Yousef Saleh Cracks Quads with Quads to bag overall chip lead in RGPS Grand Prix New Orleans Main Event
The final two starting flights of the RGPS Grand Prix New Orleans $800 Main Event have concluded here at Caesars New Orleans. The Main Event drew a total field of 307 entries across three starting flights, surpassing the $200,000 guarantee to create a $214,900 prize pool.
Leading the field going into Day 2 is Yousef Saleh, who finished Day 1c with 690,000. Saleh was leading the field on the Day 1c money bubble and extended the gap between himself and the rest of the field in a dramatic final hand of the night. On the stone bubble, Saleh flopped quad tens and Mihail Karasoulis rivered quad deuces, resulting in Karasoulis bubbling in brutal fashion.
Meanwhile, Frank Alpandinar bagged the day Day 1b chip lead after finishing the night with 436,000. Alpandinar also soared to the top of the Day 1b counts at the bubble, winning a pivotal flip with ace-king against Brian Borne's pocket sevens.
Day 1bc Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yousef Saleh | United States | 690,000 | 86 |
| 2 | Frank Alpandinar | United States | 436,000 | 55 |
| 3 | Joshua Rhodes | United States | 419,000 | 52 |
| 4 | Grant Hart | United States | 395,000 | 49 |
| 5 | Walker Miskelly | United States | 394,000 | 49 |
| 6 | Brian Peyton | United States | 381,000 | 48 |
| 7 | Edward Copain | United States | 369,000 | 46 |
| 8 | Charles Bartlett | United States | 317,000 | 40 |
| 9 | Gideon Hawley | United States | 315,000 | 39 |
| 10 | Jonathan Wisbey | United States | 305,000 | 38 |
Today’s earlier starting flight saw 126 entries, with the top 15 players advancing to Day 2 by the end of the night. Later in the evening Day 1c kicked off and drew a field of 99 entries taking their final shot at securing a bag.
Other notables to take their shot today but fall before the end of the night included Cody Stanford, Hamid Izadi, Evan Benton and Preston McEwen.
Action will resume tomorrow, October 5 at noon local time, with four minutes remaining on Level 13, featuring blinds of 3,000/5,000 (5,000). Stay tuned to PokerNews tomorrow as we bring you all the action leading to the crowning of the RunGood Grand Prix New Orleans Main Event champion.