Arri Stone Leads After Day 1a of $200,000 Guaranteed Main Event
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It was a beautiful day in Tampa, Florida on Friday but that didn't stop poker players from showing up at The Silks Poker Room at Tampa Downs for the 2014 PPC North America Championship. A total of 111 entrants took part in the tournament and they would play until only 17 remained.
It was Arri Stone who would emerge on top of the chip counts at the end of the day with 250,100 in chips. Stone took fifth place in the $125 Bounty NLHE tournament on Tuesday and is looking to better that finish here on Sunday. He's followed closely by Tom Clements who finished the day with 228,600 in chips. Rounding out the top three is Finnish poker player Pasi Kakkonen with 201,500 in chips. Kakkonen is coming fresh off a win on Monday in the $120 NLHE tournament for $1,995.
Others surviving to return on Sunday included Barbara Cardin (112,000), Ronald Widman (129,200), Michael Baize (193,900), Bill Burdick (129,700), Richard Hope (139,900), Todd Whitaker (136,100), and Eddie Kofler (94,000). Kofler is a former minor league pitcher in the Devil Rays farm system that won the Main Event here in 2013 for $33,952.
Not everyone was as fortunate as that group. The current PPC Player of the Year leader, Ralph Marzan, would get off to a good start and be over 100,000 in chips early in the evening but he would be eliminated before play concluded. Others that failed to bag chips included Paul Stanechewski, Tonia Williams, Joe Mole, John Pappas, and Jason Sallman.
This concludes our coverage of Day 1a. Make sure to follow along with PokerNews over the next three days as we will provide coverage until a winner is crowned.