Event 14: $15,400 $5 Million Guaranteed WPT World Championship
Day 1b Started
Event 14: $15,400 $5 Million Guaranteed WPT World Championship
Day 1b Started
Good morning, and welcome back to the Season XII WPT World Championship here at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa!
After eight levels of play on Day 1a, Paul Volpe emerged as the chip leader with 215,300, and he was followed closely by Jerry Wong (198,000), Brandon Steven (195,500), Scott Seiver (192,500), and Tony Gregg (190,600). The first flight attracted 105 players - 62 advanced - and in order to reach the $5 million guarantee, the Day 1b field will have to be double in size.
Players who were eliminated on Day 1a may reenter today for an additional $15,400, but players joining the tournament for the first time today may only fire one single bullet.
Since Season IV, this event has always been won by a professional player, and the final table has always been stacked. In Season XI, Chino Rheem defeated Erick Lindgren heads-up to earn $1,150,279 and the title. Here's a look at all of the players who have ever won this event:
Season | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
I | Alan Goehring | $1,011,866 |
II | Martin De Knijff | $2,728,356 |
III | Tuan Le | $2,856,150 |
IV | Joe Bartholdi | $3,760,165 |
V | Carlos Mortensen | $3,970,415 |
VI | David Chiu | $3,389,140 |
VII | Yevgeniy Timoshenko | $2,149,960 |
VIII | David Williams | $1,530,537 |
IX | Scott Seiver | $1,618,344 |
X | Marvin Rettenmaier | $1,196,858 |
XI | Chino Rheem | $1,150,279 |
The cards will be in the air at 11 a.m. EST, and PokerNews will be bringing you live updates straight from the tournament floor. See you then!
Mike Sexton is greeting players as they enter the room trying to pump them up for an exciting day of poker. The players probably don't need much motivation as the stakes are high. Cards will be in the air soon and we'll be here from start to finish to bring you all the action.
Level: 1
Blinds: 75/150
Ante: 25
There will be more to be added but here's some of the players we took notice of in our first go around.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Andy Frankenberger |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Christina Lindley |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
James Mackey |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Cathy Dever |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Alex Queen |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Aaron Massey |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Noah Schwartz |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Robert Panitch |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Glen Chorny |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Ryan Riess |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Justin Young |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Maurice Hawkins |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Corrie Wunstel |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Shawn Cunix |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Brett Richey |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Allen Kessler |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Scott Baumstein |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Micah Raskin |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Kara Scott |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Jared Jaffee |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Eugene Katchalov |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Matt Affleck |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Michael Esposito |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Loni Harwood |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Keven Stammen |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Ty Reiman | 50,000 | |
Ryan D'Angelo | 50,000 | |
|
||
Shaun Suller | 50,000 | |
Barry Hutter |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Kunal Patel | 50,000 | |
Nabil Hirezi
|
50,000 | |
Daniel Buzgon | 50,000 | |
Andy Philachack | 50,000 | |
Garrett Greer | 50,000 | |
Jake Schindler |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Ronit Chamani | 50,000 | |
Jeff Madsen |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Curt Kohlberg |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Matt Stout |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Ken Aldridge | 50,000 | |
|
||
Alex Rocha | 50,000 | |
Chris Tryba | 50,000 | |
|
The first few orbits of an elite event like today's WPT World Championship are usually much ado about nothing, with the world's best players feeling one another out while contesting small pots of minor consequence.
Sometimes the deck has other ideas though, distributing premium pocket pairs early in the day to light the fuse and begin the firework show early. Unfortunately for Aristedes Santana, he came out on the wrong end of a brutal cooler, with his falling to the held by Joseph Wertz on only the second deal of the day.
We missed the action firsthand, but according to a joint rundown provided by the ever helpful floorwoman Kellie and Wertz himself, a general idea of the action has been developed.
As told by Wertz, the action began with an open to 350 before Santana made it 850 to play. Wertz then four-bet to something like 2,100 and Santana went for the gusto by five-betting to 11,500. Wertz then six-bet shoved for the rest of his 50,000 starting stack, and after a very brief moment of deliberation, Santana called off with his cowboys.
The final board rolled out with a diamond four-flush, but neither player held a fifth and the huge pot was awarded to the owner of aces in the hole. Wertz is obviously the early chip leader, and judging by yesterday's end-of-day counts he already has about half of the amount needed to chase down Paul Volpe to top the Day 2 counts.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Joseph Wertz | 105,000 | |
Aristedes Santana | Busted |
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Keith Lehr | 50,000 | |
|
||
David Randall | 50,000 | |
Mike Gagliano
|
50,000 | |
Richard Tatalovich | 50,000 | |
Zo Karim | 50,000 | |
Vinny Pahuja | 50,000 | |
Eddy Sabat | 50,000 | |
Dan Smith |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
Harrison Gimbel | 50,000 | |
|
Level: 2
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 25
With the board showing , Jeff Madsen bet 1,250 after it was checked to him. His lone opponent in the hand made the call.
The turn was the and the action went check, Madsen bet of 3,100, call.
The river was the and after his opponent checked yet again, Madsen bet yet again, this time for 7,950. His opponent tossed out two 5,000 chips indicating a call and Madsen turned over for the nut flush. His opponent held his cards up high, and slammed them with moderate disgust down on to the felt.
Madsen recently won the 6-Max Event here, with his three biggest pots being won on heart flushes. Opponent's might want to be wary if there are some hearts on board and Madsen is in the hand.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Jeff Madsen |
63,000
13,000
|
13,000 |
|