$1,100 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
August 2019 Colorado Poker Championship
$1,100 Main Event
Day: 1a
Top
Chip Counts
Chip Counts
10
98,000
Wendy Freedman Bags Commanding Chip Lead on Day 1a
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 2,400 ante
The first of three starting flights at the August 2019 Colorado Poker Championship $1,100 Main Event got underway Thursday, seeing a total of 80 entries to start the weekend off with an action-packed day. Chips flew across the felt all day long with the tournament’s deep-stacked structure, and Wendy Freedman found herself with more than double the stack of her next-closest competitor upon the completion of play.
Freedman is one of 14 players to advance to Sunday’s Day 2 from the initial flight. She entered the tournament just before the first break of the day and more than doubled her stack in her first two hours of play. She saw that number steadily rise to over 200,000 throughout the evening before winning what proved to be the biggest hand of the day when she flopped a set and saw the turn and river bring a pair of jacks to give her a full house. She got a full stack in against then-chip leader Will Givens on the river, who had flopped the nut straight only to see it become second-best.
A few hands later, Freedman finished off Givens after he found himself all in in a four-bet pot preflop in a coin flip situation with pocket tens against Freedman’s ace-king. Freedman flopped a king and the rest was history as she continued her journey to her ultimate finishing total of 597,500.
Though 15 players advanced, only five finished with above-average stacks. The other four to do so besides Freedman were Al Hart (265,000), Barb Visher (224,000), Aaron Meyer (193,000), and Zach Gutierrez (187,000).
Notable players to not advance in the first heat of the tournament include Nick Pupillo, Noomis Jones, Matt Livingston, Brian Leitch and Greg Geller.
Day 1b will be played Friday at noon local time, with all entries having unlimited opportunities at finding a bag. PokerNews will be on the floor for another 14 levels of live reporting, so make sure to come back for more coverage as the tournament continues.
End of Day 1a Chip Counts (full)
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 2,400 ante
A full recap of the day's action will be provided shortly.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
597,500 | 29,500 |
|
265,000 | 12,000 |
|
224,000 | 99,500 |
|
193,000 | -12,800 |
|
187,000 | -3,000 |
|
156,500 | -25,000 |
|
155,000 | -22,000 |
|
147,500 | 10,500 |
|
106,000 | 500 |
|
|
98,000 | -3,500 |
|
93,500 | -62,700 |
|
|
76,500 | -36,500 |
|
|
69,500 | -36,500 |
|
34,500 | -22,200 |
|
Busted |
Play Finished
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 2,400 ante
Play has finished for the night and the T100 chips are being colored off before the remaining 15 players bag and tag their chips for the evening. A full list of chip counts and a recap of the day's action will be provided shortly.
Peragallo Knocks Out Valant Before End of Night
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 2,400 ante
Andrew Peragallo was heard saying he was all in from the small blind over a middle-position shove from Brian Valant. Wendy Freedman folded her big blind and the two turned up their cards.
Brian Valant: 
Andrew Peragallo: 
Valant was in trouble and his situation did not improve as the board ran out 
and he was eliminated from the tournament just before the end of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
137,000 | 49,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Four Hands
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 2,400 ante
The number four has been drawn to signify that four hands will be played before play is completed for the night.
Pence Straight-Over-Straights Visher To Double
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 2,400 ante
Action was all in on the turn with a board reading 
between Caleb Pence in early position and Barb Visher out of the big blind.
According to players at the table, the hand was limped four ways to the flop between Pence, Zach Gutierrez in the cutoff, Al Hart in the small blind, and Visher. Action had checked to Gutierrez and he bet 6,000. Hart had put in a check-raise and both Visher and Pence. Gutierrez got out of the way.
Hart checked the turn and folded as Visher and Pence got stacks in.
Barb Visher: 
Caleb Pence: 
Visher found herself having flopped the nut straight, only to see Pence improve to a higher straight on the turn. She was in need of hitting one of the final three kings in the deck to chop and was unable to find it when the river came 
, resulting in her paying off Pence for the double.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
253,000 | 64,000 |
|
|
190,000 | -5,000 |
|
|
181,500 | 121,000 |
|
|
124,500 | 103,900 |
Freedman Wins Flip To Take Rest of Givens' Chips
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 2,400 ante
Wendy Freedman opened to 5,200 and was three-bet by Will Givens to around 25,000. Freedman put him all in and he called.
Will Givens:
Wendy Freedman: 
The two were off to the races with Givens at risk for his tournament life. The five cards of the runout would be the last of his evening as the board came 
and he got up from his seat, shaking players' hands and wishing them good luck as he left the tournament area.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
568,000 | 108,500 |
|
Busted |
Freedman Wins Largest Pot of the Night Versus Givens
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 2,400 ante
Wendy Freedman opened from the cutoff to 5,200 and was called by Ellena Martinez in the small blind and Will Givens in the big blind.
The flop came 
and Martinez checked. Givens fired 11,000 and was called by Freedman. Martinez folded, taking the pot heads up to the turn . Givens checked to Freedman, who bet 32,000 and was called.
The river came 
and Givens checked again. Freedman bet 80,000 and Givens check-raised all in for Freedman's effective stack of 174,900. Freedman called.
Will Givens: 
Wendy Freedman: 
Givens had flopped the nut straight to Freedman's set, however the turn and river paired the board to fill her up to a full house and earn the double, putting her firmly atop the leaderboard, while Givens finds himself back at work to rebuild his stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
459,500 | 229,500 |
|
|
106,000 | -59,000 |
|
|
103,000 | -217,000 |
Patch Gets Check-Raise Through
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 2,400 ante
There was 30,000 in the pot on a board of and Steve Patch checked from under the gun. Action was on Aaron Meyer and he bet 15,000. Patch check-raised to 30,000 and got a fold after a bit, bringing him back over the six figure-mark for the time being.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
205,800 | |
|
|
101,500 |