Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Linda Johnson is the pacesetter after Day 1 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Invitational. The tournament, which began with a massive field of nearly 500 players on Saturday and is being housed at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, now stands at 115 runners. Johnson built a stack of 198,100 in chips after Day 1 and has nearly double the total of Phil Laak’s second place stack of 115,300.
Johnson, who co-founded the Tournament Directors Association and formerly worked with the WPT, will lead a star-studded group into Day 2 beginning at 1:00pm PT today. Among those who threw their hats into the ring yesterday was actress Shannon Elizabeth, who gleefully Tweeted, “At Commerce for the WPT Invitational – feels so overwhelming – fun crowd though – good luck everyone here!” Elizabeth landed in 80th place after Day 1.
Laak will have his hands full on Sunday, when the field will play down to its final six. Joining him at Table 41 will be the likes of Absolute Poker pro Mark Seif, WPT commentator Vince Van Patten, and director Marty Weiss.
Third place on the leaderboard after Day 1 belongs to three-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Barry Greenstein. The poker pro from California built a stack of 109,400 yesterday and today finds himself flanked by online poker wizard Andy “BKiCe” Seth.
Former WSOP November Niner Chino Rheem and bracelet winner Jeff Madsen were among those who bid adieu to their Celebrity Invitational title hopes on Day 1. The first celebrity elimination belonged to UFC fighter Randy Couture, whose run at a share of a $200,000 prize pool came to an early end. The winner of the tournament will bag $100,000 and the top six will finish in the money.
Last year, LeRon Washington, a ClubWPT qualifier, took down the Celebrity Invitational after defeating Sean Urban heads-up. The final table also included “Real World: Las Vegas” star Trishelle Cannatella and poker pro Thor Hansen. Washington collected $100,000 for his troubles and the field numbered 564.
Here are the top 10 chip counts after Day 1 of the WPT Celebrity Invitational:
1. Linda Johnson – 198,100
2. Phil Laak – 115,300
3. Barry Greenstein – 109,400
4. Ashton Holmes – 103,300
5. Tom Christopher – 101,400
6. Stuart Levine – 95,200
7. Noah Schwartz – 85,800
8. Marcello Delgrosso – 80,800
9. David Baker – 80,100
10. Mike Halioua – 79,500
Other notable poker pros remaining include:
15. Antonio Esfandiari – 67,600
17. Eric Mizrachi – 66,400
23. Lauren Kling – 58,200
26. Allyn Shulman – 56,900
35. Mark Seif – 45,500
40. Liv Boeree – 42,500
46. Andy “BKiCe” Seth – 37,400
47. Vince Van Patten – 37,300
48. Dan Heimiller – 36,200
49. Jan Fisher – 35,200
67. Scotty Nguyen – 26,700
68. Alex Kravchenko – 26,700
74. Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler – 23,700
80. Shannon Elizabeth – 22,100
83. Jennifer Tilly – 21,700
104. Eugene Katchalov – 13,100
When play resumes, a bevy of players will be nursing short stacks, as the blinds will begin at 600-1,200 with an ante of 200. The final table will be held on March 2nd following the play down day in the L.A. Poker Classic. Check out more WPT coverage.
