$1,650 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2019 Ante Up World Championship
$1,650 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2019 Ante Up World Championship
Buy-in
$1,650
Prize Pool
$685,678
Entries
469
Level
28
Blinds
75,000 / 125,000
Ante
125,000
Jeff Griffiths Bags Day 1a Chip Lead in $1,650 Ante Up World Championship
Level 14
: 3,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
The Day 1a flight of the $1,650 Ante Up World Championship has come to a close. Just 20 players remain from the opening field of 153 entries, and those 20 players are all in the money and will come back Sunday for Day 2.
Jeff Griffiths bagged the Day 1a chip lead, riding a late day surge to end the day at 609,000. Other top chip counts from the tournament’s opening flight include Jon Cohen (557,000), Toko Luu (475,000), Josh Prager (468,000) and William Givens (458,000).
The Ante Up World Championship is structured for each of the Day 1 flights to play down to the money, and the 20 survivors from Day 1a will join the players that make it through Saturday’s Day 1b flight. Those two fields will combine and come back Sunday to play down to a champion in this $500,000 guaranteed event.
Friday’s play ended on the last hand of Level 14, with Robert Angeleri scoring the final elimination of the day to send the remaining players home for the night.
Other notables making it through to Day 2 include Seymond Pon (389,000), Damlieng Xayasounthone (354,000) and Amir Lehavot (281,000).
The Thunder Valley Poker Room is expected to host an even bigger field for Saturday’s Day 1b flight, with upwards of 40 seats being awarded via a satellite tournament that ran concurrently with today’s Main Event action.
Saturday’s Day 1b flight begins at 11 a.m.; follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team as the $1,650 Ante Up World Championship continues.
End of Day 1a Chip Counts (full)
Level 14
: 3,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
609,000 | 609,000 |
|
557,000 | 272,000 |
|
475,000 | 35,000 |
|
468,000 | 97,000 |
|
389,000 | 219,000 |
|
354,000 | -13,500 |
|
345,000 | 179,000 |
|
318,000 | 248,000 |
|
317,000 | 317,000 |
|
284,000 | 104,000 |
|
281,000 | 91,000 |
|
|
280,000 | 120,000 |
|
214,000 | 44,000 |
|
|
202,000 | 202,000 |
|
202,000 | 202,000 |
|
|
160,000 | 160,000 |
|
110,000 | 110,000 |
|
|
85,000 | 85,000 |
|
80,000 | 80,000 |
Day 1a is a Wrap
Level 14
: 3,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
The Day 1a flight has ended, as the field has trimmed down to 20 players. Those 20 are in the money and will return for Day 2 Sunday. A recap and end-of-day chip counts will follow shortly.
Wheeler Doubles Through Prager
Level 14
: 3,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Terry Wheeler reraised all in preflop from the small blind, for 85,000 total. The action folded back around to Josh Prager on the button, who thought it over for a bit before making the call. Prager had Wheeler well covered when the cards tunred over.
Terry Wheeler: 
Josh Prager: 
Board: 
Another player at the table, who had folded to Wheeler's reraise, groaned when the flop hit. Wheeler's pair of nines held through the river, and the tournament is still two eliminations away from the money.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
371,000 | 52,000 |
|
|
170,000 | 100,000 |
Lehavot Sends Jha to the Rail
Level 14
: 3,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
With the board showing 
, put in his last 42,000 from the small blind, and Amir Lehavot made the call from the big blind.
Mrityunjay Jha: 
Amir Lehavot: 
Jha, who was covered, had a pair of eights and an open-ended straight draw, but saw the bad news when Lehavot tabled his cards and already had the nut straight. No help came for Jha on the river, and his tournament run ended.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
190,000 | 50,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 14
Blinds: 3,000/5,000
Ante: 5,000
Bob Badour Wins Event #18: $160 Limit Omaha/8
Level 13
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
While the Ante Up World Championship $1,650 Main Event is the premier tournament on the schedule, it’s far from the only one. In fact, the tour has been at Thunder Valley since early July hosting a slew of side events.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team wasn’t on hand to capture the action from those events, but we still wanted to offer fans a brief look at all those who’ve captured titles during the Ante Up World Championship.
For example, Event #18: $160 Limit Omaha/8 had 101 entries to create a $13,130 prize pool. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Ronald Spence (14th - $300), Russ Honhart (13th - $328), Clyde Turner (12th - $361), and Anthony Hutchins (11th - $361).
In the end, Bob Badour bested Clyde Hinkle in heads-up play to win the title and $4,004 top prize.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bob Badour | $4,004 |
| 2 | Clyde Hinkle | $2,462 |
| 3 | Asa Kaneko | $1,510 |
| 4 | Tom Tseng | $985 |
| 5 | Daniel Hinkle | $768 |
| 6 | Jack Eads | $614 |
| 7 | Robert Johnson | 523 |
| 8 | Ho Le | $453 |
| 9 | Arturo Segura | $400 |
| 10 | Anthony Giglini | $361 |
Luu Eclipses 400k in Chips
Level 13
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Toko Luu bet 20,000 from early position on the turn, with the board reading 
. Jon Cohen called from the button, bringing the 
on the river.
Loo down bet to 16,000, and Cohen called. Loo showed 
, winning the battle of the big stacks and pushing toward the top of the chip leaderboard.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
440,000 | 188,000 |
|
|
285,000 | -5,000 |
More Chip Counts
Level 13
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
290,000 | 70,000 |
|
|
252,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
180,000 | 180,000 |
|
|
140,000 | -23,000 |
|
|
120,000 | 40,000 |
|
|
72,000 | -69,000 |
|
|
70,000 | 20,500 |
|
Busted |