Nikita Luther Storms Through Day 1 of Bracelet Winners Event
The opening day of the $1,500 Bracelet Winners Only No-Limit Hold'em Event drew a field of 143 players. With the tournament dedicated to those who have already been decorated at the World Series of Poker, the lineup was guaranteed to feature some of the sharpest players across decades and game varieties.
Among those who entered the contest were about two dozen female players, and one of them took the spotlight as Nikita Luther dominated the first day, presenting herself with a fiercely aggressive approach. Luther finished the day with an outstanding 538,500, leading the 51 survivors into the next stage.
Luther wasn't scared to put her chips in the middle. She was seen jamming on her opponents left and right, and it looked to be a race between her, Michael Gagliano (354,000) and Yuval Bronshtein (277,000) for the pole position.
But Luther seized the outright lead when she prevailed in a gigantic preflop confrontation which saw her six-bet shove with kings and hold against ace-king. Luther was able to add a further 60 big blinds to her stack thereafter, mainly thanks to dragging a hefty pot in a hand against Scott Bohlman.
Gagliano arrived early and he quickly extended his stack, staying near the top of the chip counts for the rest of the day. Chris Ferguson opted for a different strategy, hopping into the tournament only for the final stretch of today's play. Still, Ferguson was able to spin his stack up to 224,500.
Along with Ferguson, another former Main Event champion thrived on Day 1; Joe Cada, who had a tough start to the tournament, but it's the strong finish that counts. Cada proved that he's still one of the best no-limit players in the world. He vaulted to 195,000, mostly thanks to a successful bluff-catch with ace-high in an inflated pot against Perry Friedman.
Day 2 starts on Thursday, July 11, at 2 p.m. local time and the late registration remains open until then. It is likely that the field will be increased by some last-minute entrants, with the 50,000-starting stack worth 20 big blinds as the play resumes at 1,000/2,500/2,500.
PokerNews will be again on the ground to provide live updates from the encounters of the decorated field, so come back then for the coverage.