Dan Smith Rides Heater En Route to Chip Lead on Day 1 of Event #12: $50,000 High Roller
It was an action-packed opening day in Event #12: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em that saw a total of 85 entries over the course of ten levels. By the end of the night, only 23 players bagged chips with Dan Smith riding a wave of momentum and leading the way.
Smith is coming off his first World Series of Poker bracelet just two days ago in the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship. Although it took two bullets today, Smith managed to spin up a stack of 2,035,000 chips heading into Day 2 of another high roller tournament.
It was an emotional victory for Smith who finally broke through at the WSOP for the first time in his career. Smith is a regular on the high-stakes scene, accumulating over $38 million in career earnings. There is still plenty of work for the newly crowned champion who will have another two days of hard work ahead of him if he wishes to add a second bracelet to his illustrious resume.
Some other notables to bag healthy stacks heading into Day 2 include Michael Rocco (1,990,000), David Peters (1,910,000), and Dario Sammartino (1,890,000). There are currently 10 bracelet winners still in the hunt looking to add to their collection while 13 others will be looking for their first.
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Dan Smith | United States | 2,035,000 |
| 2nd | Michael Rocco | United States | 1,990,000 |
| 3rd | David Peters | United States | 1,910,000 |
| 4th | Dario Sammartino | Italy | 1,890,000 |
| 5th | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | 1,780,000 |
| 6th | Chance Kornuth | United States | 1,545,000 |
| 7th | Chris Hunichen | United States | 1,400,000 |
| 8th | Andrew Lichtenberger | United States | 1,200,000 |
| 9th | Erik Seidel | United States | 1,200,000 |
| 10th | Brekstyn Schutten | 1,190,000 |
Day 1 Action
There were just 16 players who took to the felt for the start of play but that number continued to grow through the opening couple of levels. Bill Klein was the first to hit the rail in the first level but with a single re-entry option, he quickly hopped back in. Unfortunately for Klein, along with others like Daniel Negreanu, Sam Grafton, Nick Petrangelo, and Jason Koon all burned through both of their bullets on Day 1.
Chris Hunichen got off to an early lead and traded the chip lead with Shannon Shorr as they both battled to reach the seven-figure mark first. Both players coasted to the finish of Day 1, bagging up over 1,000,000 chips each.
As the final break of the day approached, it seemed to be race to who could get their chips in the middle the fastest. There were plenty of eliminations and re-entries as the stacks got shallower. Adrian Mateos and Alex Foxen were among those who lasted merely an orbit on their second bullet.
Late registration will remain open until the start of Day 2 for any of those wishing to re-enter or buy in for the first time. Any new entries will receive a starting stack of 300,000 chips, good enough for roughly 12 big blinds. The action will resume at 1:00 p.m. local time on Day 2 and continue until just five players are left for the final day of the tournament.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the tournament floor to bring you all of the latest updates en route to the final table.