Main Event Day 1a | 2017 WinStar River Poker Series

Main Event

Day 1a Completed

09-02-2017 02:42 UTC-5

Coleman Goes into Hyperdrive on Bubble to Bag Huge Day 1a Lead

mnuwwarah

Level 16 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante

By now, it's a well-known truism that players with big stacks should increase their aggression on the bubble of a tournament.

That's certainly a philosophy that Maxx Coleman appears to abide by. Coleman turned his aggression dial to the max on the bubble of Day 1a of WinStar River Poker Series $2,500 Main Event, raising and shoving relentless to pound his opponents into submission until he was winning nearly every pot.

That strategy proved fruitful despite one major hiccup, as Coleman lapped the field and bagged 835,500 when the day wrapped up around 2 a.m. local time. Coleman has been on a rampage in this event the past two years, winning in 2015 for $750,000 as part of a three-way chop and then coming in 32nd in 2016 as an encore.

Day 1a, the first of three starting days that all feature unlimited reentry, drew 219 entries. Overall, 27 of them survived as the competitors played down to 12 percent of the field.

WinStar Ambassador Maria Ho, two-time WPT champs Aaron Mermelstein and Sam Panzica, and notable runners like Bryan Campanello, Dan Lowery, Will Berry, Brandon Steven, Keith Lehr and Chris Moneymaker were among the players taking at least one shot and bricking Day 1a.

Already stacking piles in the latter stages as the bubble approached, Coleman found himself with pocket kings on a seven-high flop against an opponent who wouldn't fold jacks. That boosted the former champ past the 100 big blind mark, and he kept climbing despite running into Orlando Romero's aces for a decent chunk at one point.

Coleman didn't let that slow him down, and he gambled it up in a big pot with pocket fives on the stone bubble against Matthew Lapossie, who spent the early stages as the chip leader. Lapossie turned over ace-king and found no help on the board despite flopping a Broadway draw, leaving himself busto on the bubble and Coleman with a mountain of chips that far surpassed second-place Andy Philachack's 510,000.

Others making it through included Romero (246,500), Rex Clinkscales (179,500), Greg Jennings (104,000) and Aaron Massey (78,500). Massey is another former champ, having taken this event down in 2012 for about $650,000.

The players who made it through will have two days off as more starting days remain. Day 1b gets rolling Saturday at noon, so come back to PokerNews for more live updates.

Tags: Maxx Coleman

09-02-2017 01:42 UTC-5

End of Day 1a Counts (full)

mnuwwarah

Level 16 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Maxx Coleman	835,500	275,500
Andy Philachack	510,000	170,000
Cory Smith	484,000	194,000
Steve Booth	397,500	397,500
George Bronstein	318,000	178,000
Paul Lackey	300,000	20,000
Orlando Romero	246,500	-18,500
Larry Ogilbee	246,000	246,000
Jianmin Xu	240,500	10,500
Chris Beavers	186,500	186,500
Rex Clinkscales	179,500	36,500
Frank Berry	164,000	164,000
Tien Phan	159,000	159,000
Randy Clements	156,000	156,000
James Ohlweiler	152,500	152,500
Chris Hooper	130,000	-10,000
Marco Shoals	129,500	129,500
Tony Paydar	121,000	121,000
Greg Jennings	104,000	-13,300
Vance Minter	83,500	21,500
Aaron Massey	78,500	-21,500
David Coker	76,500	-1,500
Robert Wolf	69,000	18,500
Max Sanchez	58,000	58,000
Wei Zhang	38,000	38,000

Read full

09-02-2017 01:32 UTC-5

Lapossie Bubbles

mnuwwarah

Level 16 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante

Matthew Lapossie opened on the button, Maxx Coleman three-bet in the big blind, and Lapossie shoved all his chips in. Coleman put him at risk for about 200,000.

Coleman:
Lapossie:

The flip was on, and Lapossie flopped more outs as hit the felt. Coleman held through the turn, and the river was a brick to finish Day 1a with Lapossie out on the bubble.

Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap.

Player	Chips	Progress
Matthew Lapossie	Busted

Tags: Matthew Lapossie Maxx Coleman

09-02-2017 01:22 UTC-5

Romero Doubles Through Coleman

mnuwwarah

Level 16 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante

Maxx Coleman has been shoving all in without regard at his table, with opponents continuing to fold after opening to preserve their stacks. Finally, he stepped into it when Orlando Romero opened to 14,000 and snap-called when Coleman jammed in the small blind.

Romero:
Coleman:

The flop gave Romero a sweat, but the and were safe for him to double. Coleman sent 128,000 over.

Player	Chips	Progress
Maxx Coleman	560,000	60,000
Orlando Romero	265,000	123,500

Tags: Maxx Coleman Orlando Romero

09-02-2017 01:13 UTC-5

Lackey Moves it to Stone Bubble

mnuwwarah

Level 16 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante

Paul Lackey was in the big blind and called an all-in shove of an under-the-gun player who had about 60,000.

Lackey:
Under the gun:

The board ran out , and that leaves the tournament with 28 players on the stone bubble for Day 1a. The tournament is hand-for-hand with two minutes coming off the clock each hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Lackey	280,000

Tags: Paul Lackey

09-02-2017 00:56 UTC-5

Wolf Pays Lapossie

mnuwwarah

Level 16 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante

Matthew Lapossie opened for 12,000 and got action in two spots, seeing a flop. Lapossie continued for 24,000 and only big blind Robert Wolf wanted to keep playing. They both checked the and Wolf checked the river after seeming to consider betting. Lapossie slid 30,000 in and got immediately called, but Wolf couldn't beat .

Player	Chips	Progress
Matthew Lapossie	137,000	-5,800
Robert Wolf	50,500	-37,500

Tags: Matthew Lapossie Robert Wolf

09-02-2017 00:42 UTC-5

Smith Over Cantu in Three-Bet Pot

mnuwwarah

Level 16 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante

We found Jesus Cantu sliding in what looked to be a three-bet to 40,000 from the small blind, and Cory Smith called from under the gun. Both players checked the flop for a board of , and Cantu bet 30,000. Smith called. On the river, they checked again, and Cantu opened . He was outkicked by .