Daniel Lu Leads After Day 1a of 2019 WinStar Labor Day River Poker Series $1,500 Main Event
The 2019 WinStar Labor Day River Poker Series may have lowered its buy-in for the $1,500 Main Event, but there was certainly no shortage of action. Day 1a saw 293 entries fire away at their shot at advancing through the tournament’s first of three initial flights, and the day concluded when the bubble broke with the 36 remaining players all making it into the money with 15:08 left in Level 16 (3,000/6,000/6,000)
The chip leader when chips went into bags, and throughout the majority of the night, was Daniel Lu (658,000), who bagged what is guaranteed to be over a 100-big blind stack when the field combines on Monday for Day 2.
Lu was a part of the action throughout a lot of the evening, having found his way from 100,000 to over 400,000 around Level 11 on a table that saw chips flying all over the place. He corralled a chunk of them and was able to use them to continue to accumulate, putting an exclamation mark on the evening when he knocked out Jim Carroll after calling for an ace on the river to suck out near the end of the night.
Second in chips from the initial flight is Spencer Champlin, who finished the day with 604,000 in chips. Champlin is looking to surpass $1 million in lifetime earnings from this tournament, coming into it less than $12,000 away from hitting that mark. His day saw constant accumulation, winning a handful of pots by consistently making the best hand at showdown. He had an above-average stack of 205,000 after the break following Level 12 and was able to almost triple that figure by the time play ended at the end of the night.
Other players to advance from Day 1a included La Sengphet (348,000) Shawn Rice (259,500), WinStar Ambassador Maria Ho (192,000), Kami Hudson (171,500), and brothers Brandon Gilliam (309,500) and Tim Gilliam (197,000).
Several of the players who were not fortunate enough to advance were Lokesh Garg, Ben Keeline, Kelly Minkin, Ray Henson, and Will Berry.
All who have yet to make their way into Day 2 will have unlimited opportunities to advance in the two remaining flights, with the next being Day 1b on Saturday at noon local time. The PokerNews team will be on hand for another full day of play, so come back and see who else will add their name to the list of Day 2 participants as the day unfolds.
flop from early position, and Randy O'Haver jammed for 57,000 into a pot of around 80,000 from middle position. Champlin thought for a minute, then flicked a chip in to call.
turn or 
river, sending O'Haver out the door just shy of a bag.
flop, and Carrubba called again.
fell on the turn, and Lu checked. Carrubba jammed for 116,500, and Lu thought for about thirty seconds before releasing his hand.
for the turned nut flush.
, leaving Gilliam needing to fade the case queen in order to secure the knockout. The turn and river fell 
and Kami Hudson was all in from middle position. Her opponent, Simon Webster, was on the button and deep in the tank. After some time, another player at the table called a clock on him.
for top pair, top kicker and Webster sent his cards to the muck. Hudson confirmed with the dealer that all hands must be tabled in an all-in situation in tournament play, and he both confirmed and complied, tabling Webster's second-best hand of 
flop from the hijack, and Spencer Champlin made the call on the button.
fell on the river. Webster bet 33,000, and Champlin spent a few minutes in the tank before reluctantly folding. 
and Champlin again saw his opponent check to him. He fired out another 16,000 and his opponent thought for a bit before tossing out chips to call.