Thijs Hilberts Bags Big as Dutch Dominate Day 1a of $800 Summer Celebration
A field of 3,054 players turned out in force on Day 1a of Event #80: Summer Celebration No-Limit Hold'em, although only 168 of them progressed to Day 2 from this flight. It was a great day to be from the Netherlands because four Dutch players finished in the top ten chip counts after the completion of 22 levels.
Roelof Pepping (2,775,000) is the Dutchman at the top of the chip counts on Day 1a. Fellow countryman Johannes Deusing (2,060,000) occupies fourth place, with Thijs Hilberts (1,835,000) in fifth, and David Peer (1,765,000) in eighth.
Hilberts has almost $870,000 in live tournament winnings, with his largest scores stemming from events in Asia and Australia. He's now looking for a big score in the United States, and it would take a brave person to bet against him achieving that goal after this impressive start.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roelof Pepping | Netherlands | 2,775,000 | 69 |
| 2 | Thibaut Lallement | France | 2,075,000 | 52 |
| 3 | Phillip Motsinger | United States | 2,065,000 | 52 |
| 4 | Johannes Deusing | Netherlands | 2,060,000 | 52 |
| 5 | Thijs Hilberts | Netherlands | 1,835,000 | 46 |
| 6 | Seiji Sasaki | Japan | 1,800,000 | 45 |
| 7 | Frederik Thiemer | Germany | 1,775,000 | 44 |
| 8 | David Peer | Netherlands | 1,765,000 | 44 |
| 9 | Tanith Rothman | South Africa | 1,700,000 | 43 |
| 10 | Ronny Ung | United States | 1,650,000 | 41 |
In addition to the talented Dutch quartet, seven bracelet winners navigated their way through the 22 Day 1a levels. Pei Li (1,360,000), Tom Fuchs (1,005,000), Arkadiy Tsinis (610,000), Jonathan Stoeber (480,000), Jason James (360,000), David Simon (335,000), and David Diaz (210,000) are just a handful of names to look out for on Day 2 on July 4.
Day 1b shuffles up and deals at 10 a.m. local time on Thursday, July 3, with those entrants hoping to still have chips after 22 levels.
PokerNews traditional coverage of this event starts on Day 2, so come back then to see who comes out on top in the $800 Summer Celebration.