The second of three starting flights for the Winstar World Casino River Poker Series Main Event kicked off at noon and drew a large field of 388 entrants. Coupled with a professional bull riding event, Winstar was stretched to capacity. Saturday's flight finished in the 18th level with Mike Wang leading the field with 660,000.
Sitting in second and third respectively are BCP members Jake Bazeley and Zo Karim where the former edged out the later by 8,000. The top ten was loaded with notables with Chris Staats, Hugo Perez and Grant Hinkle all making Day 2. Brandon Steven, Andy Hwang and Daniel Fuhs also advance to Monday but with more moderate stacks.
Ryan Tepen, Jordan Smith and Larry Wright all played deep into the flight but were unable to bag up chips. Tepen bubbled the event in a three-way all in where he had the best hand preflop but lost to a player that made Broadway.
Maria Ho, Ray Henson, Aaron Massey, Chino Rheem, Kevin Eyster, David Paredes David ODB Baker, Jason Gooch and Nick Palma all fired at least one bullet on Saturday but ultimately found the rail.
Sunday is the last chance for players to advance to Day 2 and organizers expect it to be the largest of all three. Cards are in the promptly at noon and they'll finish when they reach 10% of the field. Day 2 is set to begin Monday at 1 pm and play down to the final table. Follow all the action right here on PokerNews.
Jake Bazeley opened on the button and John White called from the big blind. The flop came , both players checked and the turn came . White bet 20,000, Bazeley raised to 45,000, White shoved and Bazeley called.
White:
Bazeley:
White was ahead after flopping Broadway, but Bazeley's set was drawing live - and a came on the river. White's day was done and Bazeley nears 600,000 as the end of play draws closer.
A player in middle position bet 12,000 on a flop of and got two calls from late position before Andy Hwang woke up with a big raise to 60,000 in the big blind. The bettor folded, as did the first caller, but a player on the button was stickier. He called most of his stack, leaving himself just a few thousand back.
"What do I need to dodge?" Hwang asked, dropping in a few chips after the turn.
Hwang:
Opponent:
It was spades he was fading, and the river was black but a .
Chino Rheem was well above the average stack with a six-figure count and then we saw an empty seat. His tablemates were kind enough to play the hand back. Mo Khan opened in early position, Rheem three-bet on the button and the flop came with two spades. Khan check-called a bet, the turn came - putting two clubs on the board.
Rheem bet 15,000, Khan shoved and Rheem went into the tank. He talked to himself, talked to his tablemates, talked to anyone that would listen. He eventually talked himself into calling holding pocket sevens and Khan held for trips. The river came and Rheem was eliminated.
After coming into the pot from early position, Chino Rheem was facing a three-bet to about 6,000 from Andrew Watson. Rheem fired in a reraise to about 15,000, and Watson thought a bit and folded. Rheem tossed the into the middle.
"I'm not scared," he said. "I had the best hand, though."
We found Kelly Minkin on the button and all in for 9,700 more after facing a bet of 3,500 on a board of . Her opponent who had fired the bet announced a call, and Minkin tabled for a combo draw. Her opponent had , and Minkin hit both of her draws on the river. As Minkin told it, four players had seen the flop for 900 apiece and the flop bet had been 2,500 from the player with ace-king.
We found Zach Donovan all in for 17,725 on a board of . A player in the cutoff had bet 2,100 and been called by opponents on the button and in the big blind before Donovan jammed. The bettor tanked awhile and mucked, but the player on the button called. The big blind shoved all in, and the player on the button called.
Donovan:
Button:
Big blind:
Donovan was in a fantastic position fading only chops, and the river was a harmless . The cutoff said he folded a set of jacks.
"Money card," Donovan said with a smile, pointing at the .
On the backdrop of the opening weekend of college football — a big deal here on the Texas-Oklahoma border, certainly — the $2,500 Main Event of the WinStar River Poker Series continues. After a grueling Day 1a that saw 24 players advance, headlined by chip leader Andy Philachack, Day 1b is set for another noon kickoff here at WinStar World Casino, located about an hour north of Dallas.
Once again, the plan is to play down to about 10 percent of the field, however long that may take. Last night, things progressed until around 3 a.m. local time, so expect another long day of updates here on PokerNews.
Players will open with 25,000 in their stacks and blinds at 50/100. Blind levels will last 40 minutes each, with a one-hour dinner break scheduled after Level 9 that will also mark the end of reentries. Until that time comes, players may reenter as many times as they wish.
Some of the players firing and missing yesterday included Alex Foxen, Zo Karim, Ray Henson, David "ODB" Baker, Brandon Steven, Kevin Eyster, Layne Flack, Aaron Massey, WinStar ambassador Maria Ho, and defending champ Maxx Coleman. We expect many, if not all, of those players fire again today.
![[user196975]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, both players checked and the turn came 
. White bet 20,000, Bazeley raised to 45,000, White shoved and Bazeley called.
and got two calls from late position before Andy Hwang woke up with a big raise to 60,000 in the big blind. The bettor folded, as did the first caller, but a player on the button was stickier. He called most of his stack, leaving himself just a few thousand back.
turn.
.
- putting two clubs on the board. 
for trips. The river came 
into the middle.
for a combo draw. Her opponent had 
, and Minkin hit both of her draws on the 
river. As Minkin told it, four players had seen the flop for 900 apiece and the flop bet had been 2,500 from the player with ace-king.
. A player in the cutoff had bet 2,100 and been called by opponents on the button and in the big blind before Donovan jammed. The bettor tanked awhile and mucked, but the player on the button called. The big blind shoved all in, and the player on the button called.
