$1,450 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2021 Colorado Poker Championship
$1,450 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2021 Colorado Poker Championship
Buy-in
$1,450
Prize Pool
$389,276
Entries
307
Level
27
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000
Entries
70
Players Left
8
Palumbo, Wilkie Bag Half a Million as Eight Advance from Day 1a of the 2021 CPC $1,450 Main Event
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Day 1a of the 2021 Bally's Black Hawk Colorado Poker Championship (CPC) $1,450 Main Event has come and gone with 70 entries opening the tally on the first of three starting flights for the tournament. Fourteen full levels were on the docket for the day, but play ended seven minutes early as 12% of the field was reached with eight remaining and Rocco Palumbo (554,500) leading the field.
Palumbo's Day 1a was largely smooth sailing, entering the tournament at the start of the day and chipping up in the first level of play. His chip trajectory continued upward from there, becoming one of the top stacks in the room with over 150,000 by the dinner break. From there, he kept climbing, reaching 350,000 before knocking out Brian Leitch via rivered trips to surpass the 400K mark. His final punctuation mark came on the last hand of the night, when he eliminated Barry Faecher in ninth place to cement his spot atop the counts for the day.
Defending CPC Main Event Co-Champion Steve Wilkie (504,000) also finished the day above half a million, experiencing a surge at the end of the night saw him double his stack in the last two levels of play, largely at the expense of Ben Keeline and Svetlana Martie. When nine remained, Wilkie overtook the chip lead from Palumbo and appeared to be the one that would set the pace for future flights, only to see Palumbo finish back on top after eliminating Faecher.
The other six players to advance all did so with stacks of less than half of Wilkie's. Those players were: Lawrence Brink (252,000), Chris Quackenbush (179,000), Michael Hinde (166,000), Roman Mai (162,000), Donna Gadd (148,000), and Chad Stoffel (134,000). All eight players will return for Sunday's Day 2 with more than 30 big blinds to conclude Level 14 (and more than 25 big blinds for the start of Level 15).
Other familiar faces to fall short of a bag included Phil Gioia, Jorden Helstern, Zach Gutierrez, Sammy Aweida, and Thomas Fuller. Two more starting flights remain for all who have yet to punch their ticket to Day 2, with the next one beginning Friday at noon local time.
PokerNews will be back at it then to bring you updates as the action unfolds. See you soon.
End of Day 1a Chip Counts (full)
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
554,500 | 500 |
|
506,000 | 33,000 |
|
252,000 | 92,000 |
|
179,000 | 23,000 |
|
166,000 | -3,000 |
|
162,000 | -53,000 |
|
|
148,000 | 26,500 |
|
134,000 | 64,000 |
Play Concludes
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Play has concluded with seven minutes and 35 seconds remaining in Level 14 after Barry Faecher was eliminated on the hand following Michael Hinde's double. Faecher fell to Rocco Palumbo after stacks got in on the turn of a jack-high board with Faecher holding a pair of jacks and Palumbo having a straight with 
.
Faecher's ninth-place elimination means the hard stop has been reached due to 12% of the field remaining a handful of minutes before the scheduled end of the night.
Official chip counts will be posted shortly with an end-of-day recap soon to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
554,000 | 72,000 |
|
Busted |
Hinde Holds for the Dub
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Michael Hinde was under the gun and open-jammed for around 83,000, receiving action from Matthew Palumbo one seat over before all remaining players folded.
Michael Hinde: 
Matthew Palumbo: 
Hinde was ahead and needed his ace to hold to stay alive. The flop 
kept him ahead, as did the turn 
despite giving Palumbo a backdoor flush draw. The river 
fell safely behind, leaving Hinde's hand best and scoring him the double.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
400,000 | -82,000 |
|
|
169,000 | 126,000 |
Wilkie Gets Another Knockout
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Just moments after Steve Wilkie sent Ben Keeline to the rail in tenth place, he found himself in another all-in preflop situation in the small blind against Svetlana Martie in the cutoff, who was at risk for her tournament life.
Svetlana Martie: 
Steve Wilkie: 
Wilkie once again flopped a set on 
, leaving Martie with nothing but a backdoor gutshot straight draw to stay alive. The turn 
brought a real sweat, but the river fell behind to leave Wilkie's aces best and eliminate Martie in tenth place.
"You're catching up!" joked tablemate Rocco Palumbo, whose stack of 482,000 is now challenged by Wilkie's 473,000 as the clear two leaders in the field with just nine still in contention.
Less than 20 minutes remain in the evening for all remaining players, as the final table will play through the completion of the level unless another elimination occurs before that time.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
482,000 | 54,000 |
|
|
473,000 | 138,000 |
|
Busted |
Keeline Busts To Wilkie
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Ben Keeline was just seen making his way from the tournament area and confirmed he lost a coin flip to Steve WIlkie for the remainder of his chips after being down to around 60,000. Wilkie and the rest of the table filled in the rest of the details.
Ben Keeline: 
Steve Wilkie: 
Both players connected with the flop 
, giving Wilkie a set and putting him firmly in front. However, two hearts were present, giving Keeline a backdoor flush draw that became live as a third heart came on the turn. Unfortunately for him, a fourth heart did not follow and Wilkie's set of sevens remained best to eliminate Keeline with around 12 minutes until the clock will be stopped to play the final hands of the evening.
Ten players now remain.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
335,000 | 63,000 |
|
Busted |
Mai Eliminates Hudson
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Shannon Hudson open-jammed for his last handful of big blinds in the hijack and was called by Roman Mai on the button.
Shannon Hudson:
Roman Mai: 
"Be good to me," Hudson requested to the dealer. Such a request was not fulfilled as Mai connected with the flop 
to pull ahead and leave Hudson drawing thin for his tournament life. Hudson picked up four more backdoor outs on the turn 
, but the river was not enough to keep him alive as the pot was sent to Mai with the field falling to 11 as a result.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
215,000 | |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 14
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Wheeler Runs Out of Gas
Level 13
: 2,000/3,000, 3,000 ante
Mike Wheeler found himself down to 34,500 after doubling Roman Mai when both players hit a full house on a double-paired board with Mai holding the top end and Wheeler holding the bottom. He then got the last of it in preflop in a blind-on-blind battle against Barry Faecher.
Mike Wheeler: 
Barry Faecher: 
"You got me," said Wheeler. "It's time to go home."
The board came 
, fulfilling his prediction as Faecher took the last of his chips, with the two exchanging pleasantries thereafter before Wheeler made his way from the tournament area.
Matt Livingston was also eliminated from the other table in play around the same time, with the pair of eliminations bringing the field down to 12 with 40 minutes remaining in the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
195,000 | 54,000 |
|
|
138,000 | 40,000 |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |