Big Names Looking for Another Shot on Day 1b
In what was a successful turnout for Day 1a that saw 378 entries take part in the $2,500 WinStar River Poker Series Main Event, organizers are expecting an even busier Sunday for Day 1b. With a $2,000,000 guaranteed prizepool up for grabs, there will be many big names returning to the felt today after a poor showing on opening day.
The poker gods got the best of the poker superstars that showed up to the WinStar World Casino, the largest casino in the world, for Day 1a. The likes of Rainer Kempe, Allen Kessler, Marvin Rettenmaier, Mike Wang, David Pham, Ben Zamani, and River Poker Series ambassador Maria Ho all fired at least one bullet but to no avail. They will surely be back in their seats today looking for their shot at the top prize.
The action is slated to get started at 12:00 noon again with each player starting with a stack of 25,000 chips. The blinds will begin at 50/100 and will be increased every 40-minutes. That will change for Day 2 and 3 where the blind levels will be increased to 60-minutes in length. There will be a 15-minute break after every three levels and a 60-minute dinner break after level nine.
Late registration will remain open until after the dinner break which will be at approximately 7:30 pm. An unlimited number of re-entries will be permitted within the late registration time period. The field will once again play down to 12% before bagging and returning on Monday for Day 2. The final table will commence on Tuesday for Day 3 and play down to a winner.
Follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team as we bring you all of the live updates from the tournament floor.
. The action checked to Rainer Kempe in the cutoff who bet 2,600. Kelli Shields called from early position and John Reading also came along.
and Shield led out for 6,000. Reading thought for a minute and then ditched his cards. Kempe shoved all in and Shields quickly called off her remaining chips. Kempe turned over 
for quad threes while Shields showed 
for a full house. Kempe barely had Shields covered, eliminating her and doubling his stack in the meantime.
on the river. He checked for the third time and Green quickly shoved all in for 9,350. His opponent asked for a count and then eventually looked him up. Green flipped over 
for a flush and received a full double up.
and was racing against an opponent holding 
. The 
turn didn't help him, and the 
river did pair him but made a flush for his opponent.
and Carroll came out firing with 6,000. Spinella called. Carroll bet big with 20,000 on the 
turn, Elpayaa set him in for about 30,000 and the player thought briefly and folded.
and the other 
. The river was the 
and the small blind checked this time. Keeline tossed in a bet of 6,500 and his opponent paid him off. Keeline tabled 
and his opponent sent his cards to the muck.
flop. A player on the button was already all in and small blind Salvador Cervantes and big blind Kelly Minkin were left contesting the pot. On the 
turn, Cervantes jammed for 84,000. Minkin got a count, tanked a little over a minute, and called.
