Kenny Hsiung Leads Final 160 Players; 2017 Runner-Up Venkata Tayi Not Far Behind
Play has concluded on Day 1 of Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold'em, and after 15 levels it's World Series of Poker bracelet winner Kenny Hsiung who leads the way into Day 2.
Hsiung, who won his bracelet in a $3,000 version of this event in 2012, finished the night with 248,500 chips. Right behind him is a player who's no stranger to going deep in this event. Venkata Tayi was runner-up in 2017 and got off to a great start this time, bagging up 238,000.
Event #12: $1,500 Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenny Hsiung | United States | 248,500 |
| 2 | Venkata Tayi | United States | 238,000 |
| 3 | Jesse Lonis | United States | 208,000 |
| 4 | David Gee | United States | 188,000 |
| 5 | Frank Yakubson | United States | 173,000 |
| 6 | Jon Kyte | Norway | 168,500 |
| 7 | Wendy Freedman | United States | 164,000 |
| 8 | Brian Nichols | United States | 163,000 |
| 9 | Thanh Cao | United States | 158,000 |
| 10 | Tom Schneider | United States | 157,500 |
Jesse Lonis (208,000), former Player of the Year Robert Campbell (100,500), WSOP veteran Kevin Song (70,500), and Brandon Shack-Harris (48,500) also survived the day. Defending champion Yuval Bronshtein made it through Day 1 but will come back tomorrow on a short stack of 42,500.
Not everyone was fortunate to survive the day. Over the course of 10 hours of play, Daniel Negreanu, Shaun Deeb, Adam Friedman, and Eli Elezra all hit the rail. Just 160 players out of the starting field of 522 survived with their dreams of winning the bracelet still alive.
Play will resume tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. local time inside the Bally's Event Center. The remaining players will play ten hour-long levels on their way toward the money and the final table. Blinds will pick up on Level 16 at 2,000-4,000, with 4,000-8,000 limits.
The PokerNews team will be there providing all the live updates and chip counts as the field continues to get whittled down on Day 2.