World Poker Tour Championship -- Day 1Shawn Buchanan Jumps Out To Big Lead on Day 1 |
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A total of 161 players were in attendance for day 1 of the 2010 World Poker Tour Championship. That number is a far cry from 2009’s total of 338, won by Yevgeniy Timoshenko, (pictured right) but thanks to a liberal late registration policy at Bellagio, the field size is expected to grow close to the 200 mark before day 2 comes to an end.
Timoshenko, in an effort to defend his title, had a stellar day at the tables and finished up in fourth place overall with 277,375.
Each player began the day with 100,000 in chips, good for 500 big blinds. Players who decide to register on day 2 will still start the tournament with a respectable 125 big blinds, more than enough to make a run at the title despite missing an entire day of the tournament.
With so many chips in play, eliminations were few and far between and the day ended with just 23 casualties. Among those that hit the rail were Antonio Esfandiari, Kevin Saul, McLean Karr, Justin Smith, Annette Obrestad and Card Player’s own Jeff Shulman.
Among the overnight leaders is Brian Lemke, (pictured left) who was fortunate to eliminate two players, one of which was Vivek Rajkumar. Rajkumar held a set of queens and was up against another opponent’s two pair, but Lemke stuck around to catch a set of kings on the turn and take down a monster pot. He finished the day with 298,825, good for second place overall. Lemke was playing on the anniversary of the death of his cousin, noted poker reporter Justin Shronk. During the final break of the evening, he recapped the big hand that vaulted him up the leader board. You can view that video below.
Other notables who finished the day near the top of the leader board include Shawn Buchanan, David Benyamine, Phil Ivey and Christian Harder.
Play will resume Monday at noon and registration will be open until 5 p.m. PST. Take a look at the top 10 chip counts below.
1. Shawn Buchanan — 388,600
2. Brian Lemke — 298,825
3. David Benyamine — 291,275
4. Yevgeniy Timoshenko — 277,275
5. Soheil Shamseddin — 244,000
6. Chris Moore — 243,700
7. Cody Slaubaugh — 231,300
8. Phil Ivey — 230,250
9. Todd Terry — 213,825
10. Christian Harder — 211,675
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