2015 Bracelet Winner William Kakon Leads Day 1a Main Event Field
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The first of three starting flights for the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event drew 741 entries at the Rio All-Suite Las Vegas Hotel and Casino Sunday. The number was down slightly from the 771 entries on Day 1a of the 2014 WSOP Main Event, but by all accounts it keeps the 6,683 total number of entries from last year well within reach.
With 2014 WSOP Main Event champ Martin Jacobson reportedly feeling a little under the weather, 1983 WSOP Main Event sixth-place finisher and Irish poker legend Donnacha O'Dea was asked to make the call to shuffle up and deal as poker's big dance kicked off.
A ton of recognizable names turned up to take a shot at the World Championship, including 2014 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher, Jorryt van Hoof, who found himself among the leaders as the day drew near to a close. Van Hoof fell from the top of the counts before the day ended, but still bagged big.
2010 WSOP Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel also took a top five stack into the late stages and will also return with a decent stack on Day 2a. In the early part of the day, 2009 WSOP Main Event eighth-place finisher Kevin Schaffel was up near the top of the counts, and still managed to bag a healthy stack as well.
Players like Fabian Quoss, Mike Matusow, David Sands, Dario Sammartino, Abe Mosseri, Brandon Steven also spent the day climbing the leaderboard and remain in contention.
Among those to take a swing and miss on Day 1a were players including Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Chris Klodnicki, Andrew Lichtenberger and John Hennigan, who all busted before play wrapped up.
By the time five two-hour levels of play were through, just 480 players remained with 2015 WSOP Event #11: $1,500 Limit Hold'em bracelet winner William Kakon holding the chip lead on 153,325. Kakon has booked four cashes at the 2015 WSOP so far, worth close to $240,000.
The 2015 WSOP Main Event will continue with Day 1b beginning at 12 p.m. local time Monday. The survivors from Day 1a will be back to play Day 2a at 12 p.m. local time Wednesday July 8.