Sharma Gargee Bags Biggest After Day 1 of the $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship
The first day of Event #61: Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship has come to an end and Sharma Gargee bagged an exceptionally large stack of 419,000 to end the night as the chip leader. Gargee has one cash in a WSOP event this summer and four cashes in total from her poker career.
Cherish Andrews is not far behind with 363,000 chips and will be a serious competitor for a first WSOP title. Andres has $875,392 in total live earnings helped by reaching three final tables in WSOP events, including an eighth place in the ladies event last year.
Event #61: Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gargee Sharma | United States | 419,000 | 210 |
| 2 | Cherish Andrews | United States | 363,000 | 182 |
| 3 | Wendy Beckers | United States | 285,000 | 143 |
| 4 | Melanie Pittard | United States | 262,500 | 131 |
| 5 | Charlotte Van Brabander | Belgium | 228,000 | 114 |
| 6 | Mina Yean Saelee | United States | 227,500 | 114 |
| 7 | Tanja Vujanic | Australia | 219,000 | 110 |
| 8 | Marybeth Anderson | United States | 218,500 | 107 |
| 9 | Samantha Gonzalez | United States | 213,500 | 106 |
| 10 | Juli Black | St Lucia | 212,500 | 106 |
The day started out with 613 entries but quickly grew to a total of 1,074 by the end of late registration, by far surpassing the 644 entries of last year. Bust-outs happened frequently throughout the day and when it was time to bag, only 274 ladies were still in the running for the top prize of $166,975 and the WSOP gold.
Last year's Ladies Event Champion, Lara Eisenberg, was here at the beginning of the day to defend her title. She found a bag at the end of the night and returns with 52,000 chips as she attempts to defend her title tomorrow. She managed to double up her short stack right after the dinner break when she went all-in on a flop with the flush.
GGPoker Brazilian streamer Rebeca Rebuitti stayed at the top of the counts for most of the day and bagged a comfortable stack of 275,500. Some other notables who progressed included Xuan Liu (133,000), Melanie Weisner (120,000), two-time bracelet winner Loni Hui (90,500), winner of last year's The Closer - No-Limit Hold'em Leo Margets (76,000) and chess Grand Master and WPT Global ambassador Qiyu "Nemo" Zhou with 80,500.
Heidi May, the 2017 Ladies Event champion, took a seat early today but busted right after late registration closed. Right before the players bagged their stack, it was three-time champion Kristen Foxen who also hit the rail when she couldn’t win her flip with ace-ten suited against Michelle Bricknell who held pocket eights.
Several familiar female players who were spotted in the field did not survive to the day. Among them were members of the Women in Poker Hall of Fame Kathy Liebert, Allyn Shulman and JJ Liu but also Natasha Mercier, Kelly Minkin, Carol Fuchs, Ana Marquez, reality Tv contestant Trishelle Cannatella and Daiva Byrne.
With 162 players making the money for a min-cash worth $1,600, hand-for-hand play will start in the first few levels after cards are in the air tomorrow.
The 274 remaining players will restart tomorrow, June 30th, at noon local time to play ten more levels with a 15-minute break every two levels and a 60-minute break after Level 16 (≈ 6:30 p.m.).
The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be providing coverage from the tournament floor until a winner is crowned so keep it here for updates from the Bally's and Paris Las Vegas.