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Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2018 WinStar River Poker Series
Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
2018 WinStar River Poker Series
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Buy-in
$2,500
Prize Pool
$2,000,000
Total Entries
807
Level
30
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
20,000
Players Left 1 / 807
Filter
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Big names may have had a tough time on Day 1a at WinStar River Poker Series $2,500 Main Event, but one of the big names — albeit one with an infamous history — has emerged with one of the biggest stacks after Day 1b.
Men "The Master" Nguyen, of seven-time bracelet winning fame, bagged 467,000 to end the second and final starting flight. He's coming in on a hot streak with two deep runs in WPT events, finishing 11th in one and third in another for about $300,000 total.
He's among the top stacks as 52 players advanced out of 429 entries, winning a huge three-way all in in the latter stages of the day with aces against queens and ace-king to propel himself near the top.
That number pushed the total entries to 807, just a bit shy of the 834 needed to surpass the $2 million guarantee, so players who cashed are enjoying a little extra dough courtesy of the venue here in Southern Oklahoma, just north of Dallas.
While Nguyen has one of the best chip counts, he's not quite at the very top. Joe Elpayaa, who has $1.5 million in cashes in his own right, turned 25,000 into 768,000. That monstrous stack is well clear of the Day 1a chip lead of 543,000 bagged by Johnny Deas.
Lou Garza (701,500), Salvador Cervantes (633,000) and Jeff Banghart (585,500), along with the aforementioned Nguyen, round out the top five.
Like Nguyen, Elpayaa won a multi-way all in, when four players saw the flop with two all in and Elpayaa got even more value on the flop with kings before chasing away a final live opponent on the turn. The board contained four to an eight-high straight, but Elpayaa had the best of it by miles against two queen-high hands and avoided a potential chop to scoop a big pot and score two knockouts. He climbed from there to bag more than 30 starting stacks in a tremendous day.
Some other players to advance included Mike Wang, Anthony Spinella, Brian Green, Andy Philachack, Chris Tryba and Allen Kessler.
Players busting at least once during the unlimited reentry day included WinStar ambassador Maria Ho, Rainer Kempe, Kevin Eyster, Marvin Rettenmaier, Dan Heimiller and defending champ Ben Zamani.
The 52 survivors come back on Monday to join up with the 46 from Day 1a to create a 98-player field with everyone in the money for a chunk of the $2 million guaranteed prize pool. Come back to PokerNews at noon local time here in Oklahoma for more coverage as the event plays down to a final table.
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Jason Gooch was all in from the button for 66,500 and Mike Wang had asked for a count in the small blind. After thinking about a minute, Wang slid in calling chips.
Jason Gooch: 
Mike Wang: 
Perhaps anticipating having a bad beat story to tell, Gooch, whipped out his phone and began recording, and what he taped was a nasty one indeed as he bubbled out when the community came 
.
Level: 17
Blinds: 3,000/6,000
Ante: 1,000
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
"I don't want to do it to him," Lou Garza declared as he called from the small blind after Adam Mirliss shoved on the button for about 70,000.
Lou Garza: 
Adam Mirliss: 
Garza looked like he would do it until the river: 
, giving Mirliss the nuts on the river.
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
A player shoved in middle position for 98,500 and Joe Elpayaa called holding 
a couple of seats over. He had 
dominated and the 
board changed nothing. The tournament will wrap for the night with one more elimination.
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Anthony Spinella opened for 10,000 under the gun and got one caller before the big blind made it 35,000. Only Spinella continued and the flop came 
. Spinella called 30,000 and then 40,000 on the 
. The river was an and the big blind checked. Spinella jammed for 89,500 and the big blind sighed and mucked 
.
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
On a board of 
, Men Nguyen bet 12,000 from the big blind and Joe Elpayaa called in the cutoff. Nguyen bet 30,000 more on the river and Elpayaa called immediately but couldn't beat 
for two pair.
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Rainer Kempe shoved in the cutoff for 32,500 and Ben Keeline isolated with a reshove for 60,500. The big blind seemed pained but said he was folding 
.
Ben Keeline:
Rainer Kempe: 
Kempe was live and not in awful shape, especially if an ace was dead, but he found no help on 
.
