October 21 2012, Donnie Peters

Day 1b of the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event at the Horseshoe Hammond Casino attracted 677 entrants. Play was undoubtedly slower during the second starting flight, but Phillip Liou still managed to bag up a lot of chips. He finished the day with 347,500 and topped the pack. Not only did Liou top the approximate 150 players that survived Day 1b, but he also eclipsed the mark of 276,100 in chips set by Mike Leah on Day 1a.

The field didn’t quite reach the 835 entries from Day 1a, but there were still plenty of notables in the mix. Some of the names in action were WSOP gold bracelet winners Robert Mizrachi and Michael Mizrachi, Robert Cheung, Brian Hastings, Bob Slezak, Gavin Smith and Nick Jivkov. All of them were eliminated, though, and Michael Mizrachi went home the earliest.

Despite being the most recognizable name in the field, Mizrachi’s trip to Hammond only lasted about a half an hour into Level 3 before he eliminated by Ghaleb Zayed.

From under the gun, Zayed raised to 425 with the blinds at 75/150. Mizrachi was next to act and made the call. Everyone else folded, prompting a flop from the dealer. Zayed bet 425, and Mizrachi raised all in for a little under 4,000. Zayed quickly called with top set – – and Mizrachi’s were in bad shape. The turn brought the and river the to send Mizrachi to the rail.

Chad Brown, Victor Ramdin, Jean Gaspard, Matt Brady, Allen Kessler and Matt Affleck were also bounced to the rail as the field was whittled down over the course of the day.

Gaspard went out after his lost to an opponent’s . The money went in on a flop of , and the board ran out with the , . Kessler was seated with Gaspard for a bit of the day, but busted later on when his couldn’t come from behind against an opponent’s pocket kings.

Of those to advance from Day 1b’s field were Blair Hinkle, Eddie Ochana, AJ Jejelowo, Hiren “Sunny” Patel, Faraz Jaka, Joseph Elpayaa, Ryan Julius and Tom Koral.

Patel and Jaka were always toward the top of the pack on the day, jumping in and out of the chip lead at times. Julius was grinding for the better part of the day, but landed a key double up towards the end of the night when his pocket aces held up against an opponent’s pocket nines. All of those players will be amongst those returning to join up with the remaining 170 players from the first starting flight for Sunday’s Day 2.

On Day 2, the cards will be in the air at 1200 CDT (2000 CEST). Registration will remain open until the start of Day 2, allowing players who haven’t entered, or those who have only fired one bullet, to get into the action with 20,000 in starting chips. PokerNews will be back on Sunday with all of the live coverage and we hope to have you around then.

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October 11 2012, Mickey Doft

Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes a player’s results over six half-year periods. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier’s latest run atop the GPI lasted four weeks, but he’s looking up at a familiar foe once again. For a look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website.

The Top 10 as of October 8, 2012

Jason Mercier is back atop the GPI after his eighth-place finish (for “84,672/$110,467) in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. That marks Mercier’s first live six-figure score (US dollars) of 2012.

Phil Hellmuth makes his debut in the top 10 this week following his World Series of Poker Europe Main Event win for “1,022,376. Mike Watson also enjoying seven-figure success in Cannes. He took down the “50,000 Majestic High Roller for “1,000,000 and though he came up just short of the top 10, he vaulted 29 places to the No. 15 position.

Welcome to the GPI

Seven players are new to this week’s GPI, led by Nicolas Cardyn. He returns to the GPI in the No. 171 spot following his 11th-place showing in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, worth “52,416.

New Additions

Bernard Lee, Eddy Sabat, Fabian Quoss, Khiem Nguyen, Matthias De Meulder, Simeon Naydenov, and Ty Reiman all fell from the GPI this week.

Ups and Downs

The biggest rise of the week belonged to Marc-Andre Ladouceur. He took down a “5,000 No-Limit Hold’em side event at EPT San Remo for “132,400.

Biggest Gains

Kevin Vandersmissen fell the furthest this week. His win in the Irish Open Main Event (worth “420,000) aged into Period 2.

Biggest Drops

What’s In Store?

EPT San Remo wraps up on Thursday and has the potential to have a lasting effect on the top 10 of the GPI.

High-Roller specialist Philipp Gruissem (No. 6 on the GPI), is at yet another high-roller final table. With four six-figure scores comprising his Period 1, he has a chance to add a fifth with either a win or a runner-up showing. The fourth score came this week with his fourth-place finish in the “50,000 Majestic High Roller for “275,000.

Why didn’t his No. 6 standing from last week improve? It would have, however his win in the £20,000 High-Roller event at last year’s EPT London (worth £450,200/$703,657) aged into Period 3. He surely would have dipped from the top 10, but instead is set to become a fixture there for quite a while.

Gruissem is setting himself up quite nicely for when his oldest Period 1 scores age into Period 2 and it won’t be long before he challenges Mercier and Grospellier at the top.

To look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website. While you’re at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.

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