Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah's Cherokee
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah's Cherokee
Buy-in
$1,700
Prize Pool
$1,601,355
Entries
1,057
Level
36
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
400,000
Albrinck Bags Day 1a Chip Lead in Search of Another Title at WSOPc Cherokee
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The opening flight of the WSOP Circuit $1,700 Main Event at Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort closed with 59 of 360 players moving on to Day 2. After more than 13 hours of play, Brad Albrinck amassed the largest stack in the room with 504,000 chips, more than 15x his starting stack.
Albrinck is no stranger to a circuit Main Event at Cherokee as he topped the field in December 2016 for his largest career score of over $275,000. The Ohio native has accumulated over $1.2 million in career tournament earnings with the majority of it coming in WSOP events.
Throughout most of the day, Dennis Powell held the chip lead after a strong start but tailed off late to finish with 249,000 chips. Albrinck was quietly going about his business as one of the late entries and emerged near the top of the leaderboard in the last few levels. To cap things off, Albrinck came from behind against Yoon Cheon when he flopped a pair of kings to send Cheon to the rail.
Some other big stacks moving on to Day 2 include Carlos Loving (446,000), Kobie Wilkerson (441,000), Scott Drobes (425,000), and Scott Sanders (404,000). Loving was also one of those who slowly built up a stack throughout the day and finished strong. Wilkerson, on the other hand, caught lightning in a bottle for about an hour of play in order to gain the majority of his chips.
It was a big turnout for the first of two starting flights, but Day 1b is expected to attract plenty of more players. If there is any hope of breaking last year's record attendance of 1,056 entries, Saturday's flight will need to nearly double that of Day 1a. With satellites continuing to run throughout the night and into the wee hours, the event center is expected to be jam-packed.
Many notables took their shot on Day 1a but it wasn't a successful flight for many, and even a single re-entry couldn't help some. Rex Clinkscales, Warren Sheaves, Martin Kozlov, Paulius Vaitiekunas, and Heather Alcorn all burned through two bullets and will likely return for Day 1b. Some others that failed to move on include Maurice Hawkins, Allen Kessler, Mo Nuwwarah, Jake Bazeley, Ryan Eriquezzo, and Eric Salazar.
Some other notables that were fortunate to make it through the day include Ryan Leng (195,000), Steven Grybas (184,000), Josh Reichard (132,000), Stanley Lee (102,000), Irene Carey (100,000), and DJ Alexander (100,000). Leng, a WSOP bracelet winner, was one of the last entries before registration closed and managed to spin up his 30,000 starting stack to nearly 300K before slipping back down.
The action will resume at 11 a.m. tomorrow for Day 1b, which is the last starting flight for the Main Event. Players will begin with a stack of 30,000 chips and late registration will remain open until the start of Level 13. A single re-entry will be permitted throughout the registration period. There will be a 15-minute break after every three levels and a 60-minute dinner break after the ninth level. Action will complete after a full 16 levels or when 16% of the field remains.
Keep it locked here for all of the updates from the tournament floor from the PokerNews live reporting team throughout the entire Main Event.
End of Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
504,000 | -46,000 |
|
446,000 | |
|
441,000 | -49,000 |
|
425,000 | 425,000 |
|
404,000 | 404,000 |
|
360,000 | |
|
341,000 | 341,000 |
|
|
324,000 | 324,000 |
|
297,000 | 297,000 |
|
296,000 | 296,000 |
|
|
287,000 | 287,000 |
|
|
285,000 | 285,000 |
|
|
263,000 | 263,000 |
|
|
262,000 | -24,000 |
|
249,000 | -186,000 |
|
229,000 | 229,000 |
|
225,000 | -88,000 |
|
202,000 | -16,500 |
|
195,000 | -145,000 |
|
188,000 | 188,000 |
|
184,000 | -48,000 |
|
|
181,000 | 181,000 |
|
|
180,000 | 180,000 |
|
180,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
175,000 | 175,000 |
Play Concludes for the Night
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
As play in the 16th level of the day came to an end, the remaining 59 players bagged and tagged their chips to return on Sunday for Day 2. A full list of chip counts and a recap of the day's action will be posted shortly.
Hendrix Raises Out Two Opponents
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
On the turn, with the board reading 
Kobie Wilkerson bet 12,000 into two opponents. Adam Hendrix raised to 40,000, Ryan Leng folded quickly and the action was back on Wilkerson, who thought for about 30 seconds before laying it down.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
490,000 | 85,000 |
|
|
210,000 | 70,000 |
Dalton Spikes a Two-Outer
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
As the end of the day looms on the horizon with 60 players remaining, Kendall Dalton found himself all in for 82,000. Dalton was in desperate need of some help from the poker gods when he found himself in a cooler scenario.
Dalton tabled 
but was up against his opponent's 
. However, the dealer spread the flop of 
to give Dalton a full house and the lead in the hand. The 
on the turn and the on the river changed nothing, allowing Dalton to find a much-needed double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
174,000 |
Carey Shoves the Turn
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
There was a limper and Irene Carey completed in the small blind. The big blind checked his option and the dealer fanned the flop of 
.
Carey checked to her opponent who bet 12,000 and Carey check-raised to 27,000. Her opponent called and the 
landed on the turn. Carey jammed all in for 29,000 and her opponent tanked for nearly two minutes before finally folding.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
95,000 | 10,000 |
Albrinck Eliminates Cheon
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Brad Albrinck continues to rise in chips as king-jack busted the ace-jack of Yoon Cheon when a king hit the flop and ran out good for Albrinck from there to bring him even higher up in chips and end Cheon's night just before the conclusion of play.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
550,000 | 200,000 |
|
Busted |
Phillips Loses Back-to-Back Flips vs Mandikos
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
In back-to-back hands, Event #2 winner Tyler Phillips and Event #6 winner Nicholas Mandikos battled it out for all of the chips. In the first hand, Mandikos held pocket nines and held against Phillips' ace-king in order to score a double up.
The cards were back in the air and the two players got all of their chips in the middle again. Mandikos showed 
again and was flipping with the 
of Phillips.
The flop came 
to give Mandikos quad nines and a stranglehold in the hand. The 
on the turn meant Phillips was drawing dead to the 
on the river. In a matter of two hands, Phillips lost all of his chips and was eliminated from the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
286,000 | 211,000 |
|
Busted |
Leng Spills Another
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Ryan Leng continued his rapid ascension in chips when his was shown as the winner on a board of 
. His opponent was collecting his things and walking away as Leng added the boon in chips to his stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
340,000 | 219,000 |