WSOP #1 : Jodie Sanders chipleader à 13 left du WSOP réservé aux employés de casinos
Day 1 of the World Series of Poker kicked off strong, bringing out a total of 566 casino employees to play in Event #1: $565 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em. The action went quick as the field was cut down to just 13 players by the end of Day 1. Leading the way at the end of play was Jodie Sanders with 509,000 chips. Sanders has already improved on his best finish from this event from 2009 where he finished 28th for $2,045. Sanders is a table games dealer at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Southern California and said this is the one tournament that he makes sure to come and play every year.
The field today contained many notable players such as Simkha Blank, Molly Mossey, Joshua Clanton, Chad Holloway, Kevin Mathers, Mike Mejarus, Jesse Capps, and last year's champion Bryan Hollis, none of whom cashed. Holloway lasted for several levels and eventually ended up at a table with several of the players who also made the final table the year he won this event, in 2013, Allan Kwong and Daniel Ellery. In his final hand, Holloway flopped trips holding king-deuce, while his opponent flopped a full house with pocket sevens. Holloway did not make quads and he'll have to wait another year to make another deep run in this event.
The bubble for the tournament burst just after the dinner break as only 89 players survived to make it there. The unfortunate bubble was chopped by two players who both busted on the same hand, Ryan Side and Jason Bardol. Side busted to John Bednarczyk when he got it in with two pair against a flush draw and Bednarczyk went runner-runner to make a better two pair. Bardol busted to Jason Pepper when he shoved ace-king into pocket kings and didn't improve.
Several notables did make it into the money though, such as World Series of Poker Media Coordinator Issac Hanson (38th for $1,227), Ty Stewart the World Series of Poker Executive Director (52nd for $1,085), Johnny Gagelonia (33rd for $1,418) and bracelet winner Dieter Dechant who finished (17th for $2,018). Dechant was one of the last to fall tonight when he shoved all in on the turn holding top pair against Sanders who had turned two pair. That big pot sent Sanders up the leaderboard while Dechant was sent to the rail.
The remaining 13 players will return at 12 p.m. to play down to a winner. Players are currently guaranteed a payout of at least $2,484. All of those who make it to the final table are guaranteed a payout of at least $3,998 while the eventual winner of the event will walk away with $61,909 and a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Among those returning for Day 2 along with Sanders are Jason Pepper (168,000), Skyler Yeaton (317,000), Jodan Hufty (399,000), and Won Kim (319,000). As a note, all levels will be 60-minute levels on Day 2 as opposed to the 30-minute levels that players had on Day 1.
which gave Romain two pair, pairing his queen, but it was no good as Hufty had a better two pair with his overpair. Hufty scooped the pot and that moved him to nearly 400,000 while Lotti hit the rail in 14th place, collecting $2,484.
. The 
on the turn paired the board and the 
and that was all she wrote for Bednarczyk who hit the rail in 16th place collecting $2,018 for his efforts in Event #1.
, Sanders checked again. Dechant moved all in and Sanders called. 
which put Corpuz in a deep hole. He couldn't climb out on the 
turn or the 
river and was eliminated in 19th place, bringing the final 18 players down to the last two tables.
