PokerStars Caribbean Adventure -- Day 1B

The question on everyone’s mind at the start of day 1B at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure wasn’t if this year’s field would beat the previous record of 1,347 players. The question was by how many players last year’s mark would fall. The final answer came when the official number of players was released late in the day. The 2010 PCA field stands at 1,529 players. The official prize pool has not yet been released, but the eventual champion will walk away with a massive first-place prize worth more than $3 million on Monday, Jan. 11.

A few players got a great head start toward that end at the tables today. The player who made the most noise throughout the day was Team PokerStars pro Vanessa Rousso (pictured right). She experienced both highs and lows during eight levels of poker.

Rousso built a large stack early in the day when she got involved in a battle of bets and raises with two opponents that left 14,000 in the middle preflop. The flop was dealt Q 9 2, and the small blind bet 15,000. Rousso raised all in, and the button made the all-in call for 35,000. The small blind made an all-in call, as well. Rousso held pocket nines, the small blind flipped over pocket aces, and the button held pocket kings. The turn and river were dealt 8 and 10, and Rousso won the massive pot to grow her stack to 130,000 while eliminating two opponents in one fell swoop.

However, the rest of her day wasn’t 100 percent smooth, and her chip stack fluctuated. Her stack took a hit, but she avoided disaster, in a hand wherein Elliot Smith bet 3,000 on a K Q J flop. Rousso raised to 10,000, and Smith called. The turn fell J, and Rousso bet 5,000. Smith called, and the river fell Q. Rousso checked, and then Smith bet 20,000. Rousso went into the tank for a few minutes and eventually mucked A-10 face up on the table. Smith didn’t show his cards. Rousso held 80,000 after the hand and ended the day steady to finish with 82,200.

Joining Rousso near the top was Annette Obrestad. The former World Series of Poker Europe champion played well and ended the day with 124,900. Leading all of the well-known players at the end of the night was professional Matt Graham, who ended play with 146,700.

Another pro at the top of the day 1B leader board is none other than Phil Ivey (pictured left), who surged late in the day and finished with a stack of 115,700. His biggest gain came when he raised to 1,600, Chris Klodnicki reraised to 4,500, and Dominic Nitsche moved all in for 27,000 preflop during the seventh level of play. Ivey called, and Klodnicki folded. Nitsche showed pocket queens, but Ivey’s pocket kings were ahead. The board fell 7 5 2 A 8, and Ivey won the pot to eliminate his opponent and grow his stack to six figures.

The top chip leaders from today will all have their hands full chasing down the day 1A leader, Wayne Bentley, who paces everyone with 329,500. The 498 players that survived today will combine with the 386 players that survived day 1A for day 2 tomorrow. Play begins at noon EST and will feature eight more levels of poker. Be sure to catch all of the action in CardPlayer.com’s live coverage from the PCA.

Here were the top 10 chip counts for Day 1B:

Matt Graham — 146,700
Annette Obrestad — 124,900
Darryll Fish — 120,000
Paul Wasicka — 116,300
Phil Ivey — 115,700
Shane Schleger — 110,000
Robert Mizrachi — 105,000
Chad Batista — 100,000
Glen Chorny — 92,000
Team PokerStars pro Vanessa Rousso — 82,200

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