The second starting flight of the World Poker Tour (WPT) bestbet Open Main Event concluded Saturday (Sunday morning, to be exact) and, as expected the field was bigger than that of Day 1A. 205 entrants paid the $3,500 to participate, bringing the total field to 351. Prevailing over the 85 survivors from Day 1B was Chad Deberry with 209,400, the only player who finished Saturday’s play with over 200,000 chips.
Those 351 players created a total prize pool of $1,123,2014, of which $321,521 will go to the winner. Payouts will start at 36th place; the minimum payout will be $7,138.
Deberry is in great shape to make the largest cash of his live tournament career. He has just two listed on his resume (thanks go out to TheHendonMob.com), the largest of which is $3,111. A cash in this tournament will be more than his total lifetime earnings.
Despite finishing Day 1B as the chip leader, he still trails the overall leader, Raj Vohra, by about 15,000 chips. Talesh Patel sits in between the two with 213,300 chips. Vohra has significantly more experience than Deberry, having earned over $670,000 in his live tournament career. His largest cash came in 2008 when he finished fifth in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the World Series of Poker, a score of almost $200,000.
This is just the second-ever running of the WPT bestbet Open. It debuted last season at almost exactly the same time of year, though the name was slightly different: the WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open. It is the same tournament, though, hosted by the bestbet Jacksonville casino. 320 players entered the Main Event last year for a $1.5 million prize pool. Shawn Cunix emerged victorious, winning $400,600. Also making the final table was one of the hosts of the World Poker Tour telecast, Tony “bond18” Dunst and a guy who seems to always make deep runs in major events, Will “The Thrill” Failla.
Day 2 of the WPT bestbet Open Main Event starts at noon ET on Sunday as the players make their way closer to the money.
2013 World Poker Tour bestbet Open – Day 1B Chip Leaders
1. Chad Deberry – 209,400
2. Aaron Lucas – 170,700
3. Michael Linster – 158,500
4. Brian Hawkins – 149,000
5. Bolivar Palacios – 148,900
6. Ebony Kenney – 146,700
7. Chris Klodnicki – 138,700
8. Anthony Spinella – 137,700
9. Joey Couden – 133,800
10. Farid Jattin – 133,200
2013 World Poker Tour bestbet Open – Overall Combined Day 1 Chip Leaders
1. Raj Vohra – 224,800
2. Talesh Patel – 213,000
3. Chad Deberry – 209,400
4. Matt O’Donnell – 180,500
5. Matt Salsberg – 172,700
6. Tommy Vedes – 171,000
7. Aaron Lucas – 170,700
8. Hank Sitton – 168,500
9. Michael Linster – 158,500
10. Mark Rose – 152,300