WPT Championship Day 1A Summary
Monday, 21 April 2008
While the 210 who signed up for Day 1a of the World Poker Tour
Championship at the Bellagio was less than expected, the field was
certainly not lacking on the quality front. When you do get the
rare occurrence of a tough but small field, you always g
While the 210 who signed up for Day 1a of the World Poker Tour
Championship at the Bellagio was less than expected, the field was
certainly not lacking on the quality front. When you do get the
rare occurrence of a tough but small field, you always get one or
two interesting tables, and this event was no different.
Two tables sprung out as being particularly tough, with the
only pro
ever to have worn a straight jacket on the front of Europe’s
finest poker magazine having a tough draw on Table 55:
Seat 1: Jonathan Little
Seat 2: Jonathan Westra
Seat 3: Brandon Cantu
Seat 6: Michael Gracz
Seat 8: Andy Black
Seat 9: Joe Sebok
Seat 10: Scott Clements
Meanwhile, one half of the World Poker Tour’s very own
announcing duo seemed to have found a warm seat over on Table 62,
with Hoyt Corkins, Phil Hellmuth and Barry Greenstein amongst those
keeping Mr Sexton company:
Seat 1: Tony 'Bagels' Cavezza
Seat 2: Hoyt Corkins
Seat 3: Mike Sexton
Seat 4: Wei Kei Chang
Seat 6: Phil Hellmuth
Seat 7: Adam Levy
Seat 8: Lee Markholt
Seat 9: Bruno Fitoussi
Seat 10: Barry Greenstein
The structure of the championship event is fittingly slow, with
90 minute levels and a 50,000 starting stack meaning there is
plenty of time for players to find their feet. Indeed, it meant
there was a real lack of early departures, although there were some
casualties of note.
One who won’t be coming back for Day 2 at the Bellagio is Daniel
Alaei, who was faced with a tough decision on the river. With a
board which read As-Qh-4h-7c-3h, Alaei went into the think tank
after his 6,250 bet was met by an all-in from Roy Winston. While
the rest of the players had left to go to the break, Alaei’s dwell
eventually ended with him calling and leaving after Winston showed
him top two pair.
Another player who has become better known for his stint on High
Stakes Poker is Guy Laliberte, the founder of Cirque du Soleil and
action-fuelled philanthropist. While his love of action might not
have hurt too much playing cash with the likes of Brunson, Farha
and co., Laliberte’s stack was crippled (and then lost) after his
straight was bettered by the full house of Steve Billirakis.
Scott Clements was also sent to the rail after he flopped a pair
and an open-ended straight board on a 6-5-4 flop. His money went in
on the turn, but Brandon Cantu had already flopped the nuts with
8-7, meaning Cantu was drawing dead.
Other well known players who were also eliminated include Lyle
Berman, David Williams, Eric Froehlich, Ted Lawson, Hasan Habib,
and Jonathan Little. A total of 141 players made it to Day 2, where
they will be joined from the survivors of Day 1B.
Top ten chip counts from Day 1A:
Billy Baxter - 167,150
Darrell Dicken - 163,675
Steve Billirakis - 156,800
Scott Epstein - 147,800
Brandon Cantu - 145,125
John Hillman - 124,550
Abe Mosseri - 123,400
John Celii - 121,075
Dario Minieri - 118,650
Jim Bechtel - 115,000