November 04 2012, Josh Cahlik

Day 1b of the 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit River Rock Main Event is officially in the books. A total of 352 players came out to participate in Day 1b, which makes for a grand total of 646 entrants thus far. By the end of play, 87 runners were left to advance into Day 2. Leading the way of not only Day 1b, but also the entire field, was Jingjing Liu who is sitting on a stack of 266,000 in chips.

Liu was one of several players in contention for the chip lead going into the final level of play and she officially sealed the deal thanks to one key hand at the end of the night. Action folded around to a late-position short-stacked player who moved all in holding for his last 9,000 or so. Play then folded to the small blind, who moved 40,000 all-in over the top with pocket eights. Liu woke up with the in the big blind and called. Liu’s kings were able to hold, and she scored a double knockout that boosted her stack to the 266,000 that she finished the day with.

Also among the chip leaders making it to Day 2 was two-time WSOP bracelet winner Greg Mueller. Mueller took his seat in the tournament towards the end of the registration period, and it was essentially nothing but upward trending from that point on. We caught Mueller in a hand where he three-bet to 3,500 from the cutoff seat after the player in the hijack raised. The raise was called, and both players checked the flop. Fourth street brought the , which prompted a bet of 4,000 from Mueller’s opponent. Mueller took some time before he called to see the complete the board. Mueller’s opponent moved 8,000 into the center, and Mueller wasted no time sticking with his read and calling. The player in the cutoff showed , but was ultimately behind Mueller’s slightly-better pocket pair with . Mueller ended up finishing the night with 180,300 in chips.

Other notable names that will be returning for Day 2 out of the Day b flight include Matt Levine (179,700), Joel Kaake (134,000), Sandra Wong (126,700) and Marc Verhiel (87,000).

While an impressive 87 players survived the day, others were not as fortunate. Among those who hit the rail include David “Doc” Sands, Gavin Smith, Charlie Coultas, Shawn Buchanan, Terrence Chan and Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome. A handful of even more unfortunate souls saw elimination for the second time so far in this tournament. Scott Clements, Matt Affleck, Robert Cheung, Laurence Grondin, Sean Giesbrecht and Jason Koon all fired a second bullet for Day 1b and came up shorthanded.

The combined fields from Day 1a and Day 1b will see 146 total players return on Monday along with those who move on from Day 1c. The Tournament staff predicts that Day 1c will see the largest turnout of the starting flights. Play will begin in the River Rock Theatre at 12:00 PM PDT Sunday, so make sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all of the coverage.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

Follow Josh Cahlik on

No comments yet. Be the first to post one!

October 07 2012, Josh Cahlik

Both starting fields of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Sanremo combined on Sunday to battle on the felt for six levels. Of the 797 who entered the “5,300 buy-in main event, only 430 returned for Day 2. At the end of the day, Inge Forsmo emerged as the leader of the remaining 162 players, with a stack of 606,100.

Forsmo gained a big chunk of his stack on a hand where the board read . Forsmo bet 62,000 from middle position and Nikoay Tyurin flat called. Oleg Larichev moved all in for less and the hit the river. Forsmo announced that he was all in and Tyurin called off his tournament life with . Forsmo held for a set of sixes and was able to score a double knockout. For the rest of the night, his chip stack trended upward.

There are many players on Forsmo’s heels. Other players who will carry big stacks into Day 3 are Charly Maracchione (505,800), Jason Tompkins (500,000), Lorenzo Sabato (387,900), Matt Salsberg (338,700), and Yevgeniy Timoshenko (336,300).

Others may not be the biggest stacks in the room, but they are certainly notable faces and will be returning to compete on Day 3. Some of those returning for the third day of play are David Vamplew (294,800), Shaun Deeb (188,800), Ludovic Lacay (183,100), Isaac Haxton (148,800), Todd Terry (97,500), and Rupert Elder (31,500)

Team PokerStars Pro also had several players make it through to the third day of play. Ana Marquez (162,000), Jude Ainsworth (138,700), Luca Moschitta (104,400), Liv Boeree (81,400), Chris Moneymaker (70,600), Mickey Petersen (66,500), Jose Barbero (65,100), Andre Akkari (46,300), and 2011 World Series of Poker champion Pius Heinz (43,600) are among the players who are moving on to Day 3.

Also returning for Day 2 with a starting stack of 82,400 was Team PokerStars pro Angel Guillen. Unfortunately for Guillen, the cards were not on his side and provided him with a roller coaster of a day. Guillen saw his tournament come to an end when he shipped his stack of 15,000 all in before the flop with .

Guillen’s all-in bet was called by fellow Team PokerStars pro Theo Jorgensen who held an inferior . This final hand was the icing on the cake of a bad day for Guillen, however, because the flop fell to give Jorgensen a straight and the best hand. Guillen failed to improve on the subsequent streets and was sent to the rail. It was a temporary victory for Jorgensen, because he also meet his end before play reached the conclusion for the day.

Melanie Weisner, Johnny Lodden, Leo Fernandez, JC Alvarado, Eugene Katchalov, Tim Adams, Andy Frankenberger, and Mike McDonald were among those who returned for Day 2 only to find themselves without any chips before the day ended.

Day 3 will begin play at 1400 CET (0800 ET) on Monday. Be sure to stay tuned to the updates on PokerNews as the field pops the money bubble and beyond!

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

Follow Josh Cahlik on

No comments yet. Be the first to post one!