Big Stax 500
Day 1a Completed
Parx Big Stax XXXI
Big Stax 500
Day: 1a
Sameer Batra Leads The Remaining 45 Day 1A Players of Big Stax XXXI 500
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Twelve hours and 15 levels are in the books on Day 1a of the Big Stax XXXI 500, as 45 players find a bag from a 249 starting field to advance to Sunday’s Day 2.
Sameer Batra ended the day as the chip leader with 502,500. Batra was around the top throughout the day and held onto the chip lead even though Thomas Holowchuk made a run for it at the end of the night bagging 474,500, which was good enough for second.
Coming third in chips was Nicholas Bilotti, who ended the night with (410,500) after being down to just 22,500 to start the Level 13. Rounding out the top five stacks are Mike Kemeter (402,000) and John Forsyth (392,000).
Other players to advance include Ronan Teixeira (334,500), Vincent Teutonico, (271,500), Guoliang Chen (267,000), James Lillis (246,000), and Robert Link (191,500).
Two more starting flights remain, with Day 1b starting at 11 a.m. local time on Friday.
Come back to PokerNews for updates throughout the rest of the Big Stax XXXI 500 tournament.
End of Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
502,500 | 22,500 |
|
474,500 | |
|
410,500 | |
|
402,000 | |
|
392,000 | |
|
388,500 | |
|
|
388,500 | |
|
347,000 | |
|
|
334,500 | |
|
319,000 | |
|
|
291,000 | |
|
271,500 | |
|
267,500 | -12,500 |
|
267,000 | 72,000 |
|
|
265,000 | |
|
246,000 | |
|
|
235,000 | |
|
223,000 | |
|
212,000 | |
|
|
210,500 | |
|
|
206,500 | |
|
|
203,000 | |
|
194,000 | |
|
|
191,500 | |
|
|
189,000 |
Play Has Ended for the Day
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
End of day chip counts and recap will follow.
Final 3 Hands
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The tournament director has just announced to deal out the final three hands of the night.
Chen takes from Xu
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
There was heads up action after a 
flop between Yinglun Xu and Guoliang Chen.
Xu checked his option to Chen who fired out 18,000 into a 20,000 pot. Xu thought for a few moments but laid his hand down to Chen.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
280,000 | -100,000 |
|
|
195,000 | -5,000 |
Forsyth Continues to Build
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
With over 50,000 already in the pot and a board showing 
, John Forsyth check-raised his opponents 25,000 to 50,000.
Forsyth's opponent thought about it, then tossed his hand into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
210,000 | 25,000 |
Level: 15
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Some Updated Chip Counts
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
380,000 | -25,000 |
|
|
340,000 | 10,000 |
|
|
330,000 | |
|
285,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
255,000 | -25,000 |
|
|
250,000 | -26,000 |
|
|
200,000 | 85,000 |
|
|
185,000 | -15,000 |
|
|
122,000 | -128,000 |
|
|
120,000 | -17,000 |
|
|
115,000 | 4,000 |
|
75,000 | 20,000 |
Dudi Wakes Up with Big Slick
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Nicholas Bilotti opened under the gun for 7,000 and was called by the small blind player.
Action was on Nick Dudi who three-bet to 17,000 from the big blind.
Bilotti mucked his hand along with the small blind player and Dudi tabled 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
330,000 | 26,000 |
|
|
160,000 | -141,000 |