format, that number grew to 463 by the time late registration closed. That final number created a Day 1a prize pool of $625,050, and after the bubble burst early in Level 18, 70 players had made the money with a min-cash worth $2,247.
Numerous players, including notables such as Allen Cunningham, Stan Jablonski, Jared Griener, Igor Yaroshevskyy and Shaun Deeb found themselves taking full advantage of the unlimited re-entries option, while others such as Michael Mizrachi, Ryan Riess, Ben Yu, Mike Leah, Kevin Song and Cary Katz, fired just one bullet, but all fell short of cashing.
However, a number of stellar names, including Allyn Shulman, Josh Arieh, Benjamin Ector, Tim Reilly, Loni Harwood, Maria Konnikova, Matt Affleck and Chris Ferguson, did find their way to the payout desk, while Kristen Bicknell (319,000), Mike Sexton (234,000) and Everett Carlton (98,000) will return to play on Day 2.
Two more starting flights remain for players to join the 30 that bagged and tagged on Day 1a. All survivors from the three starting flights will continue their quest for the gold WSOP bracelet on Monday, July 15th at noon local time. The PokerNews team will be there to cover all the action.