It took a full 12 levels for Kelly Cortum to amass his Day-1a-leading stack of 140,000, but it only took Scott Sharp seven levels to surpass it on Day 1b. We first discovered Sharp in a massive four-way all-in pot that same him and another player each holding . Another player held , while the player with the best hand had . The flop put Sharp and his counterpart out in front, and they'd end up chopping the pot after the appeared on the turn followed by the river. That pot boosted Sharp's stack to 150,000.
After busting Day 1a, Chow opted to re-enter. Things were looking bleak for the man from Schaumburg, Illinois as he was down to 8,750, but he just received a much-needed double. It happened when Chow got his stack all in preflop holding the and was well out in front of his opponent's . The board ran out a clean and Chow's jacks held to deliver him the double.
Day 1b players just returned from a 15-minute break, and action resumes in Level 7. The tournament clock says 122 players have registered for the second flight thus far, and of those 99 remain.
Kelly Cortum finished as the Day 1a chip leader 140,000.
Day 1a is in the books, and according to the tournament clock, 89 of 234 players advanced to Day 2. It's also worth noting that the defending champ, Scott Stanko, also survived, albeit with a less impressive 19,500.
We'll now pick up action on Day 1b with approximately five minutes remaining in Level 6 (150/300/25).
According to Grant Hinkle, he started a raising war with Dan Sun by opening in the cutoff, which Sun responded to by three-betting from the big blind. Hinkle came back over the top all in, and Sun called off his remaining stack.
Hinkle:
Sun:
Things looked great for Sun after flopped, but the turn soon put a damper on his outlook. The didn't pair the board on the river, and Hinkle had come out ahead in an exciting race. Hinkle bagged up 78,500 shortly thereafter when the day's hands ended.
The tournament staff has just announced that the remaining 103 players or so from Day 1a, which drew 234 entries, will play four more hands before bagging and tagging for the night.
We're off to grab some chip counts and any last-minute hands, and then we'll be shifting our attention to the Day 1b field. Stay tuned!
We found Sean Small in a heads-up pot with a board of . He check-called his opponent's bet of 7,000, and then both players checked the hand through on the turn and river. Small showed and his opponent frowned and mucked. Small now has around 87,000.
. Another player held 
, while the player with the best hand had 
flop put Sharp and his counterpart out in front, and they'd end up chopping the pot after the 
appeared on the turn followed by the 
river. That pot boosted Sharp's stack to 150,000.
and was well out in front of his opponent's 
. The board ran out a clean 
and Chow's jacks held to deliver him the double.
flopped, but the 
turn soon put a damper on his outlook. The 
. He check-called his opponent's bet of 7,000, and then both players checked the hand through on the 
river. Small showed 
and his opponent frowned and mucked. Small now has around 87,000.