Day 1b Concludes; Hoang Leads; Selbst and Negreanu Close Behind
Day 1b of the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event has officially come to a close. Today saw 2,114 players put up $10,000 to compete for the most prestigious title in poker. Combined with the players who came out for Day 1a, the total number of entrants for the Main Event so far is up to 3,180. Leading the remaining players of Day 1b is John Hoang who is sitting atop a stack of 180,000. Rounding out the top three are James Schafer (171,250) and Vanessa Selbst (168,350).
This is the day of the year that all tournament poker players wait for, so it was no surprise to see a stacked field that was filled to the brim with familiar faces. That being said, this also turns out to be the saddest day of the year for some, as their hopes of making a deep run in the Main Event have to be pushed back one more year. Among those to turn up for play only to have their WSOP come to an end before the day's conclusion were Tom Dwan, David Singer, Tyler Bonkowski, Martin Kabrhel, Chris DeMaci, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Chip Jett, Victor Ramdin, Joe Sebok, Todd Brunson, Amanda Musumeci, Bertrand Grospellier, 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer, and current UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
While the series came to an end for many, others thrived in this deep structured tournament. One of the more familiar faces looking to make a deep run in this tournament is four-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu. Despite his recent cash in Event 60: $10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball (No-Limit), Negreanu has had a rough series thus far. He's managed to collect 140,575 chips so far on Day 1, however, and has a solid chance at finishing the series on a strong note as he is sitting top ten in chips to finish Day 1b.
This summer has come to be known as the year of the woman here at the WSOP. Many female players made final tables in open events and Vanessa Selbst was able to capture her second bracelet. Selbst continued to crush the dreams of other players on Day 1b of the Main Event. The biggest addition to Selbst's stack came on the final hand of the evening when she got it all in with another big stack. All of the money went in before the flop and Selbst held 
against her opponent's 
. Selbst turned a set of aces and her opponent rivered a king just to rub it in. After that win Selbst was able to end the night with 168,350.
Up until Selbst's final hand of the night it was Maria Ho who held the position of woman with the most chips for a majority of the day . Ho gained a solid chunk of her chips when she was able to river a full house to double up. Ho finished the day with 130,425 and will be a force to be reckoned with when she returns for Day 2.
Other familiar names who will be returning for Day 2 include Jason Somerville (144,725), Shaun Deeb (125,900), Brian Hastings (119,000), Sam Farha (118,500), Amnon Filippi (109,900), Bernard Lee (96,575), Eugene Katchalov (96,275), George Danzer (84,125), Dan Harrington (83,750), Robert Varkonyi (75,325), Jerry Yang (71,775), Barry Greenstein (60,825), Justin Bonomo (54,225), Liv Boeree (40,500), Bryan Devonshire (22,525) and many more.
With five levels under their belts, the surviving players will return to play for Day 2 at 12:00 PM on Tuesday. Make sure to stay tuned to our coverage of Day 1c tomorrow as the field is expected to be the largest we've seen thus far at the Main Event. As usual, cards will be in the air at 12:00 PM and we'll be here to give you the lowdown on all of the big pots, bad beats, and bustouts from the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event.
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