Marko Pantelic Bags Big After Day 1 of 2019 Wynn Winter Classic
The inaugural Wynn Winter Classic $5,300 buy-in Championship Event – the biggest buy-in tournament the venue has held in over five years – had no problem passing its $1.5 million guarantee as 435 entrants competed on Day 1 of the tournament. With late registration and re-entries open until the stat of Level 13 on Day 2 (approx. 2:10 p.m. on Thursday), that number is sure to go up even more.
After 10 levels of play, approximately 195 players survived. Among the big stacks were Marko Pantelic (357,000), Alex Rocha (330,000), Patrick Serda (279,000), Michael Dyer (254,000), and David “The Dragon” Pham (233,000).
Others to make it through were HPT Season XV POY Nick Pupillo (206,500), bracelet winner Ryan Laplante (192,500), Matt Glantz (168,000), WPT Venetian champ Ben Palmer (149,000), 888poker Ambassador Daria Feshchenko (101,000), and Maria Ho (112,000).
Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to bag. Among those to fire and fall on Day 1 were Will “The Thrill” Failla, Eric Baldwin Dutch Boyd, 2019 WSOP Main Event fourth-place finisher Garry Gates, and MSPT Season 10 Player of the Year Mike Shin.
Day 2 of the tournament will kick off at noon local time on Thursday. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to capture all the action, so be sure to join us then.