Wynn Spring Classic $1M GTD Championship
Day 1a Completed
Wynn Spring Classic $1M GTD Championship
Day 1a Completed
A slew of well-known pros turned out and the field nearly met the guarantee on the first day, making for a successful Day 1a of the Wynn Spring Classic $3,500 Championship.
When the first 10 levels were a wrap, about 90 of the 268 entries had punched tickets to Sunday's Day 2.
Among the players advancing was former WSOP Main Event champ Joe McKeehen. McKeehen didn't exactly have a banner day as he busted a couple of bullets before turning things around, but he did bag a solid stack with 209,500. Most importantly, McKeehen is on a roll coming into this event, as he had a near miss with a second-place finish at WPT Venetian worth $491K and followed that up with a victory in the $10K High Roller just yesterday here at the Wynn for $224,100.
Combined, that's north of $700K in cashes, and McKeehen has put himself in good position to add to that total if he can author another deep run.
The biggest stacks of the bunch belonged to Paul Balzano (397,000), James Anderson (325,000) and Brian Green (311,500). Balzano has made his presence felt at the Wynn before, chopping the Wynn Summer Classic $1,600 Championship for $180,583 back in 2014.
Some of those running dry on chips at least once included Ali Imsirovic, Nick Pupillo, Darren Elias and Sergi Reixach. All will have plenty more chances on Saturday's Day 1b, which will surely see the prize pool race past the $1 million guarantee early on.
Action resumes with Day 1b at noon local time, so be sure to come back to PokerNews to monitor the final starting day.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Paul Balzano | 397,000 | 397,000 |
Ben Underwood | 390,500 | 390,500 |
James Anderson
|
325,000 | 35,000 |
Brian Green
|
311,500 | 121,500 |
Matt Bond | 269,500 | 269,500 |
Adam Hendrix | 259,500 | 29,500 |
Michael Rossitto | 257,000 | 25,000 |
Mike Dentale | 250,000 | 145,000 |
Thong Tran | 238,000 | 238,000 |
Alex Keating
|
236,000 | 66,000 |
Scott Stewart | 221,000 | -39,000 |
Antony Grappo
|
213,000 | 213,000 |
Kent Washington
|
211,500 | 211,500 |
Joe McKeehen
|
209,500 | 55,500 |
Florian Gaugusch | 207,000 | 207,000 |
Jeff Trudeau | 201,000 | 134,000 |
Seungmook Jung | 198,000 | 198,000 |
Steve Chanthabouasy | 197,000 | 197,000 |
Mitch Garshofsky | 193,500 | 62,500 |
Mike Sowers | 193,000 | 193,000 |
Antonio Mallol | 183,000 | 183,000 |
Mitchell Halverson | 178,000 | 178,000 |
Stefan Nemetz | 177,500 | 177,500 |
Aaron Van Blarcum
|
175,000 | -5,000 |
Tuan Phan | 172,500 | -47,500 |
Landon Tice was all in from an early position, and it looked like he'd opened and gotten two callers before the cutoff crammed it in for about 60,000. Tice isolated and one of the callers flashed as he folded.
Tice:
Cutoff:
The gave Tice the winning hand with a flush.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Landon Tice | 160,000 | 25,000 |
Ryan Depaulo bet 7,000 from under the gun on and was called by the next player before Aaron Van Blarcum made it 22,000 in the next seat. Depaulo jammed for 46,500 and Van Blarcum called.
Van Blarcum:
Depaulo:
Depaulo was stone dead against the flush and headed for the exit.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Aaron Van Blarcum
|
180,000 | 136,000 |
Ryan Depaulo
|
Busted |
Each table will deal five more hands, signaling the end of Day 1a.
Chance Kornuth had a tower of T5,000 chips in front of him and showed down against a player who held . The queens held as the board ran and Kornuth sent over 81,000.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Chance Kornuth
|
110,000 | -8,000 |
Ali Imsirovic got his last 19,000 in from middle position and was called by Dylan Wilkerson on the button, who held . Imsirovic showed the and the dealer revealed the behind it. The flop brought a sweat but nothing further materialized to improve Imsirovic's hand and he headed for the exit, doubtless set to take a shot on Day 1b.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Dylan Wilkerson
|
80,000 | 9,000 |
Ali Imsirovic | Busted |
Matthias Auer checked in middle position on and Eric Afriat bet 8,500 in the cutoff. Auer moved all in for 32,000 more and Afriat called with .
He was in rough shape against for a set, and he asked for the . Close, but it was the that was just as good, sending Auer to the rail on a bad beat.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Eric Afriat
|
130,500 | 3,500 |
Matthias Auer | Busted |