$1,700 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Rio Las Vegas
$1,700 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Rio Las Vegas
Buy-in
$1,700
Prize Pool
$1,131,705
Entries
747
Level
34
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
250,000
Entries
290
Players Left
57
Michael Stein Finds Biggest Stack on Day 1a of Main Event
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The first flight of the $1,700 Main Event at the Rio All Suites and Casino has come to an end with a total of 290 entry slips sold during the ten levels that were played and just 57 remained by nights end.
Finding the biggest stack of the Day 1a flight was Michael Stein with a total of 387,000 going into his bag by night's end. Stein jumped to the top of the leaderboard early in the day and never really seemed to slow down, finding barely any hurdles along the way to bagging the lead.
Other noticeably big stacks that emerged from this flight include Leo Worthington-Leese (354,000), Kevin MacPhee (301,000), Gabriel Amolroude (297,000), Aram Zobian (284,500), Bradley Hinson (268,500), and Karapet Galstyan (237,000).
Some well-knowns to secure a seat on Day 2 are Peter Vitantonio (225,500), Craig Varnell (211,000), Matas Cimbolas (211,000), Ali Imsirovic (125,500), Adam Hendrix (117,500), Brock Wilson (116,000), and Sam Cosby (86,500).
The remaining players from this flight will combine with the survivors in Day 1b and will return on Monday, February 24, for Day 2. The prize poll and payout will be announced tomorrow after the late registration period has closed on the final flight of this event.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing you all of the updates throughout the event so stay tuned as the action unfolds.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
387,000
82,000
|
82,000 |
|
||
|
354,000
94,000
|
94,000 |
|
301,000
301,000
|
301,000 |
|
||
|
297,000
297,000
|
297,000 |
|
284,500
-60,500
|
-60,500 |
|
||
|
268,500
268,500
|
268,500 |
|
|
252,000
252,000
|
252,000 |
|
237,500
-37,500
|
-37,500 |
|
236,500
236,500
|
236,500 |
|
225,500
92,500
|
92,500 |
|
222,000
222,000
|
222,000 |
|
211,000
211,000
|
211,000 |
|
||
|
211,000
131,000
|
131,000 |
|
|
||
|
208,000
-17,000
|
-17,000 |
|
|
207,500
207,500
|
207,500 |
|
207,000
177,000
|
177,000 |
|
199,000
199,000
|
199,000 |
|
180,000
180,000
|
180,000 |
|
|
||
|
175,000
175,000
|
175,000 |
|
170,500
-39,500
|
-39,500 |
|
165,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
165,000
115,000
|
115,000 |
|
164,000
29,000
|
29,000 |
|
150,000
-20,000
|
-20,000 |
|
140,500
-89,500
|
-89,500 |
Biever Scoops with Big Slick
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
A player moved all in, totaling 40,000 and Rick Biever moved his 89,000 into the middle. A third opponent called bot and the three tabled their hands.
Opponent: 
Rick Biever: 
Opponent: 
The board rolled out 
and Biever's flopped ace took down the pot, sending one opponent home as he doubled through the other.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
225,000
225,000
|
225,000 |
Worthington-Leese Applies Pressure
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The flop read 
. Leo Worthington-Leese was facing a bet of 6,000 from his opponent.
He shot the price of poker up sharply and raised to 25,000. His opponent thought for a few moments before relenting to the pressure and folding.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
260,000
-50,000
|
-50,000 |
Cosby Takes One Down
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
A player limped from under the gun and Peter Vitantonio raised to 9,000. Sam Cosby moved his stack of about 85,000 into the middle and both of his opponents folded, sending an easy pot to Cosby late in the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
105,000
31,500
|
31,500 |
Ryan Leng Captures 3rd Career WSOPC Gold Ring
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
PokerNews is in town to live report both the $1,700 Main Event and $2,200 High Roller here at the World Series of Poker Circuit Rio Las Vegas, but those are just three of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.
In Event #7: $400 NLH/PLO Mix 8-Handed, 103 entrants created a $33,990 prize pool that was paid out to the top 16 players including Ming Zhu (3rd - $4,085), Ian Steinman (7th - $1,210), James Hoeppner (11th - $703), JJ Liu (12th - $703), and Andrew Donabedian (16th - $597).
In the end, bracelet winner Ryan Leng bested Mark Liedtke in heads-up play to win the title for $9,722 and his third career gold ring.
“It feels great, especially in a format like this. No-limit hold’em is my main game and in PLO I’m still learning the tournament strategy, so it feels good to get a win in a mixed game like this where I’ve put in some time to study and trying to learn the game,” Leng said after the victory.
He added: “Winning a tournament is always so much fun. The money is obviously not one of the bigger ones, but I just really love the game and winning a tournament is always so much fun regardless of tournament, field size or buy-in. I love this game, I thoroughly love it. I’m constantly trying to improve, and I’m always trying new things. I also work on being creative, and learn new games. I’m always motivated to play, I want to win every tournament I enter so it is easy for me to stay motivated.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Leng | Wheeling, Illinois | $9,722 |
| 2 | Mark Liedtke | Manassas, Virginia | $6,002 |
| 3 | Ming Zhu | Portland, Oregon | $4,085 |
| 4 | Steven Girouard | Las Vegas, Nevada | $2,869 |
| 5 | Darren Stillwell | Morganton, North Carolina | $2,080 |
| 6 | Christopher Carey | Efland, North Carolina | $1,559 |
| 7 | Ian Steinman | Mountain View, California | $1,210 |
| 8 | Spencer Simpson | Draper, Utah | $973 |
Level: 15
Blinds: 1,500/3,000
Ante: 3,000
Updated Chip Counts
Level 14
: 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
345,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
305,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
170,000
97,000
|
97,000 |
|
|
165,000
65,000
|
65,000 |
|
150,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
135,000
73,000
|
73,000 |
|
|
||
|
135,000
31,000
|
31,000 |
|
|
135,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
|
100,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
|
80,000
52,000
|
52,000 |
|
|
||
|
70,000
31,500
|
31,500 |
|
|
50,000
16,000
|
16,000 |
|
45,000
-20,000
|
-20,000 |
|
45,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
||
|
35,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
|
22,000
-4,000
|
-4,000 |
|
|
||
Malki Accumulating
Level 14
: 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
Action was picked up on the turn with the board reading 
. Zeev Malki called his opponent's bet of 13,000.
The river came the 
. Malki led out with a bet of 26,000 which caused his opponent to fold quickly as sent the pot to Malki.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
230,000 |