$5,000 Circuit Championship Event Day 1 | 2008 WSOP Circuit Event - Council Bluffs

$5,000 Circuit Championship Event

Day 1 Completed

02-26-2008 02:28 UTC-5

Goodnight From Council Bluffs

After seven levels of play and 62 eliminations, Day 1 of this championship event has reached an end. The pace of this tournament has been near perfect. Tomorrow shapes up to be no different. The 27 players that remain will play down to the final nine to set the lineup for Wednesday's final table.

Howard Wolper is the current chip leader with 88,400. He'll start the day at Table 19 along side local Tony Merksick and the always dangerous Bernard Lee. Josh Harshbarger of Lincoln, NE will be the captain of Table 20 and the players starting on Table 21 will have to contend with bracelet winner and accomplished tournament veteran Bob Slezak.

We hope you'll join us tomorrow at 12:00 noon for our continued coverage of the WSOPC Council Bluffs Main Event as we play down to the final nine contestants.

Until then, good night and good luck!

02-26-2008 01:53 UTC-5

Official Chip Counts and Seating

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Table 19
Seat 1 - Tony Merksick - 56,400 - Council Bluffs, IA
Seat 2 - Clint Lilienthal - 17,300 - Lincoln, NE
Seat 3 - Samuel Shamburg - 38,100 - Lincoln, NE
Seat 4 - Tom Farnsworth - 21,300 - Sioux Falls, SD
Seat 5 - Robert Wisiak - 44,100 - Queens, NY
Seat 6 - James Jelinek - 9,600 - Alliance, NE
Seat 7 - Greg Monaldi - 27,800 - Davie, FL
Seat 8 - Howard Wolper - 88,400
Seat 9 - Bernard Lee - 42,400 - Wayland, MA

Table 20
Seat 1 - Michael Sortino - 13,900 - Papillion, NE
Seat 2 -Keith Murrell - 57,900 - Kansas City, MO
Seat 3 - Demetri Sengos - 13,600 - Sioux Falls, SD
Seat 4 - Alan Wiles - 38,000 - Murdock, NE
Seat 5 - Ben Hock - 22,300 - Brookfield, WI
Seat 6 - Blake Cahail - 29,100 - Columbia, MO
Seat 7 - Jesse Bowman - 44,900 - Moline, IL
Seat 8 - Josh Harshbarger - 80,700 - Lincoln, NE
Seat 9 - John Kincaid - 54,900 - Omaha, NE

Table 21
Seat 1 - Scott Veitzer - 20,700 - Omaha, NE
Seat 2 - Bob Slezak - 22,400 - Omaha, NE
Seat 3 - Michael Martin - 31,600 - Washington Crossing, PA
Seat 4 - Dan Jensen - 27,100 - Omaha, NE
Seat 5 - Ron Koenemann - 41,700 - Omaha, NE
Seat 6 - Mark Eddleman - 66,300 - Charlotte, NC
Seat 7 - David Kerrigan - 12,200 - Omaha, NE
Seat 8 - Nick Bickey - 40,800 - Belleair Beach, FL
Seat 9 - Nicholas Manganaro - 27,000 - Omaha, NE

02-26-2008 00:34 UTC-5

Play Concludes for the Evening

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With the completion of Level 7, play has concluded for the day. Official chip counts and seat assigments will be posted as soon as they become available. Day 2 starts tomorrow at 12:00 noon local time.

02-26-2008 00:34 UTC-5

Musical Chairs

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With just two minutes remaining in the level, the field has reached 27 players. The clock has been paused and the players are re-drawing for seats. They will play the final two minutes in their new seats, then play will conclude for the evening.

02-26-2008 00:20 UTC-5

Tom Farnsworth Likes the Ladies

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Action folded around to the player in the small blind who moved all in. Tom Farnsworth made the call from the big blind and would be the player at risk. The players showed:

Farnsworth: {Q-Diamonds}

Opponent:

Things went from good to great as Farnsworth spiked the {Q-Hearts}

on the flop. He doubled up to 26,000.

Tags: Tom Farnsworth

02-26-2008 00:06 UTC-5

Thad Wolff Eliminated by Tony Merksick

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Action folded around to a late-position player who raised to 2,400. Tony Merksick reraised to 7,000 from the cutoff. Thad Wolff moved all in from the small blind. It was 5,600 more to Merksick, who took some time before reluctantly calling. The players showed:

Merksick: {6-Diamonds}

Wolff:

Merksick was behind, but had live cards. The flop gave him even more outs coming {Q-Hearts}

. The turn sealed the deal as it came the {3-Spades}

. Wolff shook his head and calmly exited the tournament area. Merksick seemed somewhat embarrassed when the turn card hit, but had no problem stacking the pot.

Tags: Tony Merksick

02-25-2008 23:55 UTC-5

Jason Bartholomew Eliminated by Sam Shamburg

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A short-stacked Jason Bartholomew, who had been folding hands for hours, finally made his stand with A-K. His bad luck continued however, as he ran into the K-K of Sam Shamburg. Bartholomew failed to pair his ace and was yet another Day 1 casualty.

Tags: Jason Bartholomew

02-25-2008 23:52 UTC-5

David Barney Eliminated by Robert Wisiak

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David Barney found himself all in on a flop of K-10-6. Barney thought he was in great shape holding 10-10 but quickly found out that he was drawing to one out. His opponent Robert Wisiak tabled K-K. Barney failed to improve and was sent to the rail with 35 minutes remaining in Day 1.

02-25-2008 23:48 UTC-5

Jesse Bowman Doubles Through Tony Merksick

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Jesse Bowman raised to 2,300 from early position. Action folded to Tony Merksick in the cutoff and he called. The blinds passed and it was heads-up to the flop of {8-Clubs}

. Bowman bet 3,900. Merksick announced a raise and slid out 15,000. Bowman moved all in for 17,800 total. Merksick reluctantly called, realizing he was likely beat. The players showed:

Merksick: {5-Hearts}

Bowman:

The turn and river missed Merksick and his once-dominant stack took a pretty big hit. Bowman is now sitting on a healthy 40,000.

Tags: Jesse Bowman Tony Merksick