PokerStars Ambassador Sam "SamSquid" Grafton Leads the Way into Day 2 of WCOOP-04-M: $530 NLHE [8-Max], $1.5M GTD
The World Championship of Online Poker had a full slate today on PokerStars, but no other event came close to the $1,606,500 prize pool that was accumulated here in WCOOP-04-M: $530 NLHE [8-Max], $1.5M Guarantee after 3,213 registration slips were sold.
The first day lasted just under eight hours before runners bagged up for the night, and now just 200 are left in the hunt for a WCOOP title, along with the $231,598 first-place money. A great turnout out destroyed the guarantee, creating a larger than anticipated field and when the last chance saloon had closed for business, it was none other than PokerStars ambassador Sam "SamSquid" Grafton leading the way with his hearty 4,651,481 chip stack.
Grafton took down some early pots and hovered around the top of the food chain throughout the day but a pair of ducks put him firmly in first towards the end of the night. Giorgios "Geokarak" Karakousis opened with ace-ten and Grafton called on the button with his deuces. A ten-high board hit Karakousis but a two was also present and Grafton wiped Karakousis' stack from existence to take the tournament lead with just hands left in the night.
"sokol47" is next on the leaderboard, sitting with 4,585,759, and is another player who treaded near the top for most of the day but couldn't quite take the lead. Rounding out the top five are "ich_b1n_du" (4,527,663), "tcavallin" (4,453,519), and Tomi "Jabracada" Hall (4,319,513).
Top 10 Counts of WCOOP-04-M: $530 NLHE [8-Max], $1.5M Guarantee
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam "SamSquid" Grafton | United Kingdom | 4,651,481 | 133 |
| 2 | "sokol47" | Russia | 4,585,759 | 131 |
| 3 | "ich_b1n_du" | United Kingdom | 4,527,663 | 129 |
| 4 | "tcavallin" | Canada | 4,453,519 | 127 |
| 5 | Tomi "Jabracada" Hall | United Kingdom | 4,319,513 | 123 |
| 6 | Luke "Bit2Easy" Reeves | United Kingdom | 4,265,271 | 122 |
| 7 | "ModzillaPL" | Canada | 4,084,688 | 117 |
| 8 | "Flying Smile" | Russia | 3,961,009 | 113 |
| 9 | "Mr. Havener" | Brazil | 3,575,007 | 102 |
| 10 | "ACNRULES" | Canada | 3,493,413 | 100 |
The tournament had a $1,500,000 guarantee set and the 3,213 player field blew past it, creating a $1,606,500 prize pool that had a total of 383 set to receive at least a min-cash worth $1,173 with the eventual champion taking home a monstrous $231,598 first-place prize. Once the late registration period ended, only 975 players were left and it was not long before the bubble popped and it was Grafton leading the way.
An onslaught of eliminations followed, dropping down to 200 before the first day was a wrap and many notables hit the rail, including Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot (368th - $1,173), Brunno "botteonpoker" Botteon (348th - $1,173), Marc "Rowniwn" Radgen (281st - $1,401), Benjamin "bencb789" Rolle (259th - $1,401), Christopher "lissi stinkt" Frank (229th - $1,673), and Ramon "RamonColillas" Colillas (215th - $1,673).
The remaining players will be returning tomorrow August 23 at 2:05 GMT for Day 2 where blinds will resume on Level 23 at 17,500/35,000 with a 4,500 ante. Blinds will remain 20-minutes in length and play will not end until just 16 are left to bag up for the third and final day where a champion will be crowned.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing all of the updates throughout this event, so stay tuned as the action unfolds.