The real World Series of Poker Main Event starts on Thursday, but the tune-up — Event #65: $1,000 Mini Main Event -- kicked off at 11 a.m. PT Wednesday, and the Day 1 session, which lasted over 14 hours, was action-packed.
Players flocked to the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino to compete for a bracelet. Within a few 30-minute levels, both the Pavilion and Brasilia rooms were packed full of Mini Main Event competitors. In total, 3,821 players registered for the freezeout, including a number of high-profile players such as Tony Dunst, Shaun Deeb, and Joe McKeehen, all of whom failed to advance to Day 2, which will take place on Thursday.
Martin Jacobson, the 2014 world champion, however, bagged 1,200,000 at the end of Day 1 and seeks to become a Main Event and Mini Main Event champion.
Other notable names advancing to Day 2 include Farid Jattin (2,240,000), Ismael Bojang (1,850,000), Michael Lech (1,040,000), and Marle Cordeiro (855,000).
Event #65 Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| RANK | PLAYER | Country | CHIP COUNT | Big Blinds |
|---|
| 1 | Thomas Boyden | United States | 3,325,000 | 83 |
| 2 | Giorgii Skhulukhiia | Russia | 3,150,000 | 79 |
| 3 | Christopher Morehouse | United States | 3,090,000 | 77 |
| 4 | Nicholas Verderamo | United States | 2,560,000 | 64 |
| 5 | Farid Jattin | United States | 2,240,000 | 56 |
| 6 | Jinkwang Do | United States | 2,150,000 | 54 |
| 7 | Georgios Sotiropoulos | Greece | 2,135,000 | 53 |
| 8 | Gareth Devereux | United Kingdom | 1,995,000 | 50 |
| 9 | John Longowa | United States | 1,995,000 | 50 |
| 10 | Nana Sanechika | Japan | 1,955,000 | 49 |
None of those players could match the stack of Thomas Boyden, who bagged 3,375,000 in chips to enter Day 2 as the chip leader. Giorgiy Skhulukhiya (3,150,000) also went home with more than 3 million.
When play concluded at just after 1 a.m. PT, 282 players remained and will come back on Thursday at noon. PokerNews will again be on hand all day live reporting the action. Play will resume on Level 23 with the blinds at 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante. The tournament is scheduled to play down to the final five with the final table set for Friday.
runout secured him the double elimination.
