The action at the 2016 World Series of Poker is off and running, with one bracelet already on its new owner’s wrist. As for the next one? There’s still a great deal of poker to be played yet as the “Colossus II” rumbles through the first weekend of the WSOP.
Event #1 – $565 Casino Employees Event
It is unknown how many unique entries there were to this year’s kickoff for the WSOP, the traditional Casino Employees Event opener, so there is some discussion about what the final numbers say. The 731 entries look good at first glance but, considering that the same tournament drew in 688 players in 2015 without the advantage of having a singular re-entry, it is possible to see both good and bad in the numbers. The 23 players who came back on Thursday didn’t seem to care, however, as they were the only ones left who could win the first bracelet of the series.
While Spencer Bennett was at the helm with a massive 627,000 chip stack, it was the four ladies in the top third of the field that drew the most buzz. Second place Kerry Craigie (323,000), fourth place Tanja Vujanic (195,000), fifth place Amanda Wheeler (182,000) and seventh place Allison Arvey (164,000) were all poised to strike should Bennett suffer a misstep, while Nicholas Sliwinski (301,000) and Eric Stack (178,000) were also waiting in the pack.
The rapid pace of the blind structure more than halved the field in only three hours. Vujanic was one of those fatalities, doubling up Michael Coombs when he caught a Queen on the river for a set against Vujanic’s pocket Kings; she would depart soon afterwards in 19th place. Down to two tables, Wheeler would be dumped from the proceedings in thirteenth place and Arvey left in eleventh place when her K-10 couldn’t catch Christopher “CJ” Sand’s pocket Jacks. By the time the final table was determined, only Craigie was alive to tell the tale from the ladies.
At that final table, Sand and Craigie were 1-2 on the leaderboard and everyone else was looking to play catch up. Craigie would take over the lead in eliminating Tiankang Xing in eighth place early at the final table, but Sand would retake the lead in dramatic fashion. Defending his big blind against Mikesh, a J♦ 10♦ 8♦ flop brought a check-call of 60K out of Sand to see a 9♥ on the turn. Sand checked again but, after Mikesh tossed in 135K, Sand sprung his trap with a check-raise to 310K. Mikesh wasn’t fazed, immediately depositing his chips in the center with an all-in move and, just about as quickly, Sand found a call.
When the hands came out, everyone was stunned. Mikesh had K♦ Q♦ for the flopped King-high flush and a double shot at a straight flush (with the 9♦) or the royal flush (with the A♦), but Sand had the hand; his 9♦ 7♦ had flopped the joint, a straight flush, and he now only needed to dodge the A♦ to take a massive pot. The dealer burned and delivered the river…an innocent 6♣ that locked the hand for Sand and shot him back into the lead in eliminating Mikesh in fifth place.
Now the fires were lit under Sand and he went on a rampage. He would take out Bennett in fourth and Coombs in third to enter heads up play against Craigie with more than a 3:1 lead. Craigie could never mount a challenge against a mountain of chips like that and, in less than 20 hands, Sand was able to take care of business. On the final hand, Sand’s pocket Kings didn’t need the King that came on the river to bump off Craigie’s pocket sevens to give Sand, a sportsbook cashier at Caesars Palace, the first gold bracelet of the 2016 WSOP.
1. Christopher “CJ” Sand, $75,157
2. Kerry Craigie, $46,420
3. Michael Coombs, $32,249
4. Spencer Bennett, $22,753
5. Brian Mikesh, $16,308
6. Tom Ratanakul, $11,877
7. Nicholas Sliwinski, $8,792
8. Tiankang Xing, $6,616
9. Robert Ostler, $5,063
Event #2 – $565 “Colossus II” No Limit Hold’em
The first two days of action in the “Colossus II” have seemingly drawn out quite a few players. Because of the six flights of entry (two each day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday) many players are taking advantage of the re-entry rules. They are also taking advantage of another feature that is being offered in this year’s tournament, a Day 1 cash out.
By the rules of the tournament, players who are eliminated but made the money in the event (each flight sets a minimum number of players to be paid) are allowed to reenter the tournament on a later flight. Many players have taken advantage of this twist, with both Dutch Boyd and Erica Lindgren talking about taking their min-cashes over social media and about how they were going to get back in the game. The deeper payout structure (15% of the field versus the usual 10% in most tournaments) also seems to be going over well with the players.
Over the first four flights, here’s how the entries have broken down and how many players have emerged as the survivors from each flight:
Flight A: 3249 players registered/121 remaining players
Flight B: 2153/69
Flight C: 3770/139
Flight D: 3099/105
Doing some quick math, that translates to 12,271 entries after four flights of “Colossus II” and 434 players moving to Sunday’s Day 2 action. (Who is in the lead? Let’s worry about that after Day 2!)
Saturday will be a madhouse at the Rio as “Colossus II” rolls with its final two flights of the day (there’s also a little tournament, the $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship, beginning at 4PM that might feature some players the poker community might be familiar with). Although they have only averaged 3067 players for the first four flights, the seams of the Rio will be bursting as WSOP officials look to top last year’s record entries for the event, 22,374. That would entail pushing over 5000 players through in both Saturday flights, something that is not out of the question as someone looks to take down the $1 million “Colossus II” prize and the WSOP bracelet.
