Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Harrah's Cherokee
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 Cherokee
Prize Pool
$1,284,000
Entries
856
Level
33
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000
Nicholson Leads After Day 1a
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 15
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
The 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit season continued on Friday with Day 1a of the Cherokee Main Event. A total of 354 players registered, and leading the remaining 83 survivors is David Nicholson. Nicholson, a three-time WSOP-C ring winner, bagged 260,400 chips thanks to a late-night surge.
The day began with a “shuffle up and deal” from North Carolina grinder Ken “Teach” Aldridge. Aldridge, who won a WSOP bracelet in 2009, highlighted the popularity of poker in this region in a short speech. Unfortunately for Aldridge, he was unable to survive the day, busting in Level 6.
Unlike Aldridge, fellow North Carolinian Chris Bell got off to a very hot start, winning a massive three-way all in. Bell was one of the first players to cross the 100,000-chip threshold, but it was all down hill from there. After losing a series of pots and eventually dipping below the starting stack, Bell was eliminated in the last level of the evening.
Other players who were unable to survive Day 1a include Carter Phillips, Nelson Robinson, Kirk Shelmerdine, Yuval Bronshtein and Chris Trotter. Trotter fulfilled a lifelong dream of his when he was mentioned in the PokerNews Live Reporting blog, but he was unable to win a flip for his tournament life. We expect Trotter to return tomorrow to battle it out for his first ever WSOP-C ring.
Bronshtein misclicked against WSOP-C Choctaw Main Event winner Cary Marshall, and found himself all in and at risk with ace-high on a king-high flop. Marshall held a king, and held when the turn and river both bricked.
While some failed, others prospered. David Nicholson, Matthew Hankins, Kyle Cartwright, Claudia Crawford, Greg Jacobson, and Matthew Emmel all bagged sizable stacks. Crawford got off to a bit of a slow start, until she found a fortuitous double through Larry Gurney. After cold-calling a three-bet from Gurney preflop, Crawford moved all in with a club draw on the flop. Gurney called with pocket queens, and rather than make her flush, Crawford went runner-runner to make a straight.
Crawford then went on to win a sizable pot off Alex Moore. Faced with a bet of 23,400 from Moore on a 
board, Crawford moved all in. Moore folded, and Crawford showed a king for second pair. Crawford bagged 215,300 chips, and is looking to best her 10th-place finish in the WSOP-C Hammond Main Event.
Crawford was on the losing end of the most interesting hand of the day. In Level 11, all nine players on Table 33 saw a flop of 
. The action checked to a player who fired 3,300, Gurney moved all in, and the player who bet tank-called. Gurney showed two tens for a set of tens, his opponent showed two sixes for a set of sixes, and Gurney’s hand held up.
Undoubtedly the biggest name in the field today was 2004 WSOP Main Event winner Greg Raymer. Raymer was plugging along with the starting stack for the majority of the day, until he shipped a massive double up in Level 14. Jerry Barlow moved all in on a ten-high flop over a bet from Raymer, and Fossilman snapped it off with two aces. Barlow sheepishly showed two deuces, and the aces held. Raymer bagged 125,600 chips.
Day 1b of the WSOP-C Cherokee Main Event will begin on Saturday at 12:00 EDT. Be sure to check out all of your exclusive live updates right here on PokerNews.com.
Official End-of-Day 1a Chip Counts
Level 15
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
A total of 83 players out of the 354 who started Day 1a survived, with David Nicholson inching ahead of Matthew Hankins during the final hands to claim the chip lead to end the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
260,400 | 112,400 |
|
254,200 | 4,200 |
|
221,000 | 195,000 |
|
218,600 | 218,600 |
|
215,000 | 57,000 |
|
201,800 | 110,800 |
|
161,600 | 11,600 |
|
160,800 | 15,800 |
|
|
160,500 | 160,500 |
|
|
154,900 | 15,900 |
|
142,400 | 142,400 |
|
137,700 | 137,700 |
|
|
131,200 | 131,200 |
|
125,600 | 26,000 |
|
|
121,400 | 121,400 |
|
113,600 | -34,400 |
|
|
110,700 | 110,700 |
|
|
109,500 | 97,500 |
|
|
109,400 | 109,400 |
|
109,100 | 109,100 |
|
108,600 | 108,600 |
|
|
107,500 | 107,500 |
|
|
104,500 | 104,500 |
|
|
104,300 | 104,300 |
|
|
103,200 | 103,200 |
Bell Bottoms
Level 15
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
In one of the final hands of the night, Chris Bell had to commit his short stack one last time and was unable to survive a hand versus Dennis Patterson, and thus he won't be around for the bagging of chips that is about to commence.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Four More Hands
Level 15
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
The clock has been paused with 10 minutes remaining, and we will play four more hands.
Crawford Keeping Active
Level 15
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
After winning that hand earlier against Alex Moore, Claudia Crawford continued to add chips and push up around 200,000 until running into a preflop all-in situation against an opponent taking 
up against her 
. The board ran out 
, and Crawford loses a few but still has one of the bigger stacks as play winds down for the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
158,000 | -40,000 |
100 Remain
Level 15
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
From the Day 1a starting field of 354, just 100 players remain as the evening winds down.
Late Night Swings for Giancotti
Level 15
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
John Giancotti is having an up-and-down final level of the night.
He just lost one preflop all-in confrontation against a short stack who had 
versus his 
. The board ran out 
, and he was down to just about 14,000.
All in on the next hand with 
versus the same player's , Giancotti had to walk away and thus missed the 
flop that missed him, as well as the turn that hit his hand. He walked back to see the 
river and retook his seat, hoping to keep it for another 20 minutes to last the rest of Day 1a.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
28,000 | -14,000 |
Big Stack
Level 15
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
250,000 | 250,000 |
Crawford Pushes Moore
Level 15
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Alex Moore of Athens, Georgia had been steadily building his stack upward toward the 200,000-chip mark over the last few hours. But just now after taking several hands in succession at his table, he found himself in a confrontation with Claudia Crawford that halted his momentum for the moment.
The hand began with Crawford raising to 3,500 from middle position and Moore raising to 8,800 behind. It folded back to Crawford who called, and the flop came .
Crawford checked, Moore bet 8,500, and Crawford called. The turn then brought the , putting a third spade on the board. Crawford checked again, and with some deliberation Moore carved out a bet of 23,400. Crawford sat for just a few moments, then declared she was shoving all in, and Moore quickly let his hand go.
Crawford then showed her hand — 
! — and Moore nodded in response.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
148,000 | -27,000 |
|
|
129,000 | 48,000 |