WPT Hard Rock goes head-to-head with WSOPC Cherokee

Posted by Steve Ruddock on Apr 13, 2013 Posted in Poker News | No Comments »

wpt logoFor tournament poker players there were quite a few options this week, considering the World Series of Poker APAC tournament series is in full swing, not to mention two major poker tournaments taking place stateside in the form of the WSOPC Cherokee and the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown — not to mention the great poker offers that can be found online. Both events drew very strong crowds considering the saturation of poker tournaments right now, with the WPT Hard Rock pulling in 542 players over its two starting flights, while the inaugural WSOPC Cherokee in North Carolina saw 354 players registering on Day 1a alone.

WSOPC Cherokee

As mentioned above, this is the first stop by the WSOPC at their Harrah’s owned property in North Carolina –in fact it’s the first major tournament series of any kind in the Tar Heel State– and the tournament series has been setting statewide records since the opening event.

As per usual, the WSOPC Main Event at the Harrah’s Cherokee casino featured a $1,500 buy-in, and even with the $10k WSOP APAC Main Event and the $5k WPT Hard Rock running, quite a few of poker’s big names opted to play the WSOPC Cherokee Main Event, including WSOPC regular Kyle Cartwright, Claudia Crawford, and Greg Raymer, all of whom finished the day among the leaders. Somewhat out of character, WSOPC regular Allen Kessler opted to play at the WPT tournament in Florida. Here is a look at the Top 10 chip counts from Day 1a of the tournament:

1. David Nicholson — 260,400

2. Matthew Hankins — 254,200

3. Kyle Cartwright — 221,000

4. Jeremiah Fitzpatrick — 218,600

5. Claudia Crawford — 215,000

6. Jerry Barlow — 201,800

7. Michael Cook — 161,600

8. Matthew Emmel — 160,800

9. Phong Huynh — 160,500

10. Greg Jacobson — 154,900

Day 1b should see even more pros take their seats, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the final attendance clear 750 players.

WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown

The WPT stop at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida is becoming one of the most popular on the tour, evidenced by the over 500 player turnout for the event this year –last year’s attendance number was 290, but that was for a $10,000 buy-in event. Of the 542 entrants, 225 survived their Day 1 flight including Day 1b chip-leader Shaun Deeb, 2013 POY candidate Paul Volpe, Faraz Jaka, Erick Lindgren, Jonathan Little, Carlos Mortensen, Vanessa Selbst, Scotty Nguyen, and Kathy Liebert.

Here is a quick look at the chip-leaders from Day 1a and Day 1b of the tournament:

Day 1a

1. Donald Nicholson – 355,100

2. Danny Shiff – 229,200

3. Ben Tarzia – 213,100

4. John McEwen – 184,600

5. Faraz Jaka – 181,900

6. Jerry Wong – 180,000

7. Danny Suied – 140,000

8. Kevin Eyster – 137,500

9. Richard Leger – 134,500

10. Andy Hwang – 124,700

Day 1b

1. Shaun Deeb – 235,400

2. David Diaz – 191,400

3. Matthew Mendez – 185,700

4. Gil Morgensztern – 173,400

5. Ben Hamnett – 171,000

6. Robert Alberro – 170,400

7. Micah Smith – 169,100

8. Corey Burbick – 166,300

9. Paul Volpe – 161,300

10. Mark Sandness – 156,100

*Resources: www.worldpokertour.com, www.wsop.com, www.en.wikipedia.org

 



Leave a Reply

High Stakes News

Promotional News

Introducing the New and Improved Bad Beat Jackpot 2.0
Prepare for an exhilarating upgrade to our renowned Bad Beat Jackpot, …
Read more

Promo Code TTOPS100 BetOnline.ag Offers 100% Poker Bonus Match and FreeRoll Tournament
BetOnline.ag, a popular online gaming site, has unveiled a new promoti …
Read more

10 reasons to play Poker at BetOnline in 2019
2019 seems to be the year poker players search for a new poker site to …
Read more

UK And EU Poker Players Should Check Out The New One Time Poker Website
Most poker players in the European Union and United Kingdom may not be …
Read more