Messina Takes Day 1a Chip Lead in the WSOP International Circuit Main Event in Holland Casino Rotterdam
Day 1a of the WSOP International Circuit Main Event, the first of three starting flights at the Holland Casino Rotterdam, has come to an end after twelve levels of 40 minutes each. The first flight attracted 130 entries total with 41 players making it through to Day 2 which will take place on Wednesday, November 20, at 1 p.m. local time.
The chip lead was claimed by Renato Messina, an Italian player who resides in Malta, with 237,000 in chips worth 119 big blinds at the start of Day 2. Messina collected most of those chips when he eliminated his opponent with a runner-runner straight flush while the other player had turned a full house. Messina is followed closely by Rashed Zade with 228,000. Zade had steadily been chipping up throughout the day and even eliminated Martin Paap just before the end of the day.
WSOPC Rotterdam €1,100 Main Event - Top 5 Chip Counts After Day 1a
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Renato Messina | Italy | 237,000 |
| 2 | Rashed Zade | Netherlands | 228,000 |
| 3 | Jerome Riverola | Netherlands | 206,000 |
| 4 | Kevin Paqué | Netherlands | 193,000 |
| 5 | Francisco Marti | Netherlands | 185,000 |
The only other player to have bagged over the 200,000-mark was Jerome Riverola with 206,000. Riverola who caught Simon Burns’ bluff at some point during the day to sent the Brit packing. Other familiar players who found a bag at the end of the day include Kevin Paqué, Jean-Philippe Schoonbrood, Firoz Mangroe, Danny van Zijp, Kees Aerts, WSOP bracelet winner Marcel Vonk, Tobias Peters, and Vojtech Ruzicka with a short-stack.
PokerNews’ very own Eric Mertens tagged 116,000 chips after having flopped the higher full house earlier today and scooping another pot with top two pair.
Unfortunately, not everyone was lucky enough to win their final all-in. Recent ring winners Wim Neys and Rens Feenstra both tried to make Day 2 but fell at the final hurdle. The same fate befell another WSOP bracelet holder, Albert Hoekendijk. Govert Metaal, Michel Molenaar, Gregor Prizmic Martini, Serghei Lisiy, Abdelhakim Zoufri, Mark Roovers, Zhong Chen, Ramon Miquel Munoz, and many more will need to try again on one of the other starting days.
The Main Event will take a break for a day as the first day of the High Roller will take place on Monday at 5 p.m. local time. The Main Event itself will resume with Day 1b on Tuesday, November 19 at 2 p.m. local time and Day 1c on the same day at 10 p.m., a turbo flight with 20-minute levels.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand for both events so make sure to return for more exciting updates from Europe’s largest port.
. It was checked to the player on the button who bet 5,000 and only Messina called. 
and both players checked.
, Messina fired a bet of 18,000 over the line and the player on the button shoved for around 100,000. Messina snap-called with 
for the runner-runner straight flush and saw he was good as his opponent had 
for the turned full house.
, it was checked around to the player on the button who continued with a bet of 6,100. Mertens took a few seconds before making the call while the rest folded.
. Both players quickly checked for Mertens to scoop the pot with 
for top two pair.
