Day 1 Concludes with 35 Players Remaining in the National Championship
For the past nine months, the 2010/2011 World Series of Poker Circuit has traveled to 15 different venues, offering 154 gold-ring, and attracted more than 20,000 poker players to its tournaments, each looking to qualify for the inaugural National Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll. After months of hard work, 100 qualifiers made their way to Las Vegas to compete for the $300,000 and a WSOP bracelet.
Day 1 of the National Championship saw nearly all of the 100 qualified players actually take their seats. Unfortunately, a number of players were unable to attend for a plethora of reasons including Brett Richey, Gary Friedlander, and Dennis Summers. While some missed the golden opportunity to compete in the prestigious event, others were intent on taking advantage, perhaps none more so than La Sengphet, who emerged as the Day 1 chip leader with 165,000.
After eight levels of play, only 35 players remained. Joining Sengphet among the chip leaders are Jonathon Poche (121,400), Shiva Dudani (96,000), and Curt Kohlberg (94,600). In addition, a number of notable names are still in the field including Allen Kessler, Bernard Lee, Charles “Woody” Moore, Dwtye Pilgrim, Chris Klodnicki, and WSOP-C poster boy Kyle Cartwright.
While some players thrived, many failed to survive. Among those who hit the rail were World Poker Tour Player-of-the-Year Andy Frankenberger, Ali Eslami, Steve Zolotow, David “Doc” Sands, Steven Brecher, Allie Prescott, and Shannon Shorr.
Day 1 of the National Championship certainly delivered top-notch poker action, living up to all the anticipation and hype. Tomorrow, the remaining players will return to play down to the final nine and the first-ever National Championship final table. Action is set to resume at Noon tomorrow, so be sure to join us then for all the live updates from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.