$2,500 Main Event
Day 1b Completed
PPC Aruba World Championship
$2,500 Main Event
Day: 1b
Day 1b Concludes; Merda Finishes On Top
Level 12
: 700/1,400, 200 ante
Day 1b of the 2013 PPC Aruba World Championship Main Event has concluded. The field grew to 85 entries thanks to another 42 added to the mix. Plenty of players fired multiple bullets, including defending champion Joe Serock and Andy Seth. Both managed to find themselves in the event for four bullets and it looks like they will have to finish in seventh place or higher in order to come close to breaking even.
At the end of Sunday's play, it was Igor Merda who bagged up the chip lead with 195,600 in his stack. He had himself a very successful day that included busting Seth twice within a relatively short period of time. Looking up Merda's records, he has $7,582 in live tournament earnings spread across five cashes.
Other notables from Day 1b that built up nice stacks were Hayden Fortini, Steve Karp, and David Tuthill. Serock fought hard until the end of the day, but could never really gain any traction to get something going. He ended up bagging 21,400.
The 16 players remaining from Day 1b will combine with the 12 competitors that advanced to Day 2 from Day 1a and any other late registrants or reentries to begin play at 3 p.m. local time on Monday. The registration period will remain open until the start of play tomorrow, so the field could see an increase.
Be sure to stay tuned right here to PokerNews for more live coverage from Aruba. We'll see you tomorrow!
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 12
: 700/1,400, 200 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
195,600 | 5,600 |
|
124,100 | 17,100 |
|
122,000 | 32,000 |
|
89,700 | -4,300 |
|
83,200 | -27,300 |
|
75,400 | 7,400 |
|
|
59,600 | 59,600 |
|
|
52,500 | -4,500 |
|
|
45,700 | 45,700 |
|
|
45,500 | -9,500 |
|
|
36,500 | 12,500 |
|
33,100 | -6,500 |
|
|
27,300 | 27,300 |
|
27,100 | 11,100 |
|
22,700 | 2,700 |
|
21,400 | 400 |
Rodriguez Shows
Level 12
: 700/1,400, 200 ante
Joe Serock raised to 3,200 from the hijack seat, and then the button, David Tuthill in the small blind, and Neil Rodriguez in the big blind all called. The flop came down 
, and Tuthill checked. Rodriguez fired 5,500, and everyone folded. Rodriguez showed the 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
90,000 | 6,000 |
|
|
55,000 | 33,500 |
|
|
21,000 | -4,000 |
Rivas Doubles Through Plagenz
Level 12
: 700/1,400, 200 ante
From the cutoff seat, Terry Plagenz raised to 3,200. Jose Rivas reraised all in from the small blind for 9,200, and Plagenz called.
Rivas: 
Plagenz: 
The flop, turn, and river ran out 
, and Rivas doubled up. Plagenz slipped back to 94,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
94,000 | 24,000 |
|
|
20,000 | -16,000 |
Zayas Out
Level 12
: 700/1,400, 200 ante
Frankie Zayas just became the most recent casualty, as he was eliminated in 17th place. The field is now down to 16 players with eight players at each table. Yesterday on Day 1a, 12 players advanced to Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted |
Last Level of the Day
Level 12
: 700/1,400, 200 ante
The players are now into Level 12, and this will be the last level of the day.
Level: 12
Blinds: 700/1,400
Ante: 200
Seth Chips Up
Level 11
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
Andy Seth opened with a raise to 2,700 from the hijack seat. The player in the big blind made the call, and the flop came down 
. The big blind checked, Seth bet 3,300, and the big blind called.
On the turn, the 
landed. Both players checked, and the river was the to complete the board. The big blind led for 7,100, and Seth raise to 17,200, leaving himself with just 1,100 behind. His opponent folded, and Seth won the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
39,600 | 13,600 |
More Updated Chip Counts
Level 11
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
190,000 | 10,000 |
|
|
84,000 | 28,000 |
|
|
57,000 | -13,000 |
|
|
46,000 | -8,000 |
|
|
26,000 | 1,000 |
|
|
21,500 | -28,500 |
|
|
Busted |