Scott Hall Bags Day 1b Lead in St. Charles Main Event; Takes Overall Chip Lead into Day 2
The second flight of the World Series of Poker Circuit $1,700 Main Event at Ameristar St. Charles came to an end on Saturday night after 15 levels of play. A total of 258 registration slips were sold and when the last-chance saloon had closed for business only 42 remained, bringing the total number of Day 2 births to 67.
Leading the Day 1b pack is Scott Hall, who bagged 423,000 after an up-and-down day of play. Hall started the day off slowly and grinded his average-sized stack out until the final stages of the day when he catapulted to the top. The Arizona native will look to add another deep run this series after finishing ninth in the Choctaw Main Event for $25,672.
Dino Galic is hot on the tail of the leader as he ended the day with 399,000. A few other stacks to round out the top five from Day 1b include Tanner Pray (345,000), Paul Strohm (338,000), and Frank Covich (316,000).
Day 1b started much quicker than the first starting flight, having more to begin the day than the first flight had total. Day 1a had 158 slips sold with only 25 securing their spot on Day 2. The second starting flight escalated quickly and at the end of registration, there were 258 entries. Only 42 made it through Day 1b, bringing the total number of players to make 67 for Day 2.
A total of 414 entries were accumulated between the two flights, gathering a prize pool of $627,210, surpassing the half a million guarantee with ease. The tournament will see 63 players finding a payday for at least a min-cash of $2,532 with the eventual winner taking down the lions share of the money for $130,667.
Some notables to secure a Day 2 birth include Mike Shin (304,000), Jerod Smith (302,000), Brett Apter (289,000), Michael Esquivel (205,000), William Byrnes (172,000), and Martin Ryan (144,000).
Other notables that took a shot but failed to make it are Maurice Hawkins, Vincent Moscati, Aaron Massey, Robert Hankins, Rober Keeling, and Cory Borget.
Day 2 will begin at noon on Sunday with action picking up in level 16 level as 40:50 remains with blinds being 2,000/4,000/4,000. The levels will be 60 minutes in length with 10 levels on the schedule for tomorrow or until the final table has been reached. There will be a 15-minute break after every two levels of play and a 75-minute dinner break after level 22. The remaining players will return for Day 3 and play down until a champion is crowned.
PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing the live updates throughout the event, so stay tuned as all of the action unfolds!