button in SafariNicholas Rigby Second in Chips After Day 1 of the Salute to Warriors
Day 1 of Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors is in the bag, with only 672 of the 4,478 starters progressing to the second day. With $40 from each buy-in donated to various veteran charities and organizations, this year's event raised just shy of $180,000.
Adam Brody (1,540,000) is the Day 1 chip leader, according to the WSOP LIVE app, while Nicholas Rigby (1,278,000) bagged up the second-largest stack. Rigby shot to fame at the 2021 WSOP by playing the lowly three-deuce, which he refers to as "The Dirty Diaper."
Rigby's loose-aggressive style often puts his opponents under maximum pressure. With him returning on Day 2 with a large stack, expect him to try to bulldoze his way into the third and final day.
Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adam Brody | United States | 1,540,000 | 128 |
| 2 | Nicholas Rigby | United States | 1,278,000 | 107 |
| 3 | Hiroto Nishijima | Japan | 1,204,000 | 100 |
| 4 | Sean Williams | United States | 1,175,000 | 98 |
| 5 | Naixuan Shi | China | 1,151,000 | 96 |
| 6 | Melissa Bartelme | United States | 1,147,000 | 96 |
| 7 | Nirath Rean | United States | 1,133,000 | 94 |
| 8 | Allen Lanier | United States | 1,109,000 | 92 |
| 9 | Eyyal Altar | United States | 1,086,000 | 91 |
| 10 | Nobuaki Sasaki | Japan | 1,070,000 | 89 |
Plenty of other stellar names advanced from Day 1. They include Michael Wilklow (995,000), Jamie Gold (860,000), Brett Shaffer (770,000), Andreas Frohli (724,000), Paulina Loeliger (490,000), Lexy Gavin-Mather (477,000), Mitchell Hynam (436,000), Francis Anderson (325,000), Brandon Sheils (322,000), Angela Jordison (283,000), and Alexandros Kolonias (47,000).
Day 2 starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 22. The plan is to play 15 to 17 levels, depending on how quickly the field whittles down.