The March to the National Championship Final Table Beings Today
Welcome back to the World Series of Poker Southern Comfort 100 Proof National Championship! Yesterday 126 players — a combination of 62 at-large bids, 38 Circuit Main Event winners and Casino Champions and 26 WSOP POY buy-ins — took to the felt at Harrah’s New Orleans to compete for the first-ever WSOP bracelet to be awarded on American soil outside of Las Vegas. Today, the surviving 62 players, as well as any late entries (i.e. Jason Mercier), will return to play down to the final table, which will be filmed by ESPN and broadcast on Tuesday, July 30.
The man best positioned to make the final table is Harrah’s Rincon Casino Champion Valentin Vornicu, who bagged up 203,200 and finished as the Day 1 chip leader, which is quite a bit ahead of the next closest competitor, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Brock Parker (133,900).
Others who enter Day 2 with big stacks are The Lodge Casino Champion Chris Parsons (133,000), at-large qualifier Jarod Ludemann (128,100), “Professional Best Friend” Jeff Gross (117,100), National Points leader Ari Engel (113,800) and October Niner Jeremy Ausmus (109,200).
In addition, there are plenty of other story lines to keep an eye on. In fact, pretty much everyone in the field has a story to tell thanks to the unique way they qualified for one of the year’s most prestigious tournaments. Rest assured, we’ll be following as many of them as we can as the day progresses.
Action is set to kick off at noon CST. Registration closes at the start of play, which means we’ll have final numbers, including the total field size and prize pool, relatively quickly. Be sure to check back then for all the latest and greatest from the Southern Comfort 100 Proof National Championship!