Main Event
Day 1 Started
2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Palm Beach Kennel Club
Main Event
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Palm Beach Kennel Club
Buy-in
$1,675
Prize Pool
$1,005,000
Entries
670
Level
34
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
20,000
Welcome to Day 1!
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Good morning, and welcome to sunny Florida for Day 1 of the 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club Main Event. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be bringing you exclusive, up-to-the-minute updates from both starting flights today, with Day 1a starting at 11 a.m. EST. Day 1b, the second flight, will begin at 7 p.m. EST.
Jim Harnden won this event last year, earning $226,395, the gold ring and a seat in the WSOP Circuit National Championship. Harnden topped a field of 778 runners, eventually besting Rob Williamson heads up. Williamson earned $139,574 for his runner-up finish.
Joining Williamson and Harnden at the final table were notables Roman Valerstein and Drazen Illich. Illich bowed out in sixth place, while Valerstein took fourth. Brian Hastings, one of the toughest heads-up cash game players in the world, bubbled the final table, busting in 11th place.
If the preliminary events are any indication of what's to come in this event, the field size should be huge and the prize pool bursting.
The opening event attracted the largest field of the 2012-13 WSOP Circuit season thus far. The $580 buy-in re-entry event had 2,539 entrants, making it the second largest major poker tournament ever held in Florida, and Lou Cheffy, a financial planner from Naples, Florida, bested the large field to collect $183,983 in prize money along with his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. The final table included David Nicholson, who has four WSOP Circuit rings, and John Holley, who has two.
The cards will be in the air shortly, so stay tuned right here for the live coverage straight from the floor to your screen.
Internet Woes
We are currently experiencing Internet issues here at the Palm Beach Kennel Club. The tournament registration line was frozen for nearly 20 minutes because of the delay, and while they are now accepting players once again, the wifi is still inactive for others.
We will do what we can in the mean time and should be back up shortly. Thank you for your patience.
Level: 1a
Blinds: 25/50
Ante: 0
A Few Notables
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
We've already spotted a few notables in the field, including 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Jerry Yang, and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Josh Arieh.
| 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 |
|
||
|
20,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
||
Some More Familiar Faces
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 |
More Friendly Faces
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
|
||
Engel Takes Sizable Hit Early
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
We recently spied a hand involving recent ring winner Ari Engel. No stranger to the World Series of Poker Circuit, Engel has managed to accumulate a grand total of five gold rings from his time on the felt. Most recently, Engel added ring number five to his hand when he took down Event 7 - $580 No-Limit Hold'em. You can read more about Engel's successes here on the WSOP Circuit blog.
When we came upon Engel today, he was looking down on a board that read 
. Engel fired a bet of 1,650 into his sole opponent who flung out a call from the button. The river brought the 
and paired the board. Engel wasted little time moving out 3,200 into the center. His opponent announced a call, and Engel showed the 
for aces and tens. His opponent, however, showed the 
for a better two pair and was able to rake in the pot. Engel is now sitting on about 14,000 early in Level 1.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
14,000
-6,000
|
-6,000 |
|
|
||
Yang is Aggressive as Always
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
Jerry Yang and an opponent were heads up on a board of 
. Yang's opponent led out for a bet of what looked like 1,000, and Yang put in a large raise. Yang's opponent tanked for a bit, then mucked his cards.
Yang showed only the 
.
En route to winning the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event, Yang applied nonstop aggression against his opponents. At the final table, he quickly snatched the chip lead from Phillip Hilm, who went from chip leader to out in ninth place. Once Yang ascended to the top of the counts, he was in every hand, forcing his opponents to make tough decisions for their tournament lives nearly every orbit.
After winning poker's largest prize and pocketing $8.25 million, Yang's poker career fell off. The world champion played in very few events, and his largest cash was for $75,000, which he earned for finishing fifth in the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
It's very nice to see the Main Event champion in the field today, and we'll keep an eye on him as he tries to add a WSOP Circuit gold ring to the mantle place.
Level: 2a
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0