$5,150 Circuit Championship Day 1 | 2009 WSOP Circuit - Caesars Atlantic City

$5,150 Circuit Championship

Day 1 Completed

03-13-2009 02:00 UTC-4

Day 1 Concludes

[user66118]

Some fourteen hours ago, 208 players filed into the colossal Palladium Ballroom to take their seats for the WSOP-C Caesars Atlantic City Championship Event. The lively field was a captivating mix of amateurs, local pros, and big-name sharks. Among the notables who fell victim to Day 1 were Roy Winston, Chris Reslock, Bernard Lee, Lee Childs, Matt Stout, 2009 WSOP finalists Ylon Schwartz and Dennis Phillips, and a whole host of online pros. Chris Klodnicki didn't quite make the final table with Schwartz and Phillips (he finished in a respectable 12th place), but he has outlasted both of them today, and he holds the chip lead as play breaks for the night. All told, just 53 players survived the first day's action.

Still, the remaining field is solid, and there are still several dangerous players left to contend with. Alex Bolotin and Matt Brady are near the top of the leaderboard, and Bill Gazes, Mike Leah, Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy, Ben Fineman, and Beth Shak are all well within striking distance. Full official chip counts will be posted as soon as they are made available to us.

That wraps things up for Day 1 here at Caesars. Day 2 kicks off tomorrow at noon, and we should be able to set our final table before we conclude for the evening. Until then, goodnight from Atlantic City!

03-13-2009 01:30 UTC-4

Minaya Eliminated

donpeters

Just before the end of the day, Manny Minaya moved in on a flop of {7-Spades}

holding

. He was short stacked from the prior hand against Gissel Heredia and was called down by an opponent holding {10-Hearts}

, for sevens with a better kicker.

The turn was the {8-Spades}

and then the river the {Q-Hearts}

. Minaya failed to improve his hand and was eliminated just a few hands before the end of the day.

Tags: Gissel Heredia Manny Minaya

03-13-2009 01:30 UTC-4

Pahuja Eliminated

donpeters

Vinny Pahuja reraised all in after a player opened ahead of him. Because Pahuja was so short stacked, his opponent felt priced in to make the call holding {J-?}

. Pahuja held {K-?}

.

Pahuja's opponent flopped two pair and depsite having picked up an open-ended straight draw on the flop, Pahuja couldn't improve to best the two pair and he was sent home.

Tags: Vinny Pahuja

03-13-2009 01:20 UTC-4

Heredia's Set Hurts Minaya

donpeters

Gissel Heredia bet 10,000 on the turn after the board read {A-Diamonds}

. Her opponent, Manny Minaya, made the call.

The river brought the {Q-Clubs}

and Heredia led out for 15,000. Minaya took some time and then put in a min-raise to 30,000. Heredia quickly called.

"Two pair," announced Minaya as he flipped over the {A-Clubs}

. Heredia quickly responded by flipping up her trip sixes with the {6-Clubs}

. She scooped the pot and is now up to 140,000 chips.

Tags: Gissel Heredia Manny Minaya

03-13-2009 01:04 UTC-4

Rico Out

[user22113]

Douglas "Rico" Carli was all in for his last 10,000 with {J-Diamonds}

and was facing Eric Doerr's {A-Clubs}

. Neither player improved and "Rico" was sent to the rail.

Tags: Douglas Carli Eric Doerr

03-13-2009 00:58 UTC-4

Gazes Takes a Huge Hit

[user22113]

Bill Gazes just lost a ton of chips. We caught the action when the board read {8-Diamonds}

and there was 68,000 in the middle. Gazes was faced with a huge decision as Cohen was all in for 44,000. Gazes tank-called with {K-Clubs}

, but Cohen tabled {Q-Spades}

. The

turn all but sealed the deal. The river fell the {10-Spades}

and Gazes took a huge hit down to 24,000 while Richard Cohen is now up to 160,000.

Tags: Bill Gazes Richard Cohen

03-13-2009 00:56 UTC-4

Speedy, but Lacking Action

donpeters

It's not that the players are trying extremely hard to tighten up and make it to Day 2 like normal, but rather this amazing Syracuse versus Connecticut basketball game that's going on.

The majority of the spectators in the room are huddled around the large plasma screen TVs while most of the players themselves are often folding and then walking over to get a better look themselves. The action hasn't slowed in speed, but there is certainly a lack of action due to the interest in the game.

03-13-2009 00:52 UTC-4

Tiffenberg Bounced by Klodnicki

donpeters

Dave Tiffenberg found himself all in preflop against chip leader Chris Klodnicki. Tiffenberg had Klodnicki dominated in hopes of a double up with his {A-?}

against Klodnicki's {A-?}

.

The board ran out {Q-?}

and guess what? Klodnicki got there. That seems to be a reoccurring theme as he keeps amassing chips. Tiffenberg was sent to rail and mentioned, "I've only played two tournaments in my life and this guy [Klodnicki] has eliminated me from both of them."

Tags: Chris Klodnicki Dave Tiffenberg