Izadi Bags as Day 1a Chip Leader
It was Hamid Izadi’s first time in Reno, and he made a splash as his hot finish to Day 1a led to Izadi bagging the first flight as the chip leader with 716,000 out of the 53 entries during Day 1a of the RunGood Poker Series Passport Reno $800 Main Event at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa.
Following Izadi were Daniil Fedunov (363,000) and Marcus Abadi (182,000), who finished Day 1a with the second and third most of the final six to bag for Day 2. WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Turner (70,000) also qualified for Day 2 as he managed to maneuver the final two levels to stay in contention.
The final three levels were profitable for Izadi as he entered the final nine players as the chip leader. Izadi spoke with PokerNews about his hot opening flight.
“I can’t take all the credit,” Izadi said with a smile. “You have to keep your composure. When I get chips, I put a lot of pressure.”
Izadi played the role of clean up as he secured the final two knockouts to end the day when he hit his king to sink pocket nines and when he spiked a set of fours to crack his opponent’s pocket jacks.
This was a fortunate turn of events for Izadi, who shared that he had not planned to come to Reno for the RGPS Passport main event, but was talked into it by a friend and RGPS Ambassador, Christina Lofquist. He decided to take a detour on his way to Vegas, and now he will enter Day 2 as the Day 1a chip leader.
“Hopefully, I just finish strong and make good memories this trip,” Izadi said.
Day 1a Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamid Izadi | United States | 716,000 | 119 |
| 2 | Daniil Fedunov | United States | 363,000 | 61 |
| 3 | Marcus Abadi | United States | 182,000 | 30 |
| 4 | Jason Dankowski | United States | 179,000 | 30 |
| 5 | Andrew Luan | United States | 93,000 | 16 |
| 6 | Daniel Turner | United States | 70,000 | 12 |
Day 1a saw several notables fall short of the desired result of qualifying for Day 2. Those notables include: Christina Lofquist, WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, Daniel Hughes, Denis Lee, and Joseph Bergh.
This concludes the PokerNews coverage for Day 1a. Stay tuned tomorrow for the results of Day 1b as well as coverage of Day 1c and beyond of the RGPS Passport Reno $800 Main Event.