2024 Champions Club Winter Poker Open

$1,500 Main Event
Day: 1cd
Event Info

2024 Champions Club Winter Poker Open

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a5
Prize
$209,730
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$1,363,560
Entries
1,033
Level Info
Level
38
Blinds
600,000 / 1,200,000
Ante
1,200,000
Players Info - Day 1cd
Entries
176
Players Left
22

$1,500 Main Event

Day 1cd Completed

Ryan Van Leads Day 1cd of Event #15: $1,500 Main Event; Ruben Bags Top Ten Stack

Level 17 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Brad Ruben
Brad Ruben

Another day is in the books here at Champions Club in Houston, Texas as Day 1d of the WPO Event #15: $1,500 Main Event has come to a close. This flight produced 123 total entries as players took their shot today in the $1 million guaranteed event, but only 15 finished the day with chips in a bag. Leading the way is Ryan Van who bagged up 1,394,000, which is now the top stack out of the first four flights. Behind him is Lawrence Lazar with 934,000, followed by David Lawson with 660,000. Rounding out the top five is Phillip Bertram in fourth with 600,090 and [Removed:460] in fifth with 530,000.

Day 1d Top Ten Chip Counts

PlacePlayerChip CountBig Blinds
1Ryan Van1,394,000139
2Lawrence Lazar934,00093
3David Lawson660,00066
4Phillip Bertram600,09060
5Matthew Abell551,00055
6[Removed:460]530,00053
7Brad Ruben483,00048
8Jason Fitzpatrick394,00039
9Jeffrey Nowling325,00033
10Philip Nguyen315,00032

The action started out relatively slow today as there was only one table for the first level and a half, but the numbers quickly grew as the room turned into a frenzy. With the High-Roller and Ladies tournaments ongoing at the same time, every single table here at Champions Club was full, even the stream table. By 5 p.m., there was a ton of chips being thrown around in the Main Event that onlookers thought it was $200 daily!

One of the key players in all of this action was none other than Brad Ruben who went on a massive heater halfway through the day, pickup up aces multiple times, hitting the nut flush versus the second-nut flush, and even hitting quads. He was chip leading with close to 900,000 at one point but lost a series a big hands towards the end to finish with 483,000. That's when Ryan Van, who was seated to his left for most of the day, started to take off. He just kept adding chips to his stack and knocking people out one-by-one and eventually ended the day by picking up aces against Christopher Chomenko and eliminated him on the bubble. Lazar also ran up a huge stack on the day, and although no big hands were recorded with him, he consistently held a big stack throughout most of the day.

Some players who didnt find a bag that are set to return include Will Leffingwell, Jessica Richards, Derek Normand, Justin Brassieur, James Galloway, Viet Vo, Ray Henson, and Kris Burchfield.

Will Leffingwell
Will Leffingwell

As this is the fourth of six starting flights, there is still plenty of time for players to get in on this action as the largest flights are still to come on Friday and Saturday. There will also be multiple satellites each day as well as PLO flips for many chances to get into this tournament cheaply.

Day 1e fires off tomorrow at noon local time, and as always, PokerNews will be back on the scene with all of the action!

Tags: Brad RubenChristopher ChomenkoDavid LawsonDerek NormandJames GallowayJason FitzpatrickJeffrey NowlingJessica RichardsJustin BrassieurKris BurchfieldLawrence LazarMatthew AbellPhilip NguyenPhillip BertramRay HensonRyan VanViet VoWill Leffingwell

Day 1cd Chip Counts (full)

Level 17 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Ryan Van us
Ryan Van
1,394,000
768,000
768,000
Day 1D Chip Leader
Profile photo of Lawrence Lazar us
Lawrence Lazar
934,000
189,000
189,000
Profile photo of Christopher Aguilar us
Christopher Aguilar
761,000
Day 1C Chip Leader
Profile photo of Aashir Aggarwal us
Aashir Aggarwal
710,000
Profile photo of David Lawson us
David Lawson
660,000
300,000
300,000
Profile photo of Phillip Bertram us
Phillip Bertram
600,090
-119,910
-119,910
Profile photo of Matthew Abell us
Matthew Abell
551,000
336,000
336,000
Profile photo of [Removed:460]
[Removed:460]
530,000
107,000
107,000
Profile photo of Brad Ruben us
Brad Ruben
483,000
128,000
128,000
WSOP 4X Winner
Profile photo of Varadarajan Iyengar us
Varadarajan Iyengar
471,000
Profile photo of Spencer Champlin us
Spencer Champlin
470,000
Profile photo of Casey Brown us
Casey Brown
417,000
Profile photo of Jason Fitzpatrick us
Jason Fitzpatrick
394,000
234,000
234,000
Profile photo of Lisa Fleishman us
Lisa Fleishman
378,000
Profile photo of Jeffrey Nowling us
Jeffrey Nowling
325,000
-20,000
-20,000
Jaka Coaching
Profile photo of Philip Nguyen us
Philip Nguyen
315,000
225,000
225,000
Profile photo of Danny Chang us
Danny Chang
291,000
116,000
116,000
Profile photo of Moises Rivas us
Moises Rivas
276,000
11,000
11,000
Profile photo of Jack Corrigan us
Jack Corrigan
273,000
Profile photo of Philip Chow us
Philip Chow
257,000
35,000
35,000
Profile photo of David Valden us
David Valden
197,000
-163,000
-163,000
Profile photo of James Temple us
James Temple
144,000
-81,000
-81,000

Read full

End of Day; Players Bag

Level 17 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

With the elimination of Justin Brassiuer and Christopher Chomenko, play has stopped for the day as the surviving players have bagged up to return Sunday for Day 2.

A full chip count and recap of the day's action will be available shortly so stay tuned!

Brassieur and Chomenko Exit on Bubble

Level 17 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

On one table, a three-way all in was in progress between, Jason Fitzpatrick, Justin Brassieur, and David Valden, with Valden covering.

Justin Brassieur: AK
David Valden: QQ
Jason Fitzpatrick: KQ

The board ran out A9106J to give Fitzpatrick a straight on the river to scoop the whole pot, eliminating Brassieur in the process.

On the other table, the flop read K5J when Christopher Chomenko moved all in for 98,000 and Ryan Van called to put him at risk.

Christopher Chomenko: J9
Ryan Van: AA

The board ran out 58 for Van to claim the pot with his aces and Chomenko was sent to the rail.

As both of these players exited in simultaneously in 17th and 16th place, there will be no hand-for-hand as the remaining 15 players are now in the money!

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Justin Brassieur us
Justin Brassieur
Busted
Profile photo of Christopher Chomenko us
Christopher Chomenko
Busted

Tags: Christopher ChomenkoDavid ValdenJason FitzpatrickJustin BrassieurRyan Van

Bertram Leads Flush Flop

Level 17 : Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Matthew Abell opened to 20,000 under-the-gun and Phillip Bertram called, but then David Valden three-bet to 75,000.

Abell quickly got out of the way but Bertram called to see a flop of 286.

Bertram then led out for 100,000 and Valden Quickly folded to award him the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Phillip Bertram us
Phillip Bertram
720,000
17,000
17,000
Profile photo of David Valden us
David Valden
360,000
-90,000
-90,000

Tags: David ValdenMatthew AbellPhillip Bertram

Level: 17

Blinds: 5,000/10,000

Ante: 10,000

Bertram Talks Rivas Into a Fold

Level 16 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Phillip Bertram opened to 25,000 from the cutoff and Moises 'Moy' Rivas defended from the big blind to see a flop of 41010.

Rivas checked to Bertram who continued for 15,000, which Rivas called and the two went to the turn Q. Rivas checked once more to Bertram, who fired again for 25,000, which sent Rivas into the tank.

"You haven't folded nines yet, bro?" Bertram said to him, and with that, Rivas tossed in his cards to award the pot to Bertram.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Phillip Bertram us
Phillip Bertram
703,000
123,000
123,000
Profile photo of Moises Rivas us
Moises Rivas
265,000
-40,000
-40,000

Tags: Phillip BertramMoises Rivas

Updated Counts (full)

Level 16 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Lawrence Lazar us
Lawrence Lazar
745,000
-280,000
-280,000
Profile photo of Calvin Hart us
Calvin Hart
730,000
622,000
622,000
Profile photo of Ryan Van us
Ryan Van
626,000
356,000
356,000
Day 1D Chip Leader
Profile photo of Phillip Bertram us
Phillip Bertram
580,000
Profile photo of David Valden us
David Valden
450,000
-35,000
-35,000
Profile photo of [Removed:460]
[Removed:460]
423,000
-50,000
-50,000
Profile photo of Christopher Chomenko us
Christopher Chomenko
410,000
34,000
34,000
Profile photo of David Lawson us
David Lawson
360,000
-70,000
-70,000
Profile photo of Brad Ruben us
Brad Ruben
355,000
-320,000
-320,000
WSOP 4X Winner
Profile photo of Jeffrey Nowling us
Jeffrey Nowling
345,000
-120,000
-120,000
Jaka Coaching
Profile photo of Vladyslav Shovkovyi ua
Vladyslav Shovkovyi
335,000
145,000
145,000
Profile photo of Moises Rivas us
Moises Rivas
305,000
Profile photo of James Temple us
James Temple
225,000
225,000
225,000
Profile photo of Philip Chow us
Philip Chow
222,000
140,000
140,000
Profile photo of Matthew Abell us
Matthew Abell
215,000
Profile photo of Jamie Ho us
Jamie Ho
181,000
73,000
73,000
Profile photo of Danny Chang us
Danny Chang
175,000
Profile photo of Jason Fitzpatrick us
Jason Fitzpatrick
160,000
-45,000
-45,000
Profile photo of Justin Brassieur us
Justin Brassieur
113,000
37,000
37,000
Profile photo of Brendon Kaufman us
Brendon Kaufman
103,000
77,600
77,600
Profile photo of Philip Nguyen us
Philip Nguyen
90,000

Read full

Level: 16

Blinds: 4,000/8,000

Ante: 8,000