Two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event ring holder Dwyte Pilgrim leads the field of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Southern Poker Championship after Day 1. A total of 106 players remain of the 208 who bought in on Sunday afternoon.
The tournament, emanating from the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi, drew a field of 283 players in 2009. The 208 who turned out yesterday to cough up the $10,000 buy-in meant that attendance dove by a sizable 27%. Pilgrim leads the survivors with a stack of 175,900 chips, comfortably in front of the second place tally of Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, who holds 152,100. Pilgrim claimed a pair of WSOP Circuit rings in March 2009 after taking down a $560 buy-in tournament at Caesars Atlantic City before flying cross-country to Harrah’s Rincon and winning the site’s $5,150 buy-in Championship event.
Little is no slouch, either. He was the WPT Player of the Year during Season 6, when the Florida native made final tables at the Mirage and North American Poker Championship and bubbled a third at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship at Biloxi. All told, Little has nearly $3.5 million in career WPT earnings to his name and two titles. Little took down a pot early on Sunday with pocket aces against pocket queens on a 10-9-8-2-2 board. Little’s opponent check-called a bet of 7,775 on the river to boost his stack to over 41,000; he finished the day with nearly six times that total.
DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija was a late Day 1 casualty at the WPT Southern Poker Championship. Makhija committed his chips with pocket kings on a board of J-3-2, but his opponent spiked a straight with 4-5. Jeff Madsen, meanwhile, was all-in holding the nut flush draw, but blanked out to hit the rails. Madsen is a Full Tilt Poker Red Pro.
Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka was flushed down the drain on Sunday. The runner-up in the Bellagio Cup V, which began airing as part of the WPT’s Season 8 kickoff on Fox Sports Net last night, Jaka called all-in with K-3 after a flop of K-J-4. However, his opponent flipped up pocket jacks for a set, which held for the win. Jaka made two final tables during Season 8 of the WPT, finishing second in the aforementioned Bellagio Cup and taking third in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for a combined $1.3 million.
The top 10 at the end of Day 1 of the WPT Southern Poker Championship features rock solid poker talent:
1. Dwyte Pilgrim – 175,900
2. Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little – 152,100
3. Jonathan Stanton – 142,100
4. Chad Brown – 138,000
5. James Jewett – 135,500
6. Sam Rashid – 125,700
7. Shawn Quillin – 118,300
8. Scott Standridge – 117,600
9. Hoyt Corkins – 115,600
10. Corwin “mig.com” Mackey – 113,200
Other notable names among the 106 players remaining in the field include:
Paul Wasicka – 107,500
Daniel Negreanu – 81,200
Matt “All In at 420” Stout – 73,100
Ty “puffinmypurp” Reiman – 71,400
Justin “Boosted J” Smith – 68,600
J.J. Liu – 67,800
Josh Arieh – 67,200
Tommy Vedes – 66,300
Kathy Liebert – 53,300
Adam “Roothlus” Levy – 46,900
Nick Schulman – 40,000
Allen “AawwNutz” Carter – 38,200
David Singer – 34,000
Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo – 25,900
Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler – 17,600
Michael Binger – 13,000
When play wrapped up on Sunday, the blinds were 300-600 with a 75-chip ante. The Southern Poker Championship runs through Wednesday, when the newest WPT champion will be crowned. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the Biloxi tournament.