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The second and final starting flight of Event #1: $3,000 PokerGO Cup Showcase took place today as the PokerGO Cup continues on inside the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas.
Leading the way is Sandeep Koralla, who spiked a two-outer through poker coach Jonathan Little to take the runaway chip lead. Little was only left with one big blind but managed to spin it up and stay alive on the money bubble to be one of the 23 players who bagged.
Little's miraculous spin-up also involved folding the flop "getting a bazillion to one," as Matthew Wantman put it, to be left with just a small blind, which he proceeded to turn into a six-figure stack.
Other players who advanced to Day 2 include German pro Manig Loeser, Brazilian crusher Joao Simao, and American pros Chino Rheem, Michael Rossitto, David "ODB" Baker, Joe Serock, Darren Rabinowitz and PokerGO boss Cary Katz.
End of Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandeep Koralla | United States | 2,125,000 | 71 |
| 2 | Manig Loeser | Germany | 1,680,000 | 56 |
| 3 | Daniyal Gheba | United States | 1,680,000 | 56 |
| 4 | Jim Collopy | United States | 1,660,000 | 55 |
| 5 | Kent Stephens | United States | 1,640,000 | 55 |
| 6 | Joao Simao | Brazil | 1,575,000 | 53 |
| 7 | Natalie Ferguson | United States | 1,500,045 | 50 |
| 8 | Michael Rossitto | United States | 1,235,000 | 41 |
| 9 | Chino Rheem | United States | 1,130,000 | 38 |
| 10 | Dylan Linde | United States | 805,000 | 27 |
Day 1b Action
Day 1b of the PokerGO Showcase drew 161 runners, nearly tripling the field size of Day 1a. In another change from the opening flight, zero players, to PokerNews' knowledge, told stories about hitting wild boards with their cars while driving in Eastern European countries.
There were big hands to go with the big field, and they started early as Landon Tice flopped a set of aces to crush the smaller set of old school player Doug Lee.
But just a few levels later, Tice was the one with the inferior flopped set as he doubled up Justin Vaysman.
That wasn't the only cooler. Justin Zaki got his chips in with a flopped straight against the two pair of Natalie Ferguson, who filled up on the river and went on to build up a stack to be one of the end-of-day big stacks.
Another big hand was cracked when Daniyal Gheba flopped two pair against the aces of Nicholas Seward, who is still coming off the high of winning the WPT Venetian Spring Championship for $418,700.
Unlike Joe Walsh of Eagles fame, life hasn't been good to Michael Walsh so far. The American was eliminated on the money bubble as his ace-king couldn't hold up against the suited connectors of Gheba, who rivered a pair to mark the end of Day 2.
The 23 survivors of Day 1b will join yesterday's eight surviving players for Day 2 on Tuesday, March 3, which will kick off at noon local time.
The event will play to a winner, who will take home the top prize and the first trophy of the 2026 PokerGO Cup festival.
In addition to PokerNews live updates, Tuesday's Day 2 action will be streamed on PokerGO.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on site on Monday for continued coverage of the PokerGO Cup in Las Vegas. Check out the live reporting portal in the meantime.
*Photos courtesy of PokerGO and Antonio Abrego
