The Gamble Pays Off: Nathan Gamble Leads After Day 1c; Moneymaker In Contention
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After three hard fought days of poker and for some a grand total of $6,300 in tournament buy-ins, the stage for Day 2 of WinStar World Casino's 2012 River Poker Series Main Event is finally set. Nathan Gamble was able to overcome the 577 player field to finish Day 1c as the chip leader with a stack of 522,000.
While Gamble is the one sitting atop the leaderboard for the final flight, many others were able to amass impressive stacks to take into Day 2. Peter Zhmutski is holding onto the second biggest stack with 462,000 while World Series of Poker Circuit regular Kurt Jewell rounds out the top three with 431,000.
Although they may not be the biggest stacks in the room, a handful of notable names were also able to best Day 1c's large field. Moving on to Day 2 are AP Phahurat (282,500), 2012 World Series of Poker Octo-Niner Robert Salaburu (256,000), Aaron Massey (192,000), and 2003 WSOP Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker (178,000).
For some Day 1c meant firing a third bullet, or buying into this event for $2,100 for a third time for a shot at the $2,500,000 guaranteed prize pool. Unfortunately that meant that some players felt the misfortune of busting out of this event three times over the course of this week. Ryan Lenaghan, Allen Kessler, Greg Raymer, AJ Jejelowo, Tim West, Vanessa Selbst, Larry Wright, David "ODB" Baker, and last year's champion Bronson Tucker all attempted to cash three times with no success.
Dwyte Pilgrim also fired his third bullet today only to come up short. Pilgrim's last moments in the tournament came when he saw a flop of 
in a heads up pot. Pilgrim fired out a bet of 2,000 and his opponent called. The turn was the 
and Pilgrim fired another shot of 2,000 and received a call for a second time. The 
hit the river and Pilgrim moved all in for his last 3,500 only to be snapped off by his opponent's 
for Broadway. Pilgrim shook his head and showed the table his 
for what ultimately was the second best hand.
Other players treated this event as a single buy in and showed up to take their one and only shot on Day 1c. The 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Scotty Nguyen showed up to the felt only to bust after a few levels of play. The 2006 WSOP Main Event runner-up Paul Wasicka also showed up to the felt today. Wasicka's day came to an end when he committed the last of his stack with on a board of 
. Wasicka was behind his opponent's 
but found hope when the paired him on the turn. Unfortunately for Waskica, the 
completed the board and he was sent home a victim of his opponent's rivered flush.
The bubble burst at the end of the night when Andrew Nguyen moved all in from early position for 78,000. Chris Moneymaker shoved all in over the top for 81,000 and the rest of the table folded.
Nguyen: 
Moneymaker: 
The board fell 
and Nguyen was forced to settle for the position of bubble boy. The rest of the room was jubilant, however, as Moneymaker was the one to make each of the remaining players money.
A grand total of 58 players from Day 1c will join the 83 players that advanced from Days 1a and 1b to compose the final 141. All of the players to show up for Day 2 are guaranteed money although the exact prize pool information has not yet been released.
Play will resume in the Global Event Center at the WinStar World Casino at 1200 CST on Sunday. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as we provide you with all of the latest updates from the felt!