Mitchell Halverson Bags Chip Lead in Day 1b of Wynn Millions Championship
Another starting flight of the $3,500 Wynn Millions Championship in Las Vegas wrapped up after ten levels of play with Mitchell Halverson leading the 116 remaining players with a stack of 629,000.
Day 1b of the Wynn Millions Championship drew 403 runners, nearly double the 236 players who bought into the previous starting flight. Players who bagged on Day 1b include Maria Ho, Cherish Andrews, Farah Galfond, Mike Holtz, Blake Bohn, Shannon Shorr, Adam Hendrix, Eric Baldwin, inaugural Wynn Millions champion Andrew Moreno and last year's runner-up Andrew Esposito.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| RANK | NAME | COUNTRY | CHIP COUNT | BIG BLINDS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mitchell Halverson | United States | 629,000 | 252 | |
| 2 | Jared Hemingway | United States | 474,500 | 190 | |
| 3 | Spencer Champlin | United States | 414,500 | 166 | |
| 4 | Jake Ripnick | United States | 373,500 | 149 | |
| 5 | John Khoury | United States | 297,000 | 119 | |
| 6 | Yevgeniy Minakrin | United States | 288,000 | 115 | |
| 7 | Chris Frank | United States | 274,000 | 110 | |
| 8 | Hal Rotholz | United States | 250,500 | 100 | |
| 9 | Shannon Shorr | United States | 243,000 | 97 | |
| 10 | Adam Hendrix | United States | 242,000 | 97 |
Day 1b Action
Just like on Day 1a, there were no shortage of notable names as action kicked off at noon inside Wynn Las Vegas. That included 2023 WSOP Main Event final tablist Adam Walton, who had busted in brutal fashion the previous flight but managed to ran up a stack on the second starting flight.
Another player who failed to bag Day 1a but found success on Day 1b was inaugural Wynn Millions champion Andrew Moreno, who got a boost late in the evening when he doubled through Wynn daily dominator Jeremy Becker.
PokerNews spent an orbit with Becker, and it happened to be an active one filled with flat calls, three-bets, and three-street call downs. Unfortunately, Becker's Day 1b reign reached an end as he unsuccessfully attempted to bluff Julien Martini before hitting the rail shortly after.
Fittingly enough for International Women's Day, there were several notable women in the Day 1b field, including Women in Poker Hall of Famer Maria Ho, soap opera star Farah Galfond, poker coach and author Lexy Gavin-Mather and 2022 GPI Female Player of the Year Cherish Andrews, who less than 24 hours earlier was holding up a trophy she won in the $2,200 NLH 6-Max event.
Those who bagged on Day 1b will join the Day 1a survivors that include Day 1a chip leader Fikret Kovac and the likes of Steven Jones, Landon Tice, Alex Foxen, Kristen Foxen, John Riordan and David "ODB" Baker.
Before that happens, there is still one more starting flight left to play out with Day 1c, which will get underway on Saturday, March 9 at noon local time.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on-site at Wynn Las Vegas tomorrow for continued coverage of the Wynn Millions Championship.