Connor Zhu's latest incredible trick as he runs away with the chip lead saw him eliminate Tom Eidmann, who eliminated Zhu on his first bullet before he went on his insane second bullet run.
The cards were on their backs and Zhu was dragging another 100,000+ chip pot as Eidmann was leaving the table.
As retold by the table, Zhu jammed from the small blind on a flop and was snap-called by Eidmann in late position. Despite being in awful shape, Zhu would again find a way to scoop the pot.
Tom Eidmann:
Connor Zhu:
Zhu's aggression got him caught as his ace-high was well behind Eidmann's set of threes.
That wouldn't stop the young sun-runner, as the dealer then dropped the on the turn and the on the river to give Zhu a running Broadway straight to eliminate Eidmann in horrific fashion and extend his already massive chip lead.
After an under-the-gun raise from Ed Mogilnicki, Frankie Zeta moved all in from the small blind for 115,500. Connor Zhu re-jammed from the big blind, covering everyone in the room, and Mogilnicki folded to preserve his dwindling stack.
Frankie Zeta:
Connor Zhu:
The board ran out , and somehow, Zhu actually lost the pot, sending a large chunk to an opponent for the first time in several hours, with Zeta the rare beneficiary.
After Mickey Murzi raised on the button to 7,000, George Mohan called in the small blind, and then Sean Troha three-bet to 27,000 in the big blind.
Only Mohan called and the duo saw a flop of .
Mohan checked to Troha, who continued for 21,000. Mohan thought briefly, but then folded his hand, as Troha dragged a pot which has him near the top of the leaderboard.
Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Sean Troha is among the chip leaders after a wild opening flight of the RunGood Poker Series Cleveland $800 Main Event saw 28 survivors advance to Day 2 here at the Jack Cleveland Casino.
Troha’s 357,000 chips sit him fifth on the leaderboard behind chip leader Anthony Carbone, who finished the day with an even 500,000 chips after doubling into the lead on the last hand of the day.
Top Ten Day 1a Chip Counts
Rank
Name
Country
Chip Count
1
Anthony Carbone
United States
500,000
2
Joe Gugliotta
United States
457,000
3
Shawn Gaffney
United States
427,000
4
Kuo Peng
Taiwan
384,000
5
Sean Troha
United States
357,000
6
George Mohan
United States
280,000
7
Connor Zhu
China
256,000
8
James Pisono
United States
242,000
9
Brent Wheeler
United States
242,000
10
Keith Schwartz
United States
230,000
Day 1a Action
A field of 186 entries took their shot at advancing to Sunday’s Day 2, starting the tournament well on its way to eclipsing the $250,000 guaranteed prizepool.
Play wrapped up with 33:27 remaining in Level 13, as just 15% of the field remained.
Some of the other notables to survive the day include Raymond Ezzie (213,000), Robert Noel (157,000), and Alexander Jagodik (143,000).
Among those not fortunate enough to find a bag were the winner of the RGPS Cleveland $420 Opener event, Jack Corrigan, WSOP bracelet winner Katie Kopp, and RunGood ambassadors Emily Snow and Mallory Klaus.
Connor Zhu
Zhu’s Wild Day and Troha’s Build Toward the Lead
Connor Zhu was the story of the day, building a massive chip lead throughout the day with ruthless aggression and incredible runouts, before finally losing his lead on the aforementioned final hand of the day to Carbone when he called off a 250,000 chip all-in with ace-queen against Carbone’s aces.
Despite the late fall, Zhu ended the day with a top ten chip count.
Troha’s ascension to his fifth place stack wasn’t as volatile but was a consistent build through skill and aggression to set himself up well for Day 2.
Anthony Carbone
Day 1b on Deck Friday
The second of three opening flights takes place Friday, with a 12:15 p.m. starting time. Players who failed to advance Thursday will have another shot at making it to Sunday’s final day of play, and even those who did make it through Day 1a can hop in again in hopes of accumulating a bigger stack to take into Sunday instead of their total from this flight.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for our continuing coverage of the event until a champion is crowned on Sunday at the incredible Jack Cleveland Casino.