Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2016 WinStar River Poker Series
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2016 WinStar River Poker Series
Buy-in
$2,400
Prize Pool
$2,500,000
Entries
1,054
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
The $2,500 Winstar World Casino River Poker Series Main Event kicked off at noon Friday and drew 236 entrants for the opening flight. The advancing 24 players played more than 14 hours which is foreboding for the subsequent flights. Andy Philachack finished way out in front of the field with 936,000 and more than average stack lead over Edgar Perez in second place with 610,000.
Philachack took the lead with only minutes remaining in the day. He got into a huge preflop confrontation holding aces with Alex Greenblatt holding kings. The board ran his way and Philachak is the only player within shouting distance of a million chips.
"Man, I just felt that a king was coming right there," Philachack said moments later. "I didn't even want to watch the hand."
Kane Kalas, TJ Cloutier and Dejuante Alexander each finished in the top ten counts. Greg Jennings, Nathan Gamble and Patrick Eskandar also advanced to Day 2.
Kevin Eyster, Mike Wang, Alex Foxen and Greg Himmelbrand played deep into the day but did not survive. Maria Ho, Calvin Anderson, Aaron Massey, Jake Bazeley and Zo Karim all spent some time at the felt but were eliminated before 10 pm.
Players have two more flights with unlimited re-entry to make Monday's Day 2, but will have a long march to the money bubble. Day 1B gets cards in the air promptly at noon keep up with all the action right here on PokerNews.
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
936,000
686,000
|
686,000 |
|
|
610,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
547,000 | |
|
373,000 | |
|
|
368,000
148,000
|
148,000 |
|
340,000
255,000
|
255,000 |
|
276,000
91,000
|
91,000 |
|
258,000
28,000
|
28,000 |
|
254,000
226,000
|
226,000 |
|
||
|
226,000
96,000
|
96,000 |
|
||
|
209,000
124,000
|
124,000 |
|
|
195,000 | |
|
166,000 | |
|
159,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
|
||
|
|
150,000 | |
|
|
141,000 | |
|
127,000 | |
|
126,000
31,000
|
31,000 |
|
|
115,000
51,000
|
51,000 |
|
|
102,000
19,000
|
19,000 |
|
83,000
102,000
|
102,000 |
|
|
60,000 | |
|
|
45,000 | |
|
22,000
163,000
|
163,000 |
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
The field reached 24 players with 15 minutes remaining in Level 19 at 2:45 am. Recap and full counts to follow.
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
There was a huge preflop all in between two of the largest stacks in the room - Andy Philachack and Alex Greenblatt.
Philachack: 
Greenblatt: 
The board ran 
and Philachack had 457,000. Greenblatt had around 490,000 and was left with under 50,000. Philachack's stack is somewhere in the 930,000 range.
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
There are 26 players remaining and 24 players advance. Tournament officials have started hand-for-hand play to prevent one table playing fewer hands than the other at this point in the tournament.
Level: 19
Blinds: 5,000/10,000
Ante: 1,000
Level 18
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
Another three levels are in the books and the field is on a 15-minute break. When they return play will end after four players are eliminated.
Level 18
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
The action occurred while we were away from the table but there was an all in showdown between Dejuante Alexander and Adam Krach. Alexander called off holding Ax Tx and was outkicked by Krach's Ax Qx. The river ran Alexander's way and made Broadway to send Krach to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
480,000
200,000
|
200,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 18
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
There were a couple more eliminations and the field is down the final four tables. Tournament organizers stated they'd play to 10% of the field remaining (24 players) but do have some discretion to end early. Level 18 began started with dozen players off that mark and with around 40 minutes before 2 am, it looks likely that the field may bag after the level is over.
********UPDATE*********
The field will play down to 24 players as the structure submitting to Gaming did not have the 2 am caveat.
