Main Event
Day 1c Completed
2014 WinStar River Poker Series
Main Event
Day: 1c
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2014 WinStar River Poker Series
Buy-in
$2,400
Prize Pool
$3,175,200
Entries
1,323
Level
33
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
30,000
Darrell Hopkins Bags Overall Chip Lead After Day 1c
Level 20
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
On Sunday, the last of the three starting flights for the WinStar World Casino and Resort River Poker Series Main Event came to a close.
The final flight saw a grand total of 502 entries, bringing the total number of entries to 1,323. At the end of the day, Darrell Hopkins bagged not only the Day 1c chip lead, but the overall lead heading into Day 2. Hopkins' stack of 956,000 makes him the player closest to one million chips and the player best positioned to charge onward to the $1,000,000 first-place prize.
When the day began, it was a virtual certainty that the Main Event would make its $2.5 million guaranteed prize pool. By the end of the day, it surpassed that figure by a great deal. The total prize pool amounted to $3,175,200 with the eventual champion being guaranteed $1,000,000. Since each of the starting flights played down to the top 10% of the field, each of the 133 returning players are guaranteed a payday. A min-cash is worth $4,415, while a final table appearance guarantees players at least $42,891.
Hopkins blossomed late in the day, catching the eyes of our PokerNews Live Reporting team just after the start of Level 17. Hopkins seemingly trended upward consistently as the evening progressed. We caught Hopkins taking down a fair-sized pot against Rodeen Talebi where the former correctly called a river bet with pocket tens to move his stack to around 800,000.
While Hopkins bagged the largest stack in the room, he's just one of the 51 progressing players from Day 1c. Other notable players to advance onto Day 2 include Sean Rice (318,00), Brandon Steven (308,000), Darren Rabinowitz (269,00), David "ODB" Baker (262,000), Noah Vaillancourt (233,000), and Justin "Choctaw" Kruger (82,000).
Hopes were dashed for several notable players who made their last effort to progress onto Day 2. Some of those who fired their final bullet on Day 1c include 2012 River Poker Series Main Event champion Aaron Massey, Allen Kessler, Tom Marchese, Grant Hinkle, David Tuthill, Jacob Bazeley, Chris Tryba, Kevin Saul, Zal Irani, and WinStar poker ambassador Maria Ho.
Play will resume at 2 p.m. local time in the Global Event Center where the remaining 133 players will attempt to play down to a final table. As always, PokerNews will be on hand to provide live updates from the tournament floor, so stay tuned in.
Thomas Winters Makes the Money
![[user272102]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 20
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
Two players would bust on the last hand of the evening and Thomas Winters, as a result of having more chips, would be our first player to be eliminated in the money in 134th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Newcombe Pops The Bubble
Level 20
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
A short-stacked player moved all in for his last 28,000 before the flop. John Newcombe cut out a three-bet from the next seat over in the cutoff and the rest of the table folded.
Newcombe: 
Opponent: 
Newcombe was way out in front with his pocket aces and he held through a 
board. Newcombe scooped the pot and his opponent was eliminated in 52nd place. Players are now bagging and tagging for the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
210,000 |
Hand-For-Hand
Level 20
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
With just 52 players remaining, tournament staff has announced the start of hand-for-hand play. After one elimination, players will bag and tag for the evening with a guaranteed payday.
Coleman Eliminated When His Aces Get Cracked
Level 20
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
We got to the table with approximately 140,000 already in the pot and Maxx Coleman checking to Sebastian Tejada with the board showing 
. Tejada placed out a bet of approximately 40,000 and Coleman tanked for several minutes before announcing that he was all in. He was instantly called by Tejada who turned over 
for a set of eights. A disgusted Coleman slammed 
on the table and would grab his things and rush out of the room when the came on the river to give Tejada the pot.
Tejada was at 565,000 after the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
565,000 | |
|
Busted |
Nguyen Busts One
Level 20
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
A short-stacked player was all in and at risk for his last roughly 80,000 against Khoa Nguyen. Nguyen held 
and was dominating his opponent's 
.
The flop came down 
, keeping Nguyen's cowboys out in front. The touched the felt on the turn, meaning Nguyen's opponent needed one of the two remaining fours in order to stay alive. Alas, the 
peeled off on the turn and Nguyen scooped up the pot. He now has roughly 440,000 heading into the final stretches of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
440,000 |
Level: 20
Blinds: 5,000/10,000
Ante: 1,000
Hopkins Over Talebi
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
Rodeen Talebi and Darrell Hopkins saw a flop of 
in a pot that was raised before the flop. Talebi checked over to Hopkins who rapped the table in reply.
Fourth street was the 
and Talebi reached for chips. He moved 27,000 past the betting line and Hopkins thought for about 30 seconds before moving out a call. The finished the board and Talebi bet what looked to be around 53,000. Hopkins instantly flung forward a single chip, signifying a call.
Hopkins showed 
, eliciting a muck from Talebi. Hopkins scooped the pot and is now flirting with 800,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
790,000 | 260,000 |
|
465,000 | -20,000 |
Late Night Counts...
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
530,000 | 60,000 |
|
|
485,000 | 80,000 |
|
425,000 | -10,000 |
|
|
400,000 | 225,000 |
|
355,000 | -10,000 |
|
310,000 | 125,000 |
|
290,000 | -20,000 |
|
275,000 | 140,000 |
|
|
275,000 | -80,000 |
|
260,000 | 110,000 |
|
215,000 | -55,000 |