Main Event
Day 1a Started
2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Harrah's Rincon
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Harrah's Rincon
Prize Pool
$459,000
Entries
306
Level
29
Blinds
20,000 / 40,000
Ante
5,000
About to Kick off in Rincon!
Less than nine months ago, the WSOP-Circuit ran through Harrah’s Rincon, and poker pro Joe Kuether walked away with just over $110,000. Now, two weeks before Christmas, the Circuit is back in Southern California. Welcome to our coverage of the WSOP-C Rincon Main Event!
Last season, 332 people ponied up the $1,600 entry fee, and there was an extensive list of notables who walked away with money. This list included Circuit grinder Matt Chang (30th), LA poker pros Phong “Turbo” Nguyen (29th), Matt Salsberg (15th), and David Funkhauser (5th), and well known pros Eric Baldwin (16th) and Brandon Cantu (11th).
In addition to these talented players, there were two other impressive stories. In January of this year, Freddy Deeb defeated now 5-time Circuit winner Alex Masek heads up. Two months later, Deeb once against bested Masek, knocking him out in 19th. Deeb went on to final table this event, falling short of his second main event title in three months, finishing fourth. We expect to see both these players this weekend.
Today, we are playing Day 1a. We will play through level 17, with the first 15 levels being 40 minutes each. After that, the survivors will bag up and move on for day 2. Last year, we play Day 1b on the same day, but this year, they will be two separate days. Tomorrow, players who were eliminated today can return, along with anyone else who has $1,600 to spend!
We will be here all day bringing you the action. Thanks for tuning into Pokernews, and we hope you enjoy our live coverage all day!
Just About to Kick Off
We are almost underway here at Harrah's Rincon. The players are filing into their seats now.
Level: 1
Blinds: 25/50
Ante: 0
We Are Underway!
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
The announcements have been made, and the cards are now in the air. We only have 76 players on the board now, but there is plenty of time for late registration.
Notable Names
We just did a quick run through of the tables in play, and we found a handful of familiar faces.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
The King is Here
One of the first players to take their seat in this event was the defending champion, Joseph Kuether. Kuether burst onto the Circuit scene with a final table in the Caeser's Main Event last season. He followed that up with a win here, and kept his hot streak going into the summer, where he took 3rd in a $1,000 buy in event at the WSOP for almost $220,000. We will be sure to keep an eye on him today.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
Masek Moves Up
Alexandru Masek, or Alex as he is better known, just made history last week when he won his record tying 5th WSOP ring when he won Event 1 of this series. Masek is back today, and looking to cash in this event for the 2nd straight year. We just caught him in a hand that will definitely help his cause.
We caught up with the action on the turn, with the board reading 
. Masek had just bet 925 into a pot of 1,800, and his lone opponent made the call. The 
hit the river, and Masek assembled and put in a bet of 1,500. His opponent came along, and Masek tabled 
. His opponent mucked, an Masek gets an early boost to start.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
24,000 | 4,000 |
Late Arrivals
We have just seen a new crop of players come in today, including well known pros Eric Baldwin, Chris Bigler, Ray Henson, and Kathy Liebert. We also spotted Nancy Birnbaum, who just won a ring here at Rincon yesterday in Event #8!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 |
Kuether Starts Off Well
We just saw defending champion Joseph Kuether take down a nice pot to start his title defense. We came to the table in time to see that Kuether had raised it to 175 on the button after a limp in the cutoff. The small blind three bet to 550, and Kuether was the loan caller.
The dealer fanned out a low board of 
, and Kuether called his opponent's bet of 650. The turn brought the 
, and this time, it was checked to Kuether, who fired out 1,850. His opponent quickly released, and Kuether boosted his stack up to 23,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
23,000 | 3,000 |