Atchison Leads After Day 1a of the RGPS Horseshoe Council Bluffs Main Event
The final hand of Flight A in the RGPS Horseshoe Council Bluffs has been played and the bags have come out. The unofficial numbers show that 23 players have advanced out of 112 entries. Eric Atchison emerged as the overwhelming chip leader at the start of Level 12 and held onto it through the end of the night.
We didn't manage to catch Atchison in a hand all day, so we asked him how he came to amass such a large stack. Atchison was reticent to divulge any of his strategies but said that there wasn't any single hand that catapulted his stack into the stratosphere. He credits a series of small to moderate pots to take the chip lead.
"I'll tell you one hand, though," he offered, "It's probably my favorite hand from today."
As he told it, he held 
offsuit in the big blind. A player in the cutoff limped, the small blind completed, and Atchison checked his option. The flop came 
.
The small blind checked and Atchison bet 1,000. The cutoff called and the small blind folded. The 
hit the turn and Atchison continued for 2,000. His opponent in the cutoff raised to 7,000 and Atchison called.
The river put a third club on the board with the 
.
"I didn't have a club," Atchison clarified. "I checked and he went all-in. I called and he mucked."
Others to bag big stacks were Mark Lafata (180,500), Jonathan Lawson (155,500), Dustin Lindbald (148,500), and Kris Burchfield (144,000), who round out the top five. Joining them were defending champ Nick Burris (129,000), Henry Gingerich (92,000), Travis Speck (73,500), and Dan Hamm (24,000).
Among those to fall on Day 1a were Papa Karn, Ray Henson, Saraf Zeluf, Kevin Berthelsen, Andy Van Blair, Ryan Phan, and Jeff Bryan. All of those players will have the chance to fire again if they so choose.
Day 1b is scheduled to begin at noon local time on Saturday, with Day 1c to follow at 7 p.m. PokerNews will be on site to bring you updates from both flights so be sure to join us then.