The inaugural iNinja World Championship, held at Planet Hollywood, drew 420 runners over its opening two flights, held Monday at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Both flights reached their hard stops at 17 percent of the field remaining, and when the dust settled, it was Matt Lushin who put 439,000 in a bag, good for the chip lead among the 72 survivors.
Lushin has $189,874 in cashes and can usually be found at a variety of tournaments in the Midwest. His best result is a win for $52,000 in a Chicago Poker Classic event from 2015.
One major pot that helped propel Lushin to the top came during Level 10 (500/1,000/100), when Lushin and Ben McCoy built a pot of about 40,000 preflop and the hit the felt. Lushin got his last 16,300 in with the and was able to fade the outs of McCoy, who had .
Other players making it through included Jeremy Kerbel (418,500), Jason Smith (223,500), Michael Sanders (190,000), Ryan Phan (160,500), iNinja Pro and World Series of Poker bracelet winner John Reading (160,500), and Jose Montes (86,500).
Players eliminated on at least one bullet during the two flights included Matt Alexander, Lance Harris, Kou Vang, Joe Barnard, Aaron Johnson, Vlad Revniaga, and Emad Alabsi.
Two more Day 1 flights are scheduled for Tuesday, and PokerNews will be back on hand for more coverage.
A player in middle position opened to 4,200 and got a call from Jason Smith on his left. The big blind shoved for 19,300 and the opener snap-called. Smith came along as well, seeing a flop. The opener checked and folded to 15,000 from Smith, showing .
Smith:
Big blind:
The turn was a and the river a , keeping the jacks best.
According to Ryan Phan, he was able to grind his last 5,000 or so up to 30,000 but his momentum ended there after he opened under the gun and got it in with against the of Victor Ayala, with the queens coming out on top.
In the last hand at the previous level, Matt Lushin and Ben McCoy saw a flop of after bloating the pot preflop to nearly 40,000. Lushin was in the cutoff and got his last 16,300 in against McCoy in middle position, though we didn't see how the action went.
Lushin:
McCoy:
McCoy needed a heart or a king but found none as harmless black filled out the community.
Jon Honeycutt put in a three-bet to 2,500 from the small blind with plenty of action ahead of him, and big blind Victor Ayala fired a cold four-bet of an unknown amount with two brown T5,000 chips in front of him. Action folded to Honeycutt, and he tanked a few minutes before deciding to fold.
The poker headlines in the summer belong almost entirely to the World Series of Poker, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of great action outside of the Rio.
One tournament looking to make a splash in 2016 is the iNinja World Championship, kicking off today at 11 a.m. local time at Planet Hollywood as part of their popular Phamous Poker Series.
The tournament has a $400 buy-in and will carry a $250,000 guarantee on the prize pool. Two Day 1 flights, Day 1a and Day 1b, are scheduled to take place today, with two more tomorrow. Each starting flight will play 15 levels lasting 30 minutes apiece and then three levels that will be 40 minutes, ending after Level 18 (3,000/6,000/500). Players receive 22,500 in starting chips with blinds beginning at 50/100. Unlimited reentry is allowed for the first 12 levels.
The iNinja team carries a stable of pros such as Kou Vang, Aaron Johnson, and Ryan Phan, so we expect to see them and more as the tournament gets underway.
hit the felt. Lushin got his last 16,300 in with the 
and was able to fade the outs of McCoy, who had 
. 
flop. The opener checked and folded to 15,000 from Smith, showing 
.
and the river a 
, keeping the jacks best.
flop, from middle position. Josh Krause snap-called on the button and table 
. She did not improve on the 
river.
filled out the community.
.
