Karkenny, Kade Neck and Neck as 43 Advance From Day 1b of the $440 Mini Main Event at Run It Up Reno IX
264 entrants hit the felt here at Peppermill Reno, pushing the total number of entrants for the two starting flights to 409, easily surpassing the $100,000 Guarantee. After almost fifteen levels of play, just 43 players survived for Day 2 action, with Andrew Karkenny and his 389,000 chips sitting just a few thousand in front of Canadian Twitch streamer and poker pro Vanessa Kade and her 383,000. Both players sit well behind Day 1a chip leader Lucas Hill and his 521,000 chip stack.
Karkenny found his path to a monster stack after cracking aces with king-jack, while Kade was the beneficiary of a huge pot in Level 14, which saw Kade put Zach McKirahan to the test after a four-flush board came out on the felt. A clock was called and rendered McKirahan's hand dead after a countdown, and Kade leapt to 330,000 in chips, which she tacked a few thousand more on top of to end the evening.
Others able to navigate their way to Day 2 include DJ Fenton (303,000), Paul "OTWPaul" Hendee (232,000), Brian "The Golden Blazer" Frenzel (181,000), Josh Prager (171,000), and four-time WSOP bracelet winner Loren Klein (145,000).
Not everyone was able to make it through the field and take on Day 2. Some of those unfortunate enough to hit the rail include Thirst Lounge members Ebony Kenney, Jon Pardy, and Kasey Lyn Mills, Jesse Sylvia, Pam Swift, Matt Stout, and Run It Up founder Jason Somerville.
Day 2 will kick off tomorrow at Noon local time, with players coming back to play the last 6:49 of Level 15 (2,000/4,000/4,000). After that, levels will be forty minutes in length until heads-up play begins, at which point levels will reduce down to twenty minutes in length. All players that advance to Day 2 are in the money, and prize pool information will be posted in the morning, along with a full seat draw.
PokerNews will be here for Day 2 action, and tomorrow's action will feature a Live Stream on Twitch. You can follow the action when it goes live at 5 p.m. here. We'll be updating the final table along with the stream, but you'll still be able to catch live updates straight from the tournament floor until the final table is reached, so be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews tomorrow as we crown a champion of the $440 Mini Main Event!