Pablo López Bags the Chip Lead on Day 1b of the CNP Winamax Main Event
Pablo López bagged the largest stack at the end of Day 1b of the €550 CNP Winamax Main Event. The Jerez native closed the night with 524,000 chips, more than 260 big blinds for Day 2, giving him plenty of room to apply pressure across the field.
A total of 213 entries were recorded today at Casino Admiral Sevilla, all looking to punch their ticket to Saturday's Day 2. They were not alone, as the Day 1c Low Cost flight, featuring a €275 buy in and a turbo structure, attracted an additional 66 entries later in the evening.
In that flight, Portugal's Xiao Kun Li topped the counts with 237,000 chips, good for 119 big blinds moving forward. However, Kun Li remains well behind the Day 1b frontrunners. The only player who came close to López was Ramón Fernández, who finished with 513,000 chips, largely thanks to a massive late night hand that vaulted him up the leaderboard.
Rounding out the top three is Portugal's Fabio Costa, who bagged 340,000 chips. Tomás Pérez with 293,000 and Antonio Gesto with 275,000 lead a long line of players hovering around the quarter million mark. The latter also delivered one of the highlight hands late in the night, cracking pocket kings with a rivered flush.
Day 1b & 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pablo López | Spain | 524,000 | 262 |
| 2 | Ramón Fernández | Spain | 513,000 | 257 |
| 3 | Fabio Costa | Portugal | 344,000 | 172 |
| 4 | Tomás Pérez | Spain | 293,000 | 147 |
| 5 | Antonio Gesto | Spain | 275,000 | 138 |
| 6 | José Luis Hurtado | Spain | 249,000 | 125 |
| 7 | Vladimir Cocis | Romania | 248,000 | 124 |
| 8 | Xiao Kun Li | Portugal | 237,000 | 119 |
| 9 | Sergei Krmentsukov | Spain | 230,000 | 115 |
| 10 | Jonay Rodríguez | Spain | 203,000 | 102 |
A total of 85 players advanced from Day 1b, joining the 19 survivors from the opening flight. That brings the Main Event field to 123 confirmed Day 2 players so far, with anticipation building for tomorrow's Day 1d, which is expected to be the largest starting flight yet.
Today also saw the biggest turnout of Winamax WIPs. After yesterday's appearance from Ricardo Braga “Ricardinho”, today's lineup included rapper Al Safir, MMA fighter César Alonso, and YouTubers Guanyar and Spursito. The latter two will have to try again tomorrow after being eliminated in Day 1c.
The penultimate starting flight, Day 1d, gets underway tomorrow at 4 p.m. local time. Players will once again begin with 50,000 chips, with levels lasting 45 minutes. A strong turnout is expected as this Main Event continues to outpace last year's numbers.
The final flight, Day 1e, will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. in a non stop format, running directly into Day 2. Registration will remain open through the first two levels of the day.
PokerNews will once again be on site tomorrow to bring you all the live updates from Casino Admiral Sevilla, which continues to fill up with each passing day.