Rick Biever Finishes On Top of Day 1c in the $3,500 Main Event
Day 1c has drawn to a close in the $3,500 Main Event at the 2023 Wynn Millions and it was the largest starting flight of the three. A total of 560 entries were recorded today with 156 players advancing to Day 2c on Tuesday, March 7th. There was no issue with reaching the $3,000,000 guaranteed prize pool that was put up by the Wynn Resort and Casino.
Over the course of three starting flights, there were a total of 1,314 entries that filtered their way through the registration desk. That generated a prize pool of $4,171,950 that will be up for grabs over the coming days. An unofficial number of 363 players will be returning to the felt over the next couple of days, looking to progress toward the money bubble that will take place on Day 3.
When Day 1c came to an end near the midnight hour, it was Rick Biever who emerged as the chip leader with a stack of 483,000 chips. Biever said after the conclusion that he was sitting on a subpar stack for the majority of the day, but when the final two levels rolled around, it was hard for him to lose a pot. Biever catapulted up the leaderboard in the latter stages to put himself in a great position heading to Day 2c.
The North Carolina native just started playing poker more seriously during the pandemic and often splits his time at the felt in Cherokee or in Las Vegas. Biever is just starting to add to his poker resume and will be looking to add a big score to his list of accomplishments when this tournament wraps up.
He will be joined by many other notable big stacks that pushed their way through the madness of Day 1c including Yuval Bronshtein who finished just behind Biever with 434,000 chips. Lenard Adams was the chip leader for most of the day but lost a couple of pots in the final hands of the night to slip back to 392,500 chips.
Once again, the field was littered with familiar faces at every table and a vast majority of them were able to find a bag and advance to the next stage of the tournament. They will all get a day off tomorrow but some of those to keep an eye on when they return to the felt include Lily Kiletto (325,000), Kathy Liebert (257,000), Noah Bronstein (216,000), and 2014 WSOP Main Event champion Martin Jacobson (204,000).
Top 10 Leaderboard from Day 1c
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rick Biever | United States | 483,000 |
| 2 | Yuval Bronshtein | Israel | 434,000 |
| 3 | Lenard Adams | United States | 382,500 |
| 4 | Jacob Powers | United States | 343,500 |
| 5 | Ronald Sullivan | United States | 339,000 |
| 6 | Andrew Esposito | United States | 335,500 |
| 7 | Andros Ioakimides | United States | 332,000 |
| 8 | Lily Kiletto | United States | 325,000 |
| 9 | Pierre De Almeida | France | 304,500 |
| 10 | Pierce McKellar | United States | 282,000 |
The cards will go back in the air tomorrow for Day 2ab at 12 p.m. noon local time where 203 players from the first two flights will be taking their seats. The blinds will be resuming on level 11 at 1,500/2,500 and a 2,500 big blind ante. The levels will be increased to 90 minutes going forward but only five levels will be on the schedule for Day 2.
There will be a 15-minute break after each level and a 60-minute dinner break after the fourth level of the day. All of those players that bag up chips tomorrow will be returning on Wednesday, March 8th when they will join the survivors of Day 2c for the first time. The money bubble is expected to burst at some point on Day 3 and a full list of the payouts will be posted tomorrow.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be with you all the way to bring you the latest updates and all of the action from around the room.