Main Event Day 1a | 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - River Rock

Day 1a of the 2012-13 WSOPC Main Event at the River Rock Casino came to a close on Friday night. A total of 294 players paid $1,675 to participate in the first of three day 1 flights, and at the end of the night only 59 remained. The man sporting the biggest stack at the end of the night was Norman Overdijk with 242,000. He was trailed closely by John Cracic (231,000) and Sean Hwang (207,700).

Hwang managed to build a significant portion of his stack during a confrontation with poker pro Jason Koon shortly before the dinner break. Koon opened to 1,300 only to have Hwang three-bet to 3,100. Koon moved out a four-bet to 7,100 and Hwang called. The flop was and Koon open-shipped all in for his last 24,500. Hwang called with for an open ended straight draw, and Koon was surprised to find that his was actually in the lead on the flop. The on the turn meant nothing, but the on the river sealed Koon's fate as Hwang was able to make his straight. That hand boosted Hwang up to 100,000, which was the chip lead at the time, but he was overtaken by Overdijk near the end of the day.

While Overdijk is on top, there are many players who will also bring sizable stacks into play on Day 2. Among them are Cary Marshall (204,000), Noah Vaillancourt (172,100), Tyler Lee (167,000), 2012 WSOP bracelet winner Ashkan Razavi (155,400), Scott Stanko (120,000), Paul Nguyen (111,200), Matt Jarvis (94,600), and Braden J. Hall (94,600).

While those players thrived, several notables were unable to advance to Day 2. Huy Nguyen, Scott Clements, Matt Affleck, Doug Lee, Kevin MacPhee, Adam Levy, and Amit Makhija are just a few of the players who were eliminated before play ended. Those players will have the option to re-enter the tournament on Day 1b and, if that doesn't work out, they will have one final chance on Day 1c.

Day 1b will begin at 12:00 PM PDT in the River Rock Theatre. Be sure to follow our coverage here at PokerNews as we track both new entrants and those eliminated from Day 1a that seek redemption on the felt.

Tags: Norman Overdijk Sean Hwang

Welcome to our coverage of the 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event here at the River Rock Casino in the lovely Vancouver, British Columbia! We're here live in the River Rock Theatre where the stage and seats have been removed to make room for 46 poker tables. Throughout the day spectators will line up in the balcony section of the theatre to observe the battles occurring across the felt throughout this prestigious room.

This event is a history-making stop on the WSOP Circuit as it is the first stop ever to occur in Canada. That means the eventual winner of this event will have extra bragging rights as he or she will be able to call themselves the first winner of a WSOP Circuit Main Event in Canada.

Today marks the first of three starting flights. Those to still have chips in front of them at the end of the day will move onto Day 2 on Sunday. The unfortunate souls that bust from play today will have the option to fire two more bullets if they so desire both on Days 1b and 1c. Players will play 15 40-minute levels today before bagging and tagging for the end of the night.

Be sure to stay tuned to our coverage of this exciting stop on the WSOP Circuit. As always, PokerNews will be on hand to provide you with all of the latest from the felt!