Ma Leads, Zhou Among the Leaders After Day 1 of $15,000 Main Event
It turned out to be a wild and frantic Day 1 in Event #9: $15,000 Main Event. Ten levels were completed, and just 58 players advanced out of the 122 total entries accumulated. That number increased drastically within the last couple of hours inside the Landing Casino at Jeju Shinhwa World Resort in Jeju, South Korea.
When the dust finally settled as the 1 a.m. hour approached, it was Haohui Ma who emerged as the overall chip leader with 1,363,000 chips. Ma wasn't heard from for much of the day, however a last-mintue clash with Jumiao She resulted in Ma surpassing the rest of the field. One of the leaders that many would be more familiar with belongs to The Lord Poker Tour ambassador Quan Zhou who rallied late to bag up a stack of 964,000 chips.
Top Ten Chip Counts After Day 1
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haohui Ma | China | 1,363,000 | 170 |
| 2 | Minh Quang Nguyen | Viet Nam | 1,276,000 | 160 |
| 3 | Yunkyu Song | United States | 1,115,000 | 139 |
| 4 | Pan Wang | China | 1,114,000 | 139 |
| 5 | Ami Barer | Canada | 1,054,000 | 132 |
| 6 | Sean Ooi | Malaysia | 1,041,000 | 130 |
| 7 | Quan Zhou | China | 964,000 | 121 |
| 8 | Renji Mao | China | 927,000 | 116 |
| 9 | Istvan Birizdo | Hungary | 897,000 | 112 |
| 10 | James Mendoza | Philippines | 884,000 | 111 |
There was no shortage of action throughout the day, with some players calling it a level of degeneracy based on how fast the chips were going into the middle. At one point, Gavin and Ivan Zhang who were both on multiple bullets already, stuck in a healthy amount of chips with five-deuce and eight-three respectively. Zhang managed to come out on top of that one after turning a pair of threes, sending Gavin back to the registration desk - a place that became all too familiar for him.
Some other notables that managed to make their way through the chaos unscathed include Ami Barer (1,054,000), Sean Ooi (1,041,000), Dominik Nitsche (777,000), and Mauricio Salazar Sanchez (541,000) who are representing the the rest of the world outside the many Chinese participants. Some players who were not as fortunate and who will have to return tomorrow with a fresh buy-in include Daniel "Jungleman" Cates, Stephen Song, Taylor Black, Christian Harder, and Yi Ye who were all eliminated in the last level of the night.
The schedule for Day 2 has been altered in some ways but the starting time remains the same at 1 p.m. local time. However, registration has been extended for an additional four levels on Day 2 with the first two levels being changed to "double levels", in hopes of reaching the guaranteed prizepool of $3,000,000 for this event. The original plan was to play down to the final table of nine players but that could also be in jeopardy now based on the pace of play.
The levels will remain at 50 minutes in length with a 15-minute break after every two levels and a 45-minute dinner break after the sixth level of the day. The bubble will certainly burst on Day 2 with a total of 15% of total entries reaching the money and earning a piece of that guaranteed prizepool. The players will return to the blinds at 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante to kick things off.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the tournament floor to bring you all of the action en route to hopefully reaching the final table by the day's end.