$1,700 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Cherokee
$1,700 Main Event
Day: 1a
McKinney Bags Slim Lead as Hawkins Sits in Second After Day 1a of Cherokee Main Event
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Day 1a of the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee $1,700 Main Event has come to its conclusion with 37:59 remaining in Level 16 when the original staring field of 381 was trimmed to 16% after a tumultuous day of play. Just 60 standing at the end of the night.
The leader in the clubhouse after Day 1a was Michael McKinney who bagged an impressive 480,000. He was spotted late in the day with a huge stack and was able to keep his lead in the final few levels of play.
Right on his heels in second place was none other than 13-time ring winner Maurice Hawkins, who bagged 440,000. He gathered a large stack early and continued his trajectory among the largest stacks in the room throughout the day.
David Prociak with 407,000 and Abdul "Dulie" Amer with 402,000 were the only other two players to bag over the 400,000 mark to bring into Sunday's Day 2.
Leo Chen (369,000), David Jackson (366,000) and Randall Rothwell (366,000) rounded out the top seven in chip counts at the end of the night. In one particularly interesting hand, Rothwell cracked aces in a three-way all-in when his king-queen made two pair on the flop to win a pot of close to 400,000.
Several well-known players ended the day with chips including former NFL superstar Richard Seymour, who ended in the top 10 with a stack of 311,000. Aaron Massey bagged 240,000 while defending champ Jake Bazeley ended on the shorter side with 102,000.
The remaining 60 players will return to action on Day 2 on Sunday, December 8 at noon local time where they will collide with the survivors from Saturday's Day 1b to make for an exciting march toward Monday's final day.
PokerNews will have all the coverage as any player who busted today, plus any newcomers can try again tomorrow on Day 1b, which gets underway at 11 a.m.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
480,000 | 50,000 |
|
440,000 | 55,000 |
|
407,000 | 77,000 |
|
402,000 | 62,000 |
|
369,000 | 24,000 |
|
366,000 | 366,000 |
|
366,000 | -14,000 |
|
314,000 | -46,000 |
|
311,000 | 141,000 |
|
288,000 | 288,000 |
|
280,000 | 280,000 |
|
273,000 | 273,000 |
|
270,000 | 270,000 |
|
|
254,000 | 254,000 |
|
240,000 | 120,000 |
|
232,000 | 232,000 |
|
230,000 | 105,000 |
|
228,000 | 228,000 |
|
226,000 | 175,000 |
|
226,000 | 226,000 |
|
222,000 | 87,000 |
|
219,000 | 219,000 |
|
215,000 | -115,000 |
|
212,000 | 212,000 |
|
|
205,000 | 205,000 |
Play Ended
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The field has reached 16% and players are now bagging their chips.
Table Taking It On the "Chen"
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Leo Chen was spotted in a big situation on a board that read 
. He made a chunky bet of 49,000 over to his opponent who thought it over for a while. After Chen talked out the action of the hand, his opponent called and saw the bad news as Chen turned over the 
for top pair and the best hand.
At the prompting of the table eyes remained on the same table as Leo Chen was soon to be involved in another hand. Chen called a pre-flop raise from his opponent and they went to a flop that came 
. Action went check-check.
The turn was the , Chen called a bet of 14,000 from his opponent and the 
came off on the river. Action went check-check again. Chen's 
was the best hand and his opponent announced king high and mucked to give Chen yet another pot as he continues his ascent in chips in what he says is only his second tournament ever.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
345,000 | 215,000 |
Cash Game Pro Aria Homayounnejad Finds Tournament Success
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The PokerNews live reporting team is currently in North Carolina to live report the Main Event here at the World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee, but that is just one of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.
In Event #9: $400 NLH, 333 runners created a $109,890 prize pool that was paid out to the top 50 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Curtis King (10th - $1,658), Eric Rivkin (12th - $1,658), Justin Harvell (16th - $1,140), Preston McEwen (22nd - $845), and Frank Schinco (34th - $591).
Coming out on top was Iranian-born Aria Homayounnejad, who took down a $24,330 first-place prize and his first gold ring.
“It feels good. I’ve been playing for about six years now,” he explained. “I play cash games for a living – not tournaments.”
According to the WSOP, heads-up play lasted around 90 minutes, and Homayounnejad battled with Danial Castle to come back from a deficit to win the ring and the title.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aria Homayounnejad | Marietta, Georgia | $24,330 |
| 2 | Danial Castle | Hazard, Kentucky | $15,037 |
| 3 | Matthew Brasher | Strawberry Plains, Tennessee | $10,765 |
| 4 | Kevin Freeman | Richfield, North Carolina | $7,832 |
| 5 | Ricardo Eyzaguirre | Miami, Florida | $5,793 |
| 6 | Merton Toler | Princeton, West Virginia | $4,357 |
| 7 | Andrew Zurow | Marietta, Georgia | $3,333 |
| 8 | William Jeffords | Columbia, South Carolina | $2,595 |
| 9 | Keith Reid | Fayetteville, North Carolina | $2,056 |
Level: 16
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Last Break of the Night
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Players have one more 15-minute break for the night and will return to play one 60-minute level or stop when the field reaches 60 players.
Late Night Big Stacks
Updated Chip Counts
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
430,000 | 430,000 |
|
395,000 | 395,000 |
|
|
385,000 | 65,000 |
|
|
360,000 | 360,000 |
|
|
330,000 | -60,000 |
|
295,000 | 155,000 |
|
|
175,000 | 5,000 |
|
|
125,000 | 41,000 |
|
|
120,000 | -20,000 |
|
|
110,000 | -8,500 |