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.
Liz Brown and Edgar Perez went to a flop of , Brown bet 18,000 and Perez called. The turn came , Brown bet 25,000 and Perez called again. The river came , Brown bet 25,000 again and Perez called a third time.
Brown tabled but Perez showed her bad news with and took the sizable pot.
We found three players all in with the cards on their backs.
Adam Krach:
Aaron Massey:
Third player:
As Krach told it, Massey had jammed his last 20,000 or so and been called by the player with aces early, and then Krach shoved from the big blind with queens. Just one queen remained in the deck, but it emerged right away on the flop. The turn and river were then , and Krach had Massey and the other player, who had about 75,000, covered.
Kane Kalas opened the action to 2,100, Alex Greenblatt raised to 5,600 behind him and Calvin Anderson re-raised to 11,700 from the big blind. Kalas mucked his hand, Greenblatt took some time before moving all in and Anderson quickly called.
Anderson:
Greenblatt:
The board ran , Greenblatt spiked his ace on the river and Anderson was eliminated after their stacks were counted.
We found Brandon Steven firing 4,500 on a completed board of from early position. An opponent in middle position splashed in a call, and Steven showed for flopped quads.
Adam Krach had a bet of 1,450 in front of him in middle position on a flop. John Reading had called on the button, and the big blind shoved all in for 10,800. Larry Wright was agonizing when we got to the table.
"Ya'll will not believe what I'm folding," he declared after whistling. "Keep those to the side, can you do that? Actually, just bury 'em."
Krach called, and Reading quickly mucked.
Krach:
Big blind:
Krach needed a heart, and he found one on the river after a turn.
"That's what happens when you play deuce-three off," he said with a smile after the busted player took his leave.
Six-time bracelet winner TJ Cloutier is in the field, having taken a seat just shortly after the start of Level 1. Cloutier showed this summer he's still got something left in the tank, as he made a run to 14th place in the Monster Stack for a payday of $61,598. He has over $10 million in lifetime cashes and is certainly a player to watch going forward.
It's time once again for one of the premier post-World Series of Poker tournaments on the American circuit, the $2,500 Main Event of the WinStar River Poker Series. Located just north of Dallas, past the Texas-Oklahoma border, the $2,500 Main Event will carry a $2.5 million guarantee with a hefty $1 million of that earmarked for the winner.
Things kick off at noon local time with the first of three starting days, each of which will feature 40-minute levels and 25,000 in starting chips. Blinds being at 50/100 and players may reenter if they are eliminated before the start of Level 10, which comes after a one-hour dinner break.
Last year, Maxx Coleman claimed $750,000 here after a three-handed deal with Joseph Skinner and Jacob Haller, who each got $344,934. That tournament drew 1,164 runners for a prize pool of $2,768,600.
Again, cards are scheduled to fly at noon, so be sure to follow all the action right here on PokerNews.
![[user196975]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, Brown bet 18,000 and Perez called. The turn came 
, Brown bet 25,000 and Perez called again. The river came 
, Brown bet 25,000 again and Perez called a third time.
but Perez showed her bad news with 
and took the sizable pot.
then 
, and Krach had Massey and the other player, who had about 75,000, covered.
, Greenblatt spiked his ace on the river and Anderson was eliminated after their stacks were counted.
from early position. An opponent in middle position splashed in a call, and Steven showed 
flop. John Reading had called on the button, and the big blind shoved all in for 10,800. Larry Wright was agonizing when we got to the table.
turn.
