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WPT Championship Day 1A Summary

Billy Baxter leads the way, with Dicken and Minieri in the top ten as a small but incredibly tough field come to the Bellagio

Monday 21st 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 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

 


Source: OnlineCasinoNews