One day of play is in the books in the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT). Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo, who took fifth in the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, leads the pack after Day 1 in Las Vegas with a chip stack of 192,500. The field numbered 391 when all $10,000 buy-ins were accepted on Day 1, with registration remaining open until 5:00pm local time on Saturday for Day 2. Last year, 329 players coughed up $15,000 apiece.
We really can’t believe we’re writing this, but Joseph “subiime” Cheong was bounced from the WPT Five Diamond after 6betting all-in before the flop with A-J and running into D’Angelo’s pocket jacks. If this seems eerily familiar to a hand that occurred at the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table, it is. In that tournament, Cheong crippled his stack after 6betting all-in pre-flop with A-7 three-handed and running into eventual winner Jonathan Duhamel’s pocket queens. The wired pair held each time.
North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Mohegan Sun champ Vanessa Selbst, a PokerStars pro, also met her demise on Friday at the Bellagio. Selbst got her money in good, holding pocket nines on a board of 8-6-6-3 for nines-up. Her opponent tabled 10-8 for eights-up and watched with glee as the river came another eight, giving him a full house and the win. On dropping the massive pot, Selbst proclaimed to the world via Twitter, “Oh yeah, now I’m busto instead of being the chip leader.”
Trending in the right direction on the first day of play was former Bodog pro and “Survivor: China” castaway Jean-Robert Bellande, who committed his stack with J-8 on a flop of 8-8-6 for trips. His opponent showed pocket nines, which added an open-ended straight draw when a seven hit on the turn. However, Bellande faded his opponent’s outs on the river and doubled through to 48,000. He finished the day at 65,050, good for 88th overall out of the 287 survivors.
2010 WSOP November Nine Bubble Boy Brandon Steven made his presence felt at the WPT Five Diamond on Friday. Steven sent formidable pro Scott Seiver packing during Level 3 to move to 52,000 in chips. Steven, however, failed to survive to Day 2.
Also finding the rail was Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, who Tweeted the details of his untimely exit: “Bluffed every hand to get to 60k Level 1. Level 2 I made real hands and got sucked out on to get to 40k. Lost rest KK vs AA. Not fun.” Others joining Bonomo on the rail on Day 1 included Chino Rheem, UB.com pro Joe Sebok, and Shawn Cunix.
In case you’re wondering, Sebok was ousted in particularly brutal fashion. His chips found the middle with pocket queens on a flop of 10-5-2. However, his opponent had spiked a set with pocket deuces and Sebok’s WPT woes continued. Sebok has a pair of seventh place finishes on the WPT, which runs its final tables six-handed.
Here are the top 10 chip stacks entering Day 2 at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic:
1. Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo – 192,500
2. Amirouddine Alibay – 185,200
3. Albert Kim – 157,100
4. Antonio Esfandiari – 149,550
5. Niema Mostafavi – 145,800
6. Phil Ivey – 143,225
7. Maciek Gracz – 138,850
8. Matt Keikoan – 133,775
9. Justin Young – 131,200
10. Kirk Morrison – 130,075
Other brand name pros remaining in the top 50 include:
12. John Hennigan – 120,500
16. Chau Giang – 115,000
22. Peter Jetten – 104,175
41. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka – 84,050
42. Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko – 83,750
45. David Chiu – 82,950
Registration will close at 5:00pm local time at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Among those rumored to be buying into the $10,000 tournament on Day 2 is Kathy Liebert. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage.
