Lamphere Bags Huge Chip Lead in Event #42: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack
It was an action-packed opening day for Event #42: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack that saw a total of 2,403 entries in this brand new event. After 20 levels of play over the course of 12 hours, the field was whittled down to just 195 players who have all secured a spot in the money.
By far the largest pot of the day came in the last couple hands of the night. Adam Lamphere flopped a straight while two of his opponents each flopped a set. Lamphere was all in for over 630,000 on the flop and held on through the turn and river. When all was said and done, the American put 1,870,000 chips in his bag, over half a million more than anyone else.
Lamphere is no stranger to the World Series of Poker with multiple cashes over the past few years, including in the Main Event last year. However, he is still looking for that one piece of jewelry that so many players crave, a WSOP gold bracelet. For the most part, Lamphere primarily sticks to no-limit hold'em tournaments, but the value in this mixed variation was one that he couldn't pass up.
While Lamphere accumulated the majority of his chips in one massive pot, Caleb Hershey went about things in a different way to bag up 1,242,000 chips. Hershey took over the chip lead prior to the dinner break and continued to stack chips throughout the day. One of his largest pots came in a spot where he turned a nine-high wrap in pot-limit Omaha but bricked off on the river. Hershey wasn't done with the hand as he stuck in a huge bet on the river to get his opponent to fold two pair.
Some other big stacks returning for Day 2 include Timothy Finne (1,116,000) and Dustin Goldklang (1,114,000). They both finished the night in the seven-figure category and are well within striking distance. Jake Schwartz (616,000), Rainer Kempe (586,000), and Jamie Gold (402,000) who mostly thrive in no-limit hold'em will also be ones to keep an eye on when the action resumes.
When the action got started at 11 a.m. this morning, there were already over 600 players registered to take their seats. That number quickly grew throughout the first few levels and players were scattered amongst three different rooms in the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. With a single re-entry option available, players were coming and going faster than anyone could keep up with. Late registration remained open through 12 levels and the dinner break which attracted a total of 2,403 entries.
Coming back from the last break of the night, the money bubble was on the horizon and wouldn't take long to burst. There were multiple all-ins during the hand-for-hand process and two players ended up splitting a min-cash. Jan Nakladal and Ben Eilers were both eliminated during the same hand and took home over $400 each.
Once the bubble burst, the short stacks couldn't get their chips in the middle fast enough. In the last couple levels of the night, the field went from 360 players down to just 195 who will return tomorrow. When those players return tomorrow, they will each be guaranteed at least $1,198. However, with the first-place prize of $194,759 looming large, everyone will have their sights set on one goal.
The action will commence at 12 p.m. local time with the blinds resuming on level 21. The blinds will be 8,000/16,000 with a 16,000 big blind ante when playing no-limit hold'em. The levels will be increased to 40 minutes on Day 2 with a 15-minute break after every three levels. The current schedule indicates that play will continue until a winner is crowned, but it is likely that an extra day will be needed.
Follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team to find out who will make it that much closer to a WSOP gold bracelet and the first-ever title of this new event.