Graydon Kowal Bags Chip Lead After Day 1 of the $1,100 BSOP Bahamas Main Event
After eight levels of play on Day 1 of $1,100 Brazilian Series of Poker(BSOP) Bahamas Main Event at the 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, it was Canada's Graydon Kowal that came out on top of the leaderboard with an impressive stack of 266,000.
Close on the leader's heels was Brett Kennedy with 232,000 and Mekhail Mekhail with 192,000 to round out the all-Canadian top three. A field of 102 will return on Monday and they will be joined by the Day 2 registrants.
The day started with roughly 45 players, but that number quickly grew to a total of 258 with the late registration and unlimited reentries open until the end of Level 10 on Day 2. The field has generated a prize pool of $250,260 so far, with more to come on Monday. Players who wish to buy in or reenter tomorrow will start with 30,000 and the blinds will resume at 600/1,200/1,200.
2023 BSOP Bahamas Main Event Top Ten Day 1 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Graydon Kowal | Canada | 266,000 | 221 |
| 2 | Brett Kennedy | Canada | 232,000 | 193 |
| 3 | Mekhail Mekhail | Canada | 192,000 | 160 |
| 4 | Elliot Smith | Canada | 184,300 | 153 |
| 5 | Robert Petronio | Canada | 182,000 | 151 |
| 6 | Paul Dewald | United States | 182,000 | 151 |
| 7 | Yannick Cardot | France | 160,700 | 134 |
| 8 | Keith Lehr | United States | 159,900 | 134 |
| 9 | Blaz Zerjav | Slovenia | 152,100 | 127 |
| 10 | Jose Totel | Brazil | 146,100 | 122 |
Many notables joined the field throughout the day and for most, this was their first tournament of the series. Some who fell by the wayside throughout the day included PokerStars Ambassadors Benjamin Spragg and Parker Talbot as well as Michael Dentale and Aliaksandr Shylko.
There were also plenty of familiar faces that found a bag including Maria Konnikova (111,900), Vanessa Kade (76,800), and PokerStars Ambassador Fintan Hand (73,700). Konnikova won the 2018 PCA National Championship for $84,600 and she will look to put her 93 big blinds to work on Day 2 tomorrow.
Hand bagged a healthy stack and much of that came with some flip run good as he picked up queens against the ace-king for his opponent and sent them to the rail early on. Another notable pot was when Shawn Buchanan found pocket nines and moved in against Philipp Gruissem who held ace-ten. The board ran out with a flopped set for Buchanan to score the full double.
Day 2 will resume on Monday, January 23 at 2 p.m. local time. Eight more levels of 60 minutes each are on tap, with the blinds returning in Level 9 at 600/1,200 and a 1,200 big blind ante. Late registration will be remain open until the end of level 10, and the prize pool and payouts will be announced shortly after.
Be sure to come back tomorrow for continued live PokerNews coverage of the 2023 BSOP Main Event and the rest of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure at Baha Mar in Nassau, The Bahamas.
and the big blind checked. Talbot fired 5,200 and Konnikova folded before Spragg called. The big blind bowed out and the turn was 
.
and Spragg continued for 2,000. Day folded and Teusl called to see 
on the turn. 
fell on the river. Spragg fired 5,200 and turned over 
when Teusl called quickly. Teusl tabled 
to take the pot with a pair of nines.
and Mekhail immediately shoved. Barnes got out of the way and the remaining two players turned up their cards. 
and Mekhail held on with queens to send Naoun to the rail with a missed flush draw.
, but he did not have the needed spade.
for quads and received a full double-up.
. Ehsan Amiri bet out 1,000 from middle position and David "Chino" Rheem raised to 5,000 on the button. Amiri went deep in the tank and after close to a minute, Rheem saw a friend nearby. 
for rivered trips and took down the sizable pot.
and Gavino bet 1,500. Speranza called and the turn was 
fell on the river. Gavino fired 8,000 and turned over 
, and Hand check-called a bet of 2,500 from Toro. On the 
