Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2015 WinStar River Poker Series
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2015 WinStar River Poker Series
Buy-in
$2,400
Prize Pool
$2,793,600
Entries
1,164
Level
31
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
50,000
Ho, Busquet, and Baker Among the 27 Players to Advance from Day 1a
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Day 1a of the 2015 River Poker Series $2,500 Main Event from the beautiful WinStar World Casino came to a close in the early hours of Saturday morning. For us in the poker community, that's still Friday night, but whatever you want to make of it, the surviving 27 players from a 262-entry starting field have advanced to Monday's Day 2. Topping the pack was Maury Solano with 511,500 in chips, and he's trailed closely by Keith Carter and his stack of 500,000.
Solano was active all day, and especially when he got hold of a big stack. He was constantly putting the pressure on his opponents and used his chips to his advantage. In one hand that he played, Solano three-bet to 8,100 after an opponent opened to 4,500 during Level 13 with the blinds at 1,000/2,000/300. The original raiser then reraised all in for just under 26,000, and Solano called with the 
. He was dominating his opponent's 
and held from there.
Along with Solano and Carter, other notables who advanced to Day 2 were WinStar poker ambassador Maria Ho, Olivier Busquet, Zo Karim, Joe Kuether, Clint Tolbert, David "ODB" Baker, and Allen Carter.
On the other side of the fence were many eliminated players, including Dwyte Pilgrim, Kevin Eyster, Wade Townsend, John Dolan, Ari Engel, Matt Stout, Shawn Rice, Allen Kessler, and Aaron Massy, just to name a handful. But, as this event features a reentry format, they'll all be able to return for another chance at glory and a big payday here in Thackerville.
Saturday will see Day 1b kick off at 12 p.m. local time, and you can find continued coverage right here on PokerNews.com.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
511,500 | 141,500 |
|
500,000 | 80,000 |
|
463,500 | 163,500 |
|
443,000 | -59,000 |
|
|
438,000 | |
|
327,500 | 12,500 |
|
275,000 | -15,000 |
|
|
270,000 | 25,000 |
|
258,000 | |
|
246,000 | 101,000 |
|
|
245,000 | |
|
234,500 | -9,500 |
|
225,500 | |
|
220,500 | 25,500 |
|
215,000 | |
|
|
214,000 | |
|
204,000 | |
|
199,500 | |
|
|
145,500 | -84,500 |
|
145,000 | 71,000 |
|
144,500 | -125,500 |
|
|
142,000 | |
|
125,000 | -165,000 |
|
|
116,000 | |
|
96,000 | -27,000 |
Smith Out and Field Is Done for the Day
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Jordan Smith was the last player eliminated before the remaining 27 players on Day 1a of the 2015 River Poker Series $2,500 Main Event bagged up their chips.
Smith was all in and at risk with 
against the 
for Maxx Coleman. Coleman's hand held, and Smith was busted.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Yaw Rocked by Gibraltar
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Mike Yaw was just eliminated in a big pot that was won by Jeff Gibraltar.
Gibraltar raised to 12,000, Clint Tolbert reraised to 26,500, and Yaw four-bet shoved for 71,000. Gibraltar took a few moments to decide his next move, then called. Tolbert folded, and Gibraltar showed aces with the 
.
"Oh, really?" said Yaw with pocket jacks. "Can I use my one time now?"
The flop gave him his one time, as he hit a jack, but unfortunately it also gave Gibraltar an ace for a set of aces. Gibraltar continued to hold through the turn and river, and Yaw was eliminated.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
245,000 | 25,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Updated Chip Counts
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
502,000 | 502,000 |
|
|
370,000 | -32,000 |
|
|
315,000 | 58,000 |
|
|
300,000 | 164,600 |
|
|
244,000 | 186,400 |
|
|
195,000 | 44,000 |
|
160,000 | 6,000 |
|
|
145,000 | -47,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Level: 18
Blinds: 3,000/6,000
Ante: 1,000
Updated Chip Counts; Stout Out
Level 17
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
330,000 | 144,000 |
|
|
290,000 | 139,000 |
|
|
270,000 | 75,000 |
|
|
230,000 | |
|
|
123,000 | -123,500 |
|
|
112,000 | 22,000 |
|
|
74,000 | -56,000 |
|
Busted |
Skinner Flushes Fuller
Level 17
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Joseph Skinner and Keith Carter checked the 
flop before Riley Fuller bet 19,000. Skinner made the call, and Carter folded.
The 
landed on the turn, and both players checked to see the 
land on the river. Skinner bet 31,000, and Riley tank-called.
Skinner tabled the 
, and Fuller mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
290,000 | 90,000 |
|
|
280,000 | 94,000 |
|
|
140,000 | -60,000 |
Happy Cappy
Level 17
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Mike "Cappy" Yaw waited and waited for the right moment to shove his last 16,000. In this hand he got it in with against two players. His two opponents held, 
and 
respectively. Yaw tripled up when the board ran out 
. One player was eliminated during the hand because Jeff Gibraltar was also in the hand and had both players covered.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
60,000 | 60,000 |