Heimiller Leads Advancing 33 Players from Day 1b; Madsen and Esfandiari Survive
The 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific continued Friday afternoon with the Day 1b flight from Event #1 $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Accumulator. The flight attracted 227 players – up from Day 1a’s 197 – but after eight one-hour levels of play just 33 remained with Dan Heimiller and his stack of 50,700 leading the way.
Heimiller late registered the event, and he took a slow-and-steady approach to the tournament before catching a heater in the last level of the night. In one hand, he opened for 1,100 from the button and then called when Australian Bruno Portaro three-bet to 3,400 from the big blind. Both players checked the 
flop, and then Portaro check-called a bet of 4,000 on the 
turn. When the 
completed the board on the river, meaning a queen would make Broadway, Portaro led out for 5,500 and Heimiller shifted in his chair.
The WSOP bracelet winner began talking to himself, shrugged, and then dropped in a call. A deflated Portaro tabled the 
, and Heimiller proudly rolled over the 
for the win.
The second starting flight saw many returning players, many of who were destined to experience elimination déjà vu. Among those who tried and failed on both Day 1a and 1b were 13-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth; 2013 WSOP Main Event champ Ryan Riess; Australia’s own Jackie Glazier; reigning Aussie Millions champ Ami Barer; “Lady Maverick” Vanessa Rousso; and 2010 WSOP champ Jonathan Duhamel.
Likewise, the 2014 WSOP Player of Player race changed little as the three leaders — Daniel Negreanu, Brandon Shack-Harris, and George Danzer – all fell on Day 1b. However, while Negreanu and Shack-Harris were playing for the first time, Danzer had already made it through to Day 2 by bagging a stack of 24,625 on Day 1a. All three players were back in action on Day 1c though, so who knows how things will pan out.
While dozens fell, plenty of notables managed to bag on Day 1b including Piyush Gupta (47,500), David Bowen (45,325), Jeff Madsen (35,800), Giacomo Fundaro (23,650), Ismael Bojang (21,525), and Antonio Esfandiari (13,850).
The Day 1b survivors will join those from the other two starting flights on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. local time for Day 2 action. During that time the players will make the money as they look to play down to the final table of nine. Of course PokerNews will be providing updates the entire way, so be sure to check back then. In the meantime, be sure to follow our coverage from the Day 1c flight.