2015 World Series of Poker Main Event Day 1A Draws 741 Players

Most poker series have what is referred to as a main event, but in reality there is only one main event: the World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in no-limit world championship.

It’s the most prestigious event in the game, but it also sports a huge field and what has consistently been the biggest prize pool of the year since the poker boom of a the early 2000’s. The field features the best poker players in the world sat side-by-side with fresh-faced enthusiasts playing for the chance to become the next world champion. It has a unique atmosphere of excitement that no other poker tournament can quite match.

Today the 2015 running of this historic event is underway at the 46th annual WSOP.

Day 1A of the $10,000 buy-in event is typically the smallest, so it was no surprise to see only 731 players show up for the first starting day at the Rio (down slightly from the 771 that turned out in 2014).

The structure is famous for the amount of play it provides, with two hour blind levels and 30,000 in starting chips. As a result a total of 470 players survived the day.

Sitting at the top of the chip counts is William Kakon with 152,325 . A number of big names ended the day near the top of the leader board, including Dario Sammartino (129,850), Fedor Holz (117,800) and John Monnette (98,750).

Other familiar faces who made it through the day include 2014 WSOP main event third-place finisher Jorryt van Hoof (90,650), 2009 main event eighth-place finisher Kevin Schaffel (89,575), Mike “The Mouth” Matusow (88,225), Ashton Griffin (81,550), reigning $111,111 One Drop high roller champ and 2010 main event winner Jonathan Duhamel (82,700) and two-time bracelet winner Barry Shulman (40,050).

Some of those who hit the rail before the day ended included eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel, former main event third-place finisher Josh Arieh, seven-time bracelet winner Billy Baxter and Andy Bloch.

Here is a look at the top ten chip stacks at the end of day 1A:

A complete listing of the Day 1A survivors and their chip counts can be found here.

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2015 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

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