Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2014 WinStar River Poker Series
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2014 WinStar River Poker Series
Buy-in
$2,400
Prize Pool
$3,175,200
Entries
1,323
Level
33
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
30,000
Lapossie Leads Day 1a; Cheong Advances with Top 5 Stack
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
On Friday, Day 1a of the River Poker Series Main Event kicked off at WinStar World Casino and Resort. This $2,500,000 guaranteed prize pool event saw a grand total of 366 entires on its first starting flight. The field played down to the top 10%, or 37 players on Day 1a, resulting in a 15-hour day of poker. At the end of the day, it was Matthew Lapossie who led the tournament field, bagging up 658,000 in chips.
With just 10% of the starting field remaining, this means that each returning player is guaranteed a payday. The amount, however, will remain undetermined until registration for the tournament closes on Day 1c.
Lapossie jumped out to a huge chip lead just after the dinner break when he eliminated three other players in one hand. Lapossie held pocket queens to do the deed and after that moment commanded the largest stack in the room by a mile. He rode that momentum through the rest of the day and finished on top.
Right on Lapossie's heels, however, was Austin Lewis with 652,000. Lewis is having a stellar month, coming fresh off a victory in the CardPlayer Poker Tour Choctaw Main Event where he pocketed over $183,000 in prize money. He's guaranteed another payday with a good shot at another deep run here.
Quite possibly the most notable player to advance to Day 2 is 2010 World Series of Poker November Niner Joseph Cheong. Cheong had a roller coaster of a day, busting one bullet very early in the day. On his second bullet, he found himself short early once more, with our Live Reporting team spotting him as low as 8,000. He worked his magic and built that stack up as the day progressed, and ultimately put 511,000 in the bag. With this many chips in Cheong's arsenal, he'll certainly be a force to be reckoned with in the later stages of the tournament.
Other notable players to bag up at the end of Day 1a include Lynn Samples (401,500), Scott Clements (386,000), Pete Kaemmerlen (327,000), Jonathan Gaviao (310,000), 2012 River Poker Series Main Event runner-up Andy Robinson (204,500), Arthur Morris (126,500), Rep Porter (122,000), and Christian Harder (62,000).
While these players all advanced onto Day 2 and are guaranteed a payday, others came out and fell before the final hand of the day was dealt. Some of those to fall on Day 1a include Bryan Campanello, TJ Cloutier, Clint Tolbert, David "ODB" Baker, Allen Kessler, Noah Vaillancourt, Kyle Bowker, Kevin Saul, Ari Engel, David Tuthill, and WinStar poker ambassador Maria Ho. All of these players are likely to return to the felt on later starting flights to try their hands once again.
Play for Day 1b kicks off on Saturday at 12 p.m. local time. Players should expect a long day of poker as the 1b field will once again be whittled down to the top 10%. PokerNews will be on hand with all of the latest updates from the tournament floor.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
![[user272102]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
658,000 | 93,000 |
|
652,000 | 2,000 |
|
|
610,000 | 610,000 |
|
511,000 | -69,000 |
|
427,500 | 427,500 |
|
401,500 | -8,500 |
|
386,000 | -89,000 |
|
370,000 | 370,000 |
|
|
351,000 | 26,000 |
|
327,000 | 27,000 |
|
310,000 | 135,000 |
|
|
300,500 | -84,500 |
|
|
300,500 | 300,500 |
|
|
298,000 | 298,000 |
|
276,000 | 1,000 |
|
|
265,500 | 15,500 |
|
|
260,500 | 260,500 |
|
256,000 | 46,000 |
|
|
204,500 | -5,500 |
|
199,000 | 199,000 |
|
|
183,500 | 183,500 |
|
|
179,000 | 179,000 |
|
152,000 | 2,000 |
|
126,500 | 126,500 |
|
122,000 | -28,000 |
Chris Drake Pops Bubble with Quads
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
A player moved all in before the flop for his last 62,000 and was called by Chris Drake. The cards were revealed to find that Drake was in need help in order to burst the bubble.
Drake: 
Opponent: 
"I folded an ace," chimed in a player at the table before the flop was dealt.
That was of no problem for Drake, though, as the board fell 
, giving him quad eights for the knockout. With that the bubble burst and players began bagging and tagging for the night. We'll have full chip counts posted soon.
Hand-For-Hand
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
With just 38 players remaining, hand-for-hand play has begun. Once one player is eliminated, the field will bag and tag for the evening, each guaranteed a payday on Day 2.
New Chip Leader
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
We found Austin Lewis sitting with 650,000 in chips in front of him which is good enough to move him past Joseph Cheong into the chip lead. Lewis recently took down the Choctaw Card Player Main Event on August 1st for $183,025. A deep run here could top that great result.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
650,000 | 650,000 |
Early Morning Chip Counts
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
39 players remain. Brandon Steven was recently eliminated in unknown action.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
580,000 | 180,000 |
|
|
565,000 | 10,000 |
|
|
475,000 | 55,000 |
|
|
410,000 | 85,000 |
|
|
325,000 | 75,000 |
|
|
275,000 | -85,000 |
|
|
250,000 | -120,000 |
|
|
210,000 | -50,000 |
|
|
210,000 | 110,000 |
|
|
175,000 | -20,000 |
|
|
150,000 | 40,000 |
|
|
150,000 | 40,000 |
|
150,000 | -30,000 |
|
80,000 | -135,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 19
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 1,000
Down to Four
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
The tournament field is down to the final four tables or 40 players. That means after two eliminations the field will go hand-for-hand until the top 37 players are reached.
Cheong Wins Round Two Against Ramage
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Joseph Cheong opened for a raise to 14,000 and Grayson Ramage reraised to 31,000. It was folded back to Cheong who made the call. Both players would check the 
flop and Cheong would check-call a 22,000 bet from Ramage on the turn. The river was the 
and Cheong checked again. Ramage put out a bet of 58,000 and after just a few seconds Cheong put out a single chip to indicate he was calling.
Ramage turned over 
for air and Cheong would take down the pot with better air — 
— as his king high was good. The table muttered their appreciation and Cheong is back up to 400,000 in chips while Ramage moved down to 180,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
400,000 | 230,000 |
|
|
180,000 | -95,000 |