The opening day of the PokerStars Festival Chile $500,000 guaranteed Main Event has come to an end, and Miguel Zarzar leads the way with 228,000 chips. Sergio Dabio Tello is close behind in second (200,200), with Juan Parra (159,400) rounding out the top three stacks.
Zarzar quietly chipped up throughout the day, and eventually found himself at the top of the counts. His infectious laugh was noticed by everyone in the room, and will be a welcomed personality as play gets deeper on Day 2. Tello was responsible for eliminating Alex Vega midway through the day, cracking his pocket kings with eight-three off suit after turning two pair. He held on to his massive stack and managed to finish second in chips. Parra found a double up after flopping a set in a hand with Norberto Korn and never really looked back, finishing with a top three stack and earning himself a well-deserved day off tomorrow.
A total of 139 entries were counted after eight levels of play, and just 43 were left at the end of the night. These remaining players will move on to Day 2 on Thursday at noon. It is also important to note that any players who advanced will not be able to play again on Day 1b tomorrow.
The prizepool is guaranteed at $500,000, and there is most certainly a chance for that number to increase by the end of registration tomorrow.
Team PokerStars Pro, and PokerStars Festival Chile High Roller champion, Leo Fernandez, won a title in four hands of heads up play and hopped right in to the Main Event. He chipped up for the better part of the day but then lost some flips and found himself on the rail.
Some of the notable players who have moved on to Day 2 include LAPT champion Alex Manzano (145,200), PokerStars online qualifier Robert Heidorn (108,300), high roller Tadeo Palomares (79,000), LAPT champion Richard Dubini (72,200), high roller Norberto Korn (71,900), PokerStars Festival Chile High Roller runner up, Rodrigo Borquez (52,100), LAPT champion Andres Jeckeln (51,600), and Argentinian pro Fernando Gordo (35,200).
The tournament opened with about 40 entries, but this number quickly grew by more than three times. While there was plenty of play between the deep stacks and hour-long blind levels, that did not stop players from getting in on the action early in the day. Several notable players who did not make it through but were in the field today included LAPT high rollers, Oscar Alache, and Amos Ben, as well as Joaquin Earcena, Alan Manuel Mehamed, and Javier Swett.
Day 1b is set to get started at noon tomorrow, and the structure will remain the same as today. At the end of eight levels, registration will close completely and the tournament staff will calculate the prizepool. A full table draw and payouts will be posted on PokerNews, so keep following along as we bring you all of the live updates on the way to crowning the next PokerStars Festival champion in beautiful Vina del Mar, Chile!
