The pinnacle of WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley has arrived, as the $1,700 Main Event begins today at noon. Day 1a is the first of two Day 1 flights, as players descend on the Thunder Valley Poker Room in Lincoln, CA with a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool on the line.
Day 1a will see the field play though 40-minute levels, with 15-minute breaks after every three levels, and a 75-minute dinner break after Level 9. Players are allowed one reentry per flight, and must choose to play either the Day 1a or 1b flight.
Late registration will be available up until the beginning of Level 13. The blinds will start at 100/100, with a big blind ante taking effect beginning at Level 2. Day 1a play will end at the end of Level 15.
This is the second stop at Thunder Valley for the WSOP Circuit in 2019. The first came in January, which saw Thomas Kornechuck take down the Main Event and the grand prize of $193,439. Kornechuck outlasted a field of 608 runners in the event.
The runner-up finisher in that tournament was Brett Murray, who narrowly missed out on back-to-back WSOPC Thunder Valley Main Event championships. Murray took down the Main Event in the September 2018 WSOPC Thunder Valley stop, coming through with the win and emerging from a total field of 464 entries to take home $151,145.
With a half million in guaranteed prize dollars on the line, the $1,700 Main Event will almost certainly draw another big field. Successful tournament players such as Murray, JC Tran, Ian Steinman, Jarod Minghini, Noel Rodriguez, Ryan Awwad, and Jasthi Kumar have already made appearances in earlier events at the WSOPC Thunder Valley festival, and all of those names are good bets to appear in the Main Event field at some point over the next two days.
The Main Event is the 12th of 14 ring events on the schedule for the WSOPC Thunder Valley stop. Follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team as the Main Event commences today.
Tags:
Brett MurrayIan SteinmanJarod MinghiniJasthi KumarJC TranNoel RodriguezRyan Awwad
board. The action checked to Villaman on the hijack, who bet 800. Varnell folded from the small blind, and Codding made the call on Villaman's direct left. 
, and Codding led out for 2,500. Villaman thought it over for a bit before making the fold, and saw that it was indeed a good fold when Codding turned over 
for quad aces.
, against what Villaman said was a missed draw. The field is up to 64 players as Level 1 winds down.
