Day 1a of the NAPT Los Angeles Comes to an End
Over the past year, Season 1 of the North America Poker Tour has held stops at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and at the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. Today the fourth and final stop of the NAPT Season 1 got underway in Los Angeles at the Bicycle Casino. Anticipation for Day 1a was strong and 328 players turned out for their shot at an NAPT title.
Among the pros that made their way to the Bike were PokerStars Team Pros Barry Greenstein and Greg Raymer; former NAPT winner Vanessa Selbst; November Niners Soi Nguyen and Joseph Cheong; poker couple Annette Obrestad and Scott Montgomery; and the Magician, Antonio Esfandiari. They all came seeking NAPT glory and a nice payday, but unfortunately for them all, they were unable to survive the day.
Not everyone was so unlucky. John “The Razor” Phan got off to a strong start as he quickly rocketed toward the top of the chip counts. In one hand, Phan found himself all in with 
on a board of 
while his opponent held 
. Phan doubled on the hand to become the first player to crack the 100,000 chip mark! Although others eventually caught up to Phan, he managed to survive the day with 101,400.
Others who’ll be returning to Day 2 action are Jason Mercier, William Reynolds, Chad Brown, Justin Bonomo, Chris Klodnicki, Carter King, Alec Torelli, Gavin Griffin, Eric Baldwin and Justin “Boosted J” Smith.
However, all of these players will be chasing Nick Grippo, who appears to be our chip leader with 235,100. Hot on his heels are Scott Fischman (224,600) and Tom Middleton (229,100), both of whom amassed respective stacks.
Approximately 150 players from Day 1a will return for Day 2; however, before we get there we have another opening day to wade through first. Day 1b of the NAPT-Los Angeles is expected to draw another massive field and more of poker’s biggest names. Action is set to kickoff at 1 PM local time, so be sure to check back then as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team brings you all of the latest hands, action, chip counts and eliminations live from the Bike!