Tito Ortiz Headlines Day 1a of the PokerStars Championship Panama Main Event
Day 1a of the 2017 PokerStars Championship Panama $5,000 Main Event brought in a total of 103 unique players and ended with 43 players moving on to Day 2. Leading the way is Igor Yaroshevskyy, bagging the most chips with 219,600 after eight, 75-minute levels of play.
The star of the show today was Tito Ortiz and continues to be as Day 2 approaches. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter is known for his 31 second knockout back in the day and was the ninth inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame. He managed to bag a very healthy 182,000, good for second in chips, and looks to snag himself a title outside the ring and on the felt.
Ortiz managed to bag a very healthy 182,000, good for second in chips
Team PokerStars Pro Igor Kurganov registered late in the day and it looked like he was going to move on to Day 2 until he ran into aces to bust in the last hand of the night. Kurganov was playing in his first-ever PokerStars Championship Main Event as part of the team. His better half, Liv Boeree, was unable to advance and didn't seem to be able to build a stack at all today.
Notable players making it to Day 2 include Jason Koon (175,500), Steve O'Dwyer (117,000), David Peters (116,100), Ryan Riess (77,300), Byron Kaverman (72,000), Daniel Dvoress (59,800), Sergio Aido (54,200), Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez (41,400), Anthony Zinno (16,800) and Davidi Kitai (10,500).
2017 WSOP November Niner Kenny Hallaert, was in the field today and found himself all in on the turn with a seven-high flush against a nine-high flush. He had two outs to make a straight flush and hit one on the river to stay alive. Unfortunately, his luck ran out eventually and he hit the rail late in the day.
With the $25,000 Single-Day High Roller firing up tomorrow, some of the players who will likely be in that field and took a shot today but didn't advance, include Timothy Adams, Adrian Mateos, Dan Colman, Sam Greenwood, Mike Watson, Justin Bonomo, Stephen Chidwick and Isaac Haxton.
Day 1b kicks off at 11 a.m. local time on Wednesday and will be the last chance for players to get in on this Main Event. There will be eight, 75-minute levels of play and late registration will close before cards are in the air on Day 2 on Thursday at Noon. Keep following along as PokerNews brings you all of the live updates until a winner is crowned!