Main Event
Day 1c Completed
2016 WinStar River Poker Series
Main Event
Day: 1c
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
Coleman Seeking a Repeat After Bagging Day 1c Lead
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
Last year at WinStar River Poker Series Main Event, Maxx Coleman topped a field of 1,164 players to take the whole thing down after a three-way chop sent him $750,000, the biggest chunk of the prize pool. It looked like a new champ was imminent after Coleman failed to make it through the first two starting days, but Coleman rebounded on Day 1c to bag the lead out of 44 players who advanced.
Coleman finished with 547,000, just ahead of 2016 November Niner Gordon Vayo (513,000). Layne Flack (433,000), Chino Rheem (312,000), Ray Qartomy (298,000), Rob Salaburu (202,000), and Kevin Eyster (165,000) also advanced.
Coleman got the better of Eyster in a pair of pots to surge up late in the night. First, he shoved in about 15 big blinds with 
against an early-position raise from Eyster, who called with 
. Coleman was two cards from elimination after a brick flop, but an 
on the turn gave him new life.
Then, with blinds at 4,000/8,000/1,000, Coleman opened for a min-raise and saw a player on the button three-bet to 36,000. Eyster was in the small blind and woke up with a cold four-bet to 84,000, and Coleman shoved all in for 277,000.
"How does this keep happening?" Eyster said with a sigh.
He called and saw his kings were trailing Coleman's aces, which he said was the fourth time he had run into the spot this tournament. The board ran out dead for both players and Coleman doubled through.
Eyster was at least able to recover and bag some chips. Some players who were not so fortunate included Scotty Nguyen, Allen Kessler, Calvin Anderson, David Paredes, Aaron Massey, David "ODB" Baker, Aaron Mermelstein, and WinStar ambassador Maria Ho.
Alas, those players are fresh out of chances as the conclusion of Day 1c means the Day 2 field is now set. The 434 who turned out for Day 1c make it 1,054 players total, and 10 percent of them will return Monday at 1 p.m. local time with blinds rolling back to Level 18 (4,000/8,000/1,000), where Day 1b left off. Coverage will be back here on PokerNews once again.
End of Day 1c Counts (full)
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
547,000 | -53,000 |
|
513,000 | -32,000 |
|
508,000 | -168,000 |
|
447,000 | -253,000 |
|
433,000 | 218,000 |
|
427,000 | 77,000 |
|
405,000 | |
|
379,000 | 79,000 |
|
360,000 | |
|
357,000 | 77,000 |
|
|
348,000 | 113,000 |
|
|
335,000 | |
|
330,000 | 30,000 |
|
325,000 | 25,000 |
|
312,000 | 142,000 |
|
|
307,000 | |
|
298,000 | 183,000 |
|
279,000 | 79,000 |
|
270,000 | |
|
|
246,000 | |
|
|
240,000 | -60,000 |
|
|
224,000 | |
|
|
218,000 | |
|
204,000 | -71,000 |
|
202,000 | 17,000 |
Bag 'Em
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
The tournament has ended for the day with the final elimination and we'll have complete chip counts up shortly.
Reason Eliminated
Level 19
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
We came upon Ben Reason and Long Nguyen tabling their cards in a huge pot with 
in the middle. There was nearly 200,000 in the pot and the two got stacks in with Reason in the big blind holding 
and Nguyen in early position with 
. The turn and river were 
and then 
, and stacks were counted down. Reason had 249,000 and Nguyen 252,000.
A table broke and with 45 players left, the next elimination will mark the day's end.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
676,000 | |
|
Busted |
Level: 19
Blinds: 5,000/10,000
Ante: 1,000
Photos: WinStar River Poker Series Main Event Day 1c
Players have gone on a 15-minute break.
The Fourth Time in Three Days
Level 18
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
Maxx Coleman min-raised to 16,000 and saw a player on the button make it 36,000. Kevin Eyster raised to 84,000 in the small blind, and Coleman shoved for 277,000. The in-between player mucked and Eyster sighed.
"How does this keep happening?" he asked himself.
He called and saw his 
was crushed by 
.
"The fourth time in three days," Eyster muttered.
The board ran out 
, and Eyster was dead on the turn.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
600,000 | 365,000 |
|
130,000 | -215,000 |
The Case Queen
Level 18
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
We didn't see the raising sequence, but Judd Morris got 100,000 in preflop on the button and received a call from Ray Qartomy in the hijack. Both checked the 
flop and a hit. Qartomy checked, Morris bet 100,000, and Qartomy put him all in. Morris called instantly with 
for a set.
Qartomy expressed disgust that the case queen hit as he had . The river was no help to Qartomy.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
700,000 | 700,000 |
|
|
115,000 | -525,000 |
Level: 18
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 1,000