Event 53: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Day 1 Completed
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 53: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2012 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$4,274,100
Entries
3,166
Level
33
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
30,000
Day 1 Ends Just 24 Spots From the Money
Level 11
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
Day 1 of the largest $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em tournament of the World Series of Poker thus far has officially come to a close. This event yielded an incredible turnout with a total of 3,166 runners ponying up the $1,500 buy-in to participate. Mario Nagel emerged as the chip leader by the end of eleven levels with a stack of 158,700.
Several players were able to work their stacks over the hundred-thousand mark. Among those on the heels of Nagel are Luke Nettles (125,300), Michael Ruane (110,300), Graydon Kowal (105,800), and Bryan Piccioli (102,400).
Today's play started with a whopping 3,166 players and by the end of the night almost 90% of those players were sent home with nothing but a story. Among those to try and overcome the large field only to come up short were Dwyte Pilgrim, Allen Kessler, Men Nguyen, Erik Cajelais, Lauren Kling, Bill Chen, David Benyamine, Jeff Lisandro, Ana Marquez, Dutch Boyd, Lex Veldhuis, and Hollywood's James Woods.
That being said several notable names were able to wade through the large field and move on to Day 2. Brock Parker (70,900), Victoria Coren (67,400), Aaron Jones (55,100), Ali Eslami (54,100), David Sands (41,400), Martin Staszko (32,300), Steve Dannenmann (28,000), and Matt Affleck (27,400) are just some of the players who will be returning to the felt tomorrow.
Also to have a seat with his name on it is last year's champion of this very event: Athanasios Polychronopoulos. Polychronopoulos will be bringing a stack of 37,300 chips with him into play tomorrow and will be looking to recapture the title that made him a notable name in the poker world last year.
Early on in the day James Woods was the player to watch. By the end of level 3 Woods had amassed a stack of 30,000 in chips and there seemed to be no stopping him from steamrolling his table. Unfortunately for Woods, the worst happened when he flopped middle set against another large stack at the table who held pocket queens for top set. Woods lost a majority of his stack during this hand and entered a downward spiral that led to his bust before the dinner break.
Cherish Andrews' large stack is yet another astounding story to emerge from today's play. Earlier on in the 2012 WSOP, Andrews played in Event 31: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em and finished Day 1 as chip leader. Andrews rode her massive stack all the way to the final table where she eventually finished fourth for a quarter of a million dollar prize. Andrews finished play today more than healthy with a stack of 63,700 and she is primed to add another WSOP cash to her resume.
Play will resume at 2:00 PM tomorrow instead of the usual 1:00 PM. We are just 24 eliminations away from the money so be sure to tune in early as we walk the path to crowning yet another World Series of Poker bracelet winner.
Official End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
158,700 | |
|
152,200 | |
|
125,300 | |
|
115,800 | |
|
110,300 | |
|
106,000 | |
|
105,900 | |
|
105,800 | |
|
102,900 | |
|
102,400 | |
|
100,000 | |
|
99,000 | |
|
98,700 | |
|
98,200 | |
|
98,100 | |
|
|
95,800 | |
|
95,100 | |
|
94,700 | |
|
94,700 | |
|
93,700 | |
|
91,400 | |
|
90,800 | |
|
90,000 | |
|
87,700 | |
|
86,800 |
End of the Night Counts
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
158,700 | -11,300 |
|
|
125,300 | 21,300 |
|
|
110,300 | |
|
|
105,800 | -6,200 |
|
|
102,400 | |
|
70,900 | 20,400 |
|
67,400 | -2,600 |
|
63,700 | -17,300 |
|
55,100 | 22,600 |
|
54,100 | -5,400 |
|
48,200 | -10,800 |
|
41,400 | 15,400 |
|
39,800 | 23,800 |
|
37,300 | 3,300 |
|
32,300 | 300 |
|
28,000 | -1,000 |
|
27,400 | -5,600 |
|
Busted |
Bagging and Tagging
Level 11
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
Play has officially ended for the night and players are currently bagging and tagging.
Seven More!
Level 11
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
Tournament staff has announced seven more hands before bagging and tagging for the evening.
All Fun and Games at the Team Pro Table
Lex Veldhuis and Victoria Coren seem to be having a good time at their table as both of them have been gathering a lot of chips over the past hour. When we walked by, Veldhuis was all smiles and was playing with the dealer button while drinking a beer.
In a recent hand, one player moved all in for 16,100 from middle position, and action folded to Veldhuis who moved all-in over the top.
Everyone else folded and the cards were on their backs. Veldhuis was holding the 
and had his opponent crushed, who was holding the 
.
The flop fell 
giving Veldhuis a pair and a royal flush draw, leaving his opponent drawing dead to a chop or running 8s.
The turn was the 
and the river was the 
awarding Veldhuis the pot and moving him up to 46,000 chips. At the other end of the table, Victoria Coren has chipped up to nearly 70,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
70,000 | 16,000 |
|
|
46,000 | 23,000 |
Affleck Outkicked
We picked up with the action to see Matt Affleck and two other players looking down at a flop of 
. Affleck was in the small blind and led out for 6,600. His first opponent folded while the second quickly called.
The turn was the 
and both players took their time checking to see a river of the 
.
Affleck checked for a second time and his opponent checked behind. Affleck showed 
for a pair of queens but was saddened to find that his opponent held for a better pair of queens.
Affleck is currently sitting on a stack of about 33,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
33,000 | -4,000 |
Brock Gets A Little Bit
We caught Brock Parker in a hand on the flop with about 3,000 in the pot. The board read 
and Parker was faced with a 2,000 chip bet from his opponent.
Parker called and the dealer put out the 
on the turn. Action went check, check, and it was off to the river.
The 
fell on the river and Parker's opponent bet out 3,500. Parker didn't take long to call the bet. His opponent turned over 
for a rivered pair of tens, but Parker turned over 
for the winning pair of queens. With that hand, Parker moved over 50,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
50,500 | 8,500 |
Assorted Notable Counts
Here are some assorted chip counts from throughout the remaining field in today's event.
After finishing Day 1 as chip leader in Event 31: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em, Cherish Andrews looks to complete the same task today. While we have several players over 100,000, Andrews has been steadily building her stack all day and it seems as if there is no stopping in sight.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
81,000 | 8,000 |
|
|
59,000 | 5,000 |
|
|
54,000 | 20,000 |
|
|
42,000 | -2,500 |
|
|
32,000 | 17,000 |
|
|
29,000 | -4,500 |
|
|
23,000 | -12,000 |
|
|
16,000 | -4,000 |