Karim Ends Day 1 as Chip Leader, Kelly Close Behind
Day 1 of the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event #44 has come to an end. Ten levels and 12 hours have been recorded and the chips are bagged. A total of 1,072 players started earlier today, generating a prize pool of $2,926,560. Just 117 of those will make the money guaranteeing them at least $5,560, with first place receiving $592,684 for their efforts.
Heading into Day 2 as the chip leader will be Zohair Karim, who bagged up 128,700 in chips. He played aggressively throughout the day, going unnoticed as he reached the six-figure mark, before he flopped a set of fours, and was able to take out two players in the same hand to rocket up to 140,000 in chips. He will lead a pack of 229 players including PokerStars Team Pros Matthias De Muelder (74,500), Jonathan Duhamel (65,700), Jason Mercier (65,100), Joe Cada (58,900), Randy Lew (28,300) and Alexander Kravchenko (20,450). Others too also bag up chips for the night are Lauren Kling (65,200), Scott Clements (48,000), Michael Gathy (43,000) and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi (34,700).
Dan Kelly finished just behind Karim, bagging up 113,700 in chips. This progression continues a great 2013 WSOP for Kelly, who up to this point, has cashed in eight events, including two final tables. It won’t be any surprise to anyone, if Kelly can run deep once more.
Not every big name made it to Day 2 as the likes of Phil Hellmuth, Jason Somerville, Eric Baldwin, Annette Obrestad, Allen Kessler, Nacho Barbero, Angel Guillen and Jake Cody all hit the rail throughout the day.
The players that will be returning will be coming in at 1:00 pm local time on Tuesday and play another 10 levels or until a final table is determined, which ever comes first. Make sure to check in to PokerNews later today for the continuing coverage of Event #44 $3,000 No-Limit Hold-em.