button in SafariDi Wu Tops Day 1a Field in $600 Main Event at Jamul Poker Open
A fast-paced opening flight of the $600 Main Event at the Jamul Poker Open saw a field of 65 entries dwindled to just eight players in roughly eight hours. A total of four flights played over the course of two days will make up the guaranteed prizepool of $100,000 laid out for this event, played just outside of the San Diego area in Southern California.
On the heels of eliminating the early chip leader, Di Wu cruised to the Day 1a chip lead, bagging up 464,000 chips. That's good enough for over 15 starting stacks as the remaining eight players will return in the money for Day 2 on Sunday. Wu slowly built up a healthy stack throughout the day and then took out Scott Aulds, who had held a big lead early on, with just two tables remaining.
Wu, who often plays poker in the San Diego area, is a local favorite who is hoping to top his career-high score of $25,000 when a victor is crowned on Sunday. Other big stacks moving on to the final day include Leslie Autenreith (396,000) and Michael Hindi (392,000), both of whom will be returning with around 50 big blinds.
Day 1a Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Di Wu (US) | United States | 464,000 | 58 |
| 2 | Leslie Autenreith | United States | 396,000 | 50 |
| 3 | Michael Hindi | United States | 392,000 | 49 |
| 4 | Aiden Behr | United States | 267,000 | 33 |
| 5 | Jesus Espinoza | United States | 176,000 | 22 |
| 6 | Phovieng Keokham | United States | 116,000 | 15 |
| 7 | Ronald Donaho | 93,000 | 12 | |
| 8 | Michael Megison | United States | 46,000 | 6 |
There was no shortage of action right from the onslaught of the day as it took mere minutes for Michael Briggs to hit up the registration desk for a reentry. Predicted to be the smallest starting flight of the event, Day 1a still produced a total of 65 entries.
Half of the field was eliminated when late registration closed which led to a flurry of short stacks making their way to the rail. The highlight of the day was not a massive cooler, but rather a huge hero call by Hindi which vaulted him up the leaderboard. Hindi made third pair with a flush draw and was faced with an all in, which he correctly called to eliminate his opponent.
The final nine players gathered at one table and it was the short stack of Grant Foster who was poised for a double-up with pocket kings. However, Aiden Behr spiked a pair of aces on the flop with his ace-king and Foster was left shaking his head as the bubble boy.
That promptly brought an end to Day 1a while the room was just filling up with players seeking to bag a stack on Day 1b. The PokerNews live reporting will end for the day and pick back up for Day 1c tomorrow at 11 a.m. local time.