The most lucrative tournament of the
World Poker Tour's season 5 continued on April 22 with day 1B of the
WPT Championship. While the second flight resembled 1A in terms of star power, 1B provided not only a bigger field (335 to the previous day's 304) but also the much-anticipated announcement of the
Championship's first-place cash prize.
Yet before the players learned of the exact dollar amounts, action began at noon PDT with $50-$100 blinds and $50,000 starting stacks.
The packed rail needed to wait only a few minutes to witness the day's first big-name elimination. On the second hand of play, and with the board showing K-8-7, Ted Forrest pushed all in on top of a Hollis Stabler accidental $30,000 bet (Stabler meant to bet $3,000 but grabbed $10,000 chips instead of $1,000). Pocket aces gave the 2007
Shooting Stars winner the lead over Stabler and his pocket queens, but a spiked queen on the river ended Forrest's championship run.
Despite the deep-stack structure, Forrest soon found company at the rail in the form of Gene Todd. The New York native became the second high-profile bustout when his rivered full house fell to an opponent's turned quad sixes.
While Forrest and Todd dropped, Freddy Deeb climbed the leader board in early play. Deeb flopped two pair to crack an opponent's pocket aces, and the win made the tournament veteran one of the first players to crack the $100,000 mark.
At 2:40 p.m., tournament personnel announced a 639-player starting field. With the $15,495,750 total prize pool, and money bubble set to burst with the 101st-place elimination, the payouts for the top five spots were released as follows:
First place - $3,970,415
Second place - $2,011,135
Third place - $1,082,920
Fourth place - $696,220
Fifth place - $464,110
For a complete payout list please click
here.
As day 1B progressed, a number of players established themselves as favorites to move on to the tournament's next phase. Kirk Morrison was quiet for most of the day, but doubled up in Level 4. Joe Cassidy bet $6,000 on a Q
10
3
flop and Morrison reraised all in for for $46,125. Cassidy called with bottom set while Morrison turned over K
J
for an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. The 4
did not improve Morrison's hand, but he rivered the nuts when the 9
fell. Morrison ended day 1B with $170,000, putting him near the top of the leader board, and in good position to make his fourth-straight
WPT cash.
At 8:20 p.m., tournament officials again turned off the clock in favor of a hand cap. Seven minutes later, and following the completion of three hands, day 1B concluded.
Notables to advance included Tim Phan, Sam Farha, David Baker, David Benyamine, Shawn Buchanan, David Singer, Mike Matusow, Hasan Habib, Paul Wasicka, Carlos Mortensen, Chip Reese, Johnny Chan, Lee Markholt, Billy Baxter, Patrik Antonius, Erica Schoenberg, Mike Gracz, Thomas Walhroos, Kevin O'Donnell, Doyle Brunson, Mark Gregorich, Brandon Cantu, Freddy Deeb, and Gavin Griffin.
Additional players to fall on day 1B were Bill Edler, Clonie Gowen, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Nam Le, Devon Miller, Phil Laak, Max Pescatori, Erik Seidel, Joe Pelton, Jennifer Tilly, and Layne Flack.
For a complete list of chip counts and eliminations please click
here.
The 2007
WPT Championship resumes at noon, when the 480-plus remaining players return for day two.
Stay tuned to
CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, videos, photos, and daily recaps.
Quote of the Day: "Hey, wanna do a rap video with me and Johnny [Chan]?" - Layne Flack to Doyle Brunson on a pending side project.
