$1,500 Main Event
Day 1a Started
$1,500 Main Event
Day 1a Started
After a week's worth of events and satellites, the WinStar Labor Day River Poker Series $1.5 Million Guaranteed, $1,500 Main Event is set to take place over five days here at the world's largest casino, the WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma. With the buy-in lowered from $2,500 to $1,500 this year, a massive field of poker aficionados is set to hit the felt in search of one of the most coveted mid-major poker titles in the world, as a laundry list of notable names have laid claim to the title in recent years.
In last year's $2,500 Main Event, it was 20-year old Will Pengelly who navigated a field of 807 players to take home the title and $249,310 after a five-way deal at the final table. Aaron Massey topped a 1,396-entry field to win the inaugural title in 2012 for $651,559, while Jason Helder (2014 for $1,000,000), Maxx Coleman (2015 for $775,000), Gordon Vayo (2016 for $587,120), and Ben Zamani (2017 for $347,134) have also claimed a Main Event title here at WinStar.
A talented field of players tends to make their presence felt here at WinStar, and Will Berry, Ben Keeline, Alex Greenblatt, and Maria Ho are already in attendance. We'll also be looking for last year's ninth-place finisher and 2019 WSOP $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty Bracelet winner Brian Green to be in action today, hoping to climb a few spots higher in this year's Main Event.
Action for all days of the WinStar Labor Day River Series Main Event kicks off at Noon local time. Along with today's Day 1a flight, players have two additional flights in which to secure a bag, with Day 1b on Saturday, August 30th, and Day 1c on Sunday, August 31st. All players that manage to find a bag will reconvene on Monday, September 1st to play down to the final table. A winner will be crowned on Day 3, which takes place Tuesday, September 2nd.
Players will begin with 25,000 in starting chips, and the blinds will kick off at 100/100. On the three Day 1 flights, action will consist of 40-minute levels until the field has been reduced down to 12%. There will be a fifteen-minute break every three levels, and a 45-minute dinner break is scheduled after the completion of Level 9. Players may re-enter as many times as they wish until the end of registration after the dinner break. Play is scheduled to conclude once the field is reduced down to 12% in each of the starting flights.
Stay tuned right here to the PokerNews Live Reporting blog as we follow all the action from Day 1a all the way down to a winner here at the WinStar Labor Day River Poker Series Main Event!
A thunderstorm outside hasn't deterred a litany of players from taking their seats, as the tournament clock shows 96 players registered. After the customary "Shuffle up and deal!" from the tournament director, Day 1a of the WinStar Labor Day River Poker Series is underway!
Level: 1
Blinds: 100/100
Ante: 0
PokerNews has activated the MyStack App for this event, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone.
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.
Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Kelly Minkin | 25,000 | 25,000 |
Spencer Champlin | 25,000 | 25,000 |
Schuyler Thornton | 25,000 | 25,000 |
Michael Wang
|
25,000 | 25,000 |
Travis Boevers
|
25,000 | 25,000 |
James Aden
|
25,000 | 25,000 |
Ben Keeline | 25,000 | 25,000 |
Brandon Gilliam | 25,000 | 25,000 |
Stacey Jones | 25,000 | 25,000 |
Nathan Gamble
|
25,000 | 25,000 |
Schuyler Thornton, who just recently took his seat for today's Day 1a flight, raised to 300 from middle position, and was called by the hijack, cutoff, button and small blind.
The small blind checked a flop over to Thornton, and the Texan announced a bet of 800. Action quickly folded back to the small blind, who paused for a moment to look over the flop before electing to throw his hand to the muck as well.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Schuyler Thornton | 25,900 | 900 |
There was 14,500 in the pot on a board of and Tim Carter was all in for another 14,500 that was already counted out in front of him. Carter was on the button and action was on his opponent, who was in the cutoff.
The player went into the tank for two minutes, thinking about his decision as Carter sat calmly. Eventually, Carter was asked if he would show upon a fold.
"Yeah," he agreeably replied. His opponent folded.
Carter complied, tabling for sevens and fours with no kicker and raked in the pot that had just been sent his way.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Tim Carter
|
29,000 |
A pot of nearly 15,000 was already built up between Brandon Gilliam in early position, and his opponent in the cutoff, and a board was out on the felt.
Gilliam tossed in a big bet of 13,000, which represented the majority of his remaining chips, and his opponent wasted little time in making the call. Gilliam turned over for a turned full house, and his opponent mucked, remarking that he had a straight as he did.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Brandon Gilliam | 48,000 | 23,000 |
There was around 1,600 in the pot and the small blind had a bet of 1,000 out in front of him on a board of . Action was on Kelly Minkin, who was in middle position. She thought for a bit and threw out a raise. The small blind immediately called.
Minkin tabled for Broadway, having found herself with the nuts on the river. Her opponent quickly mucked.
Minkin cut out her raise to show it was 4,500 and her opponent paid it off, saying he had a set of fives.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Kelly Minkin | 30,600 | 5,600 |