The second day of the World Series of Poker Asia/Pacific is in the books as Event #1, the $1100 No Limit Hold’em “Accumulator” tournament, wrapped up its action early this morning (U. S. time).
Much like Thursday’s action, the players flooded the floor of the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia, taking part in the first-ever WSOP event on Aussie soil. The “Accumulator” event proved to be popular on Day 1A and, with the chips earned on each of the three Day Ones added together for a player to move on to Day 2, many of the usual suspects that showed up on Thursday were back for a second shot at taking down the first WSOP bracelet of 2013.
Back for another taste of the “Accumulator” format were Jonathan Duhamel and Barry Greenstein, who both had finished Day 1A with Top Ten stacks. Those that were knocked out on Thursday, players such as Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, 2012 WSOP Championship Event final tablists Jacob Balsiger and Russell Thomas, Antoine Saout, Rupert Elder and Jonathan Karamalikis, came back to try to make their first end-of-day score. Most notable, however, was the presence of the second place stack from Thursday, Alek Givotovsky, who was looking to add to his 65,600 in Friday’s action, and Day 1A chip leader Dan Kelly.
For some of those players taking a second shot on Friday, it just wasn’t to be. Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu and Aaron Lim were out shortly after the first break, with Lim’s elimination being particularly painful. After an A♣ Q♦ 10♣ flop, Lim started the action only to see Daniel Levy three bet him. Lim would move all in and an undaunted Levy made the call. Lim’s K-J looked golden with his flopped Broadway, but Levy’s K♣ 3♣ was drawing to the nut flush. The turn ended any drama, coming with a 7♣ to complete Levy’s flush and, after the meaningless river card, Lim hit the rail at the Crown Casino.
After the late registration period ended on Friday, the numbers for Day 1B would eclipse those for its predecessor. 337 players returned for Day 1B on Friday (albeit unknown as to how many were second entries from Thursday) to bring the total number of entries for the “Accumulator” event to a round 666. With a field at least as large as Friday’s expected for the final Day One on Saturday, the field should blast past the 1000 player mark to build a prize pool of over $1 million.
As the play worked into the Melbourne evening, several players were either unable to amass a stack to make it to Day Two or add to their stack from Day 1A. Phil Hellmuth was on that dubious list, failing to add to his 20,650 chips from Thursday, while Grospellier, defending World Champion Greg Merson, Sam Holden, James Obst and Balsiger would all be a part of the casualties. By the end of the action for Day 1B of the “Accumulator,” Saout would be atop the leaderboard, holding a nice stack of 58,875 to give him more than Day 1B runner-up Levy’s 56,750.
Of the approximately 100 players that have been able to survive through the Day One minefield in the “Accumulator,” there are only three that have survived both days. Australia’s Andrew Hinrichsen (a WSOP bracelet holder) has put together 37,825 in chips; Ian Aldridge has amassed 21,325 and Craig Blight has picked up 36,225. These men are a far cry away from the combined leaderboard for the first two Day Ones, however:
1. Dan Kelly, 66,250
2. Alex Givotovsky, 65,600
3. Antoine Saout, 59,875
4. Daniel Levy, 56,750
5. Martin Kozlov, 48,500
6. Thang Troung, 47,750
7. Minh Phuc Nguyen, 43,950
8. Frank McColgan, 43,500
9. Jonathan Duhamel, 41,850
10. Hai Bo Chu, 41,800
Others who have “accumulated” some chips already to head to battle on Day Two are Australia’s Jackie Glazier (39,350), Karamalikis (36,775), Melanie Weisner (36,600), Greenstein (41,050) and Hellmuth (20,650).
The real test for the players is coming on Saturday’s final Day One for the “Accumulator” event. With a final shot at garnering chips for the Day Two play, the action should be furious around the Crown Casino. After play on Saturday, we will know how many players will move on to the Day Two action, the prize pool and the true contenders for the first World Series of Poker Asia/Pacific bracelet ever awarded.