2011-12 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Harrah's New Orleans

Main Event
Day: 1
Event Info

2011-12 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Harrah's New Orleans

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a5
Prize
$171,400
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,600
Prize Pool
$998,770
Entries
694
Level Info
Level
32
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000

Kaplan Leads as Approximately 338 Players Advance to Day 2

Level 9 : 400/800, 100 ante
Jay Kaplan
Jay Kaplan

The final stop of the 2011/2012 World Series of Poker Circuit kicked off on Friday at Harrah’s New Orleans with Day 1 of the $1,600 Main Event. The field was massive as players flocked to the Big Easy for their last shot at points toward this year’s National Championship. Combined, Days 1a and 1b brought in an impressive 640 entrants, which was 260 players more than last year’s field of 380.

Day 1a started at Noon with 434 runners, including all-time ring winner Mark “Pegasus” Smith and WSOP Circuit regular Seneca Easley. Each of these men met their demise early on, but both opted to use their re-entry option right away. It proved a wise decision for Smith, who survived to Day 2, but not Easley, who was eliminated for a second time.

Throughout the day, other players hit the rail including Becky Makar, Kenny Milam, John Land, David Clark, A.J. Jejelowo and Huy Nguyen, just to name a few; meanwhile, others like Aaron Massey, John Dolan, Matthew Chang, Tripp Kirk, Sam Barnhart, Darvin Moon, Kurt Jewell, Ryan Tepen and Matthew Hankins managed to finish among the 210 players who survived Day 1a.

While it’s good to survive Day 1a, it’s even better to thrive as chip leader Jay “queen10off” Kaplan found out when he bagged up a healthy 148,400. Other big stacks include Johnny Landreth (125,700), Bobby Toye (124,800), Shane Matthews (116,000) and Terry Kim (115,400).

On Day 1b, many of the eliminated players, including all of those listed above, returned for another shot at glory. They were joined by some new players including Kai Landry, Gene Dudek, Beverly Chaney and Will “Monkey” Souther, creating a Day 1b field of 230 players. The re-entry proved a wise choice for half those mentioned above as Land, Milam and Nguyen managed to make Day 2 with their second bullet. Likewise, all of the aforementioned Day 1b newbies made it through.

Here’s a look at some of the more notable stacks among the approximately 338 players who advanced to Day 2:

Various Day 1 Chip Counts*

PlayerCount
Jay “queen10off” Kaplan148,400
Johnny Landreth125,700
Bobby Toye124,800
Shane Matthews116,000
Terry Kim115,400
Jonathan Job114,600
Chris Adams112,000
Conrad Monica111,800
“Cowboy” John Land110,000
James Arruebarrena101,300

Registration is open until the start of Day 2, which kicks off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, so the final number of players, prize pool and first-place prize won’t be known until then. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be providing coverage from the Harrah’s New Orleans, so be sure to follow all the action in our live blog.

Tags: Jay Kaplan