So far, slashing the price tag of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bellagio Cup VI has paid dividends, as the field of 310 that have signed up at the Las Vegas casino outpaces last year’s tally of 268. Registration for the $10,000 buy-in event remains open through the end of the first level on Tuesday. If players pony up the five-figure buy-in, they’ll be given a stack of about 20 big blinds to work with.
Joseph Miceli and Jordan “iMsoLucky0” Morgan lead the way with stacks of 440,000 and 431,300, respectively, entering Day 3. Miceli and Morgan are the only two players in the field to eclipse the 400,000-chip plateau and both will face difficult table draws on Tuesday. Miceli’s company at Table 59 will include David “Devilfish” Ulliott, recent PokerStars Sunday Million winner Ty Reiman, and Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler.
Morgan will square off against the likes of North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event runner-up Sam Stein and Dan Heimiller. Morgan took down the Grand Casino Tunica World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Championship in 2007 and notched three cashes at this year’s WSOP. Morgan shot into the top five in chips soon after play on Monday began after flopping a set of eights.
Full Tilt pro Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, who finished the 2010 WSOP with four cashes, skirted disaster late in the day at the Bellagio Cup after doubling up with pocket kings against pocket queens. Both players hit sets in the hand, but Obrestad’s three kings were enough to scoop the pot. The youngster sits in 19th on the leaderboard entering Day 3 with a stack of 167,700.
In a wild hand that occurred near the tail end of the day, female pro Paola Martin scored a double elimination. Martin flopped the nut flush with K-10 of clubs on a board of A-J-5, all clubs. Billy Baxter held pocket jacks for middle set and another player had pocket fives for bottom set, but the board failed to pair on the turn or river and both were sent packing. Martin owns the fourth largest stack after two days of play and is looking to become the first female Bellagio Cup champ.
Who will show up to register today remains a mystery. UB.com pro and 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth Tweeted on Monday, “C Ferguson + Ivey coming in 1:30 Tues to Bellagio WPT event. $1,200-$2,400 blinds, $40,000 in chips! Final table Thurs…. I may make it!!” Whether Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, or Hellmuth will shovel out $10,000 for the privilege of nursing a 20 big blind stack is unclear.
Here are the top 10 in chips entering Tuesday’s action in the Bellagio Cup. A total of 113 players remain:
1. Joseph Miceli – 440,000
2. Jordan “iMsoLucky0” Morgan – 431,300
3. Guillaume Darcourt – 378,000
4. Paola Martin – 290,800
5. Albert Minnullin – 269,100
6. John Courtney – 256,200
7. Rick Solomon – 239,300
8. Ravi “govshark2” Raghavan – 232,400
9. Kenneth Ettinger – 226,200
10. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 222,500
Other pros remaining in the WPT Bellagio Cup include:
13. Daniel Alaei – 192,700
19. Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad – 167,700
42. Cory “UGOTPZD” Carroll – 114,500
43. Justin “Boosted J” Smith – 113,900
45. Eric “EFro” Froehlich – 110,400
46. Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler – 107,800
47. Joe Hachem – 107,700
53. Jared Jaffee – 97,400
59. Dan Heimiller – 88,200
61. Maria Ho – 80,500
62. Phil Laak – 79,100
64. Chad Brown – 78,500
66, Markus “LURPED” Gonsalves – 76,900
81. Ran Azor – 56,500
85. Eric Liu – 52,600
93. David Bach – 46,200
98. Ty “puffinmypurp” Reiman – 41,800
100. David “Devilfish” Ulliott – 37,000
101. Chau Giang – 36,200
104. Steve Sung – 34,200
Like Hellmuth alluded to his in Tweet, the tournament will play down to a champion on Thursday. The top prize and payout structure have not yet been determined since registration remains open.