2014 WSOP Circuit National Championship Day 1: Gunnip Leads Star-Studded Field
While the 2014 World Series of Poker doesn't officially kick off until Tuesday, May 27, the first gold bracelet event of the year got underway on Thursday with the start of the 2014 WSOP Circuit National Championship in Atlantic City. On Day 1, 124 players came out to action with Jeff Gunnip topping the pack at the end of the day.
Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeff Gunnip | 201,000 |
| 2 | Dominik Nitsche | 171,000 |
| 3 | Ruslan Dykshteyn | 145,200 |
| 4 | Bryan Campanello | 143,300 |
| 5 | Jessie Bryant | 132,600 |
| 6 | Eric Baldwin | 129,100 |
| 7 | Matthew Ashton | 121,200 |
| 8 | Jason Sandling | 116,700 |
| 9 | Russell Thomas | 116,200 |
| 10 | Ylon Schwartz | 114,000 |
Gunnip hails from Berkley, MI and earned his way into the National Championship by becoming the Palm Beach Kennel Club Casino Champion. He was the only player to finish above 200,000 in chips, and many of those came at the hands of Charles "Woody" Moore.
According to WSOP updates, at the end of Level 8 with the blinds at 400/800/100, Gunnip and Moore got all the money in on a board of 9x8x6x3x. Gunnip had KxKx and Moore 9x7x. The river paired the board with an 8x, and Gunnip doubled up. Shortly thereafter, Gunnip stacked Moore and moved over 160,000 in chips.
Moore's tournament wasn't the only one that ended on Day 1. He was joined on the rail by Ryan Riess, Marvin Rettenmeier, Jake Balsiger, Andy Frankenberger, and Joe Kuether, just to name a few.
On the other side of the coin, Dominik Nitsche, Bryan Campanello, Eric Baldwin, Matthew Ashton, Russell Thomas, and Ylon Schwartz all finished in the top 10. Greg Merson, the 2012 WSOP Main Event champion, finished just shy of 74,000 in chips.
With 50 players left, Day 2 will play out on Friday and registration will remain open until the cards are in the air. Stay tuned to PokerNews.com for continued recaps from this event following the completion of play each day.
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