One man sat heaps above the rest of the field after 15 levels of play on Day 1c of the $200,000 guaranteed Summer Slam 2018 Main Event. Just 34 survived the day with Canada's Steven Filipovic bagging a monstrous stack to end the night at the top of the leaderboard.
Day 1c drew a total of 160 entries bringing the overall total to 263. The prize pool currently sits at $140,310 with Day 1c left to play. Through the first two qualifying flight 49 hopefuls have secured a seat on Day 2.
Filipovic was already among the leaders when the pot of the tournament played out. The action was picked up on the flop with about 40,000 already in the middle and a board reading 
. Andy Spears bet 18,000 from middle position and Filipovic flatted on the cutoff. The under the gun player check-raised to 37,000 only to see Spears three-bet jam for 166,000. Filipovic then four-bet jammed for 174,000 and the original raiser snap-called to put both players at risk.
Spears had a pair of tens with the 
, Filipovic tabled the 
for a flopped set and their opponent turned over the 
. Filipovic improved to a full house when the 
hit the turn and 
bricked out on the river. Filipovic dragged the gigantic pot sending Spears to the rail.
The pot gave Filipovic over 540,000 and he was even able to add to it through the final couple of levels to bag 666,500. Defending champion, Blake Napierala, is also in the hunt with a top stack carrying 234,000 forward to Day 2. Ed Lam (394,500), Patrick Tighe (306,000), Robert Wilson (239,000), and Jim Pifer (236,500) round out the top five.
Payman Azizoghli was also the benefactor of sick hand early on in the day that propelled him to the top of the counts. Azizoghli got it in preflop with pocket queens and was up against pocket aces, jacks, and tens. Azizoghli had all three opponents covered and spiked a queen on the river to scoop the whole pot.
Sadly, Azizoghli would lose his stack shortly after dinner and joined the likes of Jason James, Greg Miller, Alex Visbisky, Chris Gras, Summer Slam Event #5 champion Shannon Farrell, Ken Wasik, Mike Curtiss, Kurt Boutelle, and Summer Slam 2018 Event #2 Champ Rob Bourkney on the rail.
Anyone that has yet to fire a bullet, has missed the target on all their shots so far, or would like the chance to improve their Day 2 stack, may fire on the final qualifying flight on Saturday. Day 1c gets underway at 11 a.m with another 15 levels on the agenda.
Stay tuned to the blog as PokerNews will be on the floor providing live coverage throughout the event.
Tags:
Alex VisbiskyAndy SpearsBlake NapieralaChris GrasGreg MillerJason JamesJim PiferKen WasikMike CurtissPatrick TighePayman AzizoghliRob BourkneyRobert WilsonSteven Filipovic
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