After a miserably-attended Day 1A, it was on to Day 1B of the 2015 World Poker Tour (WPT) Prague Main Event on Wednesday. Just 60 players paid the €3,300 to participate on Tuesday, with only eleven making it a point to be there when the tournament started. It was better on Wednesday, as expected, since it was the final starting day, but 165 runners is not a particularly lofty number, either. But it is what it is and going into Day 2, Joshua Cranfield leads the field with 176,400 chips.
The 233 total players is a far cry from even last year’s low turnout of 306, which itself was a gigantic drop from the 567 of the previous year. Why the disinterest for a WPT is not quite clear, but it could have something to do with the upcoming European Poker Tour stop in Prague in a few days, a stop that is being hyped as the largest European poker festival of all time. Perhaps players are gearing up for that and forgoing WPT Prague.
At any rate, 233 players and €699,000 is not good for a WPT Main Event. WPT.com calls the €699,000 “whopping,” but did not include the quotation marks. Perhaps the quotes should have been included, as I would certainly refer to that prize pool sarcastically.
The top ten overall players going into Day 2 is somewhat interesting, as because Day 1B was nearly three times as large as Day 1A, eight of the top ten chip counts came from that first starting flight. With so many more chips in play on Day 1B the top players would naturally have more chips than those on Day 1A. The top two players from Day 1A only rank eighth and ninth overall.
As for the chip leader, Joshua Cranfield, he is a very nice story so far. He qualified for the tournament via partypoker for £12 and has only $1,556 in recorded live tournament cashes. He has a massive 60,000 chip lead over Yingui Li, so he is in excellent shape to make a run towards another cash. Also lurking in third place is Byron Kaverman, who sits atop the Global Poker Index rankings and leads the current GPI Player of the Year race.
The 157 players who advanced to Day 2 will return at 2:00pm local time Thursday to continue the march to the final table.
2015 World Poker Tour Prague Main Event – Day 1B Chip Leaders
1. Joshua Cranfield – 176,400
2. Yingui Li – 116,000
3. Byron Kaverman – 108,800
4. Pierre Chevalier – 105,000
5. Remigiusz Wyrzykiewicz – 101,500
6. Igor Yardshevskyy – 98,300
7. Mamouns Smain – 95,800
8. Ranno Sootla – 92,000
9. Suleyman Erdar – 87,200
10. Guy Gorelik – 84,600
2015 World Poker Tour Prague Main Event – Overall Day 1 Chip Leaders
1. Joshua Cranfield – 176,400
2. Yingui Li – 116,000
3. Byron Kaverman – 108,800
4. Pierre Chevalier – 105,000
5. Remigiusz Wyrzykiewicz – 101,500
6. Igor Yardshevskyy – 98,300
7. Mamouns Smain – 95,800
8. Aliaksei Boika – 95,500
9. Vosjech Ruzicka – 93,000
10. Ranno Sootla – 92,000
