The two Day Ones for the World Poker Tour’s Season XV stop at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Oklahoma are in the books. Coming through the larger of the two, Michael Hahn ended Day 1B with a sizeable chip stack of 370,000 chips to pace the field heading to Sunday’s Day 2 action. With more than 1000 entries already received in the $3500 buy in tournament (easily outpacing the $3 million guaranteed prize pool) and late registration not ending until the start of Day 2 today, the tournament promises to be entertaining throughout the upcoming week.
Festivities started on Friday at the Choctaw Casino Resort with 387 entries being registered by the end of the night’s action (the tournament featured unlimited rebuys until the start of Day 2). Despite their best efforts, players such as Brandon Cantu (who made a wild bluff on a J-10-9-5-4 board with only K-8 against Alex Yen’s pocket Aces to be eliminated), Erick Lindgren (pocket Jacks couldn’t find a third against Grayson Ramage’s pocket Queens), Pratyush Buddiga (pocket Kings run down by the flush of Matt Bond) and Cate Hall were only some of the more than 200 players who didn’t survive the action from Day 1A. Steve Gross, however, was able to make it through the minefield, bagging up 299,500 chips to head to today’s action.
1. Steve Gross, 299,500
2. Hiren Patel, 298,800
3. Marcos Exterkotter, 248,200
4. Bobby Oboodi, 232,000
5. Jeff Kester, 223,500
6. Alex Lynskey, 220,600
7. Rodney Springs, 218,300
8. Cary Jones, 209,400
9. Dustin Schooner, 204,600
10. Cord Garcia, 199,000
Several notable names bubbled under the Top Ten from the 107 players who came out of the Day 1A battles. Olivier Busquet (11th place, 198,600), Tommy Vedes (14th, 190,200) Dan Shak (19th, 163,000) and Andy Philachack (20th, 157,000) all took a day off on Saturday with their seats through to Day 2 sealed.
As per usual for multi-Day One tournaments, Day 1B turned out to be the bigger of the two starting days by far. By the end of the night on Saturday, 651 entries had been racked up to bring the total for the tournament to 1038 entries. With late registration and the reentry period closing with the start of action on Sunday, it still isn’t known what the prize pool will be, what the first place prize will be nor how many of the participants will be paid.
The players weren’t concerned with that on Day 1B, however, they were just looking to get through with a decent stack. Some of the players that were eliminated on Day 1A, such as Cantu and Hall, came back for another taste on Day 1B and fared a bit better, making it to the end with a chip stack and a chair to move to Day 2. Others, such as WPT announcer Vince Van Patten, weren’t as fortunate, heading to the rail (for the record, Van Patten’s broadcast partner and Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton also was knocked off).
When the smoke had cleared from the Day 1B fight, Hahn had amassed a humongous stack of chips good enough not only for the Day 1B lead but also a place at the top of the overall leaderboard.
1. Michael Hahn, 370,000
2. Chad Gilliam, 313,800
3. Drew Dumanski, 300,500
4. Kyle Bowker, 300,000
5. Jake Schindler, 273,400
6. Orlando Romero, 260,800
7. James Mackey, 199,700
8. Andre Crooks, 191,800
9. Jesse Yaginuma, 184,600
10. Darren Elias, 165,100
Putting the two Day Ones together show Hahn and Gilliam are in excellent shape to make deep runs in the event.
1. Michael Hahn, 370,000
2. Chad Gilliam, 313,800
3. Drew Dumanski, 300,500
4. Kyle Bowker, 300,000
5. Steve Gross, 299,500
6. Hiren Patel, 298,800
7. Jake Schindler, 273,400
8. Orlando Romero, 260,800
9. Marcos Exterkotter, 248,200
10. Bobby Oboodi, 232,000
Once again, the final numbers won’t be known for the WPT Choctaw until the first cards hit the air on Sunday’s Day 2 action. At that point, the late registration/reentry period will end and the final tallies will be made. First place for the WPT Choctaw could range in the $400-$500,000 range, meaning someone will be in store for a decent payday from a few days of work on the Oklahoma prairie.
