October 29 2011, Brett Collson

Day 1 of the World Poker Tour World Poker Finals at Foxwoods saw 185 players pony up $10,000 to compete in one of the most celebrated stops on the World Poker Tour. Only 144 players managed to survive the opening day, but four more players took advantage of the late registration on Day 2 to generate a total field of 189, and a prize pool of $1,778,300. A top prize of just under $450,000 will go to the winner, and 27 players will earn a minimum payday of $19,916.

The leaders heading into Day 3 include Dan Colpoys and reigning WPT Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger, who is second among the 66 players who survived Day 2. Others taking healthy stacks into Day 3 are Peter Politano, Chris Klodnicki, Steven Brackesy, Christian Harder and Thomas Schreiber, all of whom will take more than 100 big blinds into Saturday.

Colpoys finished Day 2 as the leader with 246,000 chips, but it wasn’t an easy path to the top. In one of the largest pots of the day, Colpoys got just under 80,000 chips in the middle holding on a board of . His opponent, Jack Kashishian, called with for two pair, but the fell on the river to give Colpoys a set of aces and a double-up.

Frankenberger began the day fourth in chips and continued his climb by picking off a pair of bluffs with just ace-high. According to the World Poker Tour Live Updates Team, Frankenberger called a double-barrel bluff on a board with just and then checked the on the river to win a pot worth more than 26,000. Then, Frankenberger had the same two cards and called a river bluff on a ten-high paired board to scoop a pot of more than 62,000, putting him among the overall leaders.

Christian Harder had a roller coaster day but still managed to finish sixth overall when play ended Friday night. After tripling his starting stack early in the day, Harder lost a 200,000-chip pot to Darren Elias to send him back where he started at just under 50,000. Harder cold-four-bet with pocket aces preflop and Elias and Kyle Loman called to see a flop of . Loman checked, and Harder moved all-in, having both players covered. Elias called instantly and, after Loman got out of the way, tabled for middle set. Harder had two outs for the win but came up empty, giving Elias a massive double-up. Elias, however, lost nearly half his stack before the end of the day.

Others still alive entering Day 3 include Kathy Liebert, David Sands, Allen Kessler, Jason Mercier, Bernard Lee, Dwight Pilgrim, Matt Glantz, Erik Seidel, and former WPT Finals champions Hoyt Corkins, Cornel Cimpan, Jonathan Little and Jeff Forrest. Among the notables exiting on Day 2 were Dan Shak, David Williams, Cliff Josephy, Todd Terry, Steve Brecher, Tony Dunst, and current WPT Player of the Year leader Will Failla.

On Saturday, play will resume at 1200 EDT (1600 GMT) and conclude after five levels of action. Here’s a look at the top 10 stacks entering Day 3:

Top 10 End of Day 1 Chip Counts

*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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October 28 2011, Chad Holloway

One of the World Poker Tour’s most prestigious and historic stops every year is the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods Resort and Casino. Past champions of this event include Howard Lederer (Season I), Hoyt Corkins (Season II), Tuan Le (Season III), Nick Schulman (Season IV), Nenad Medic (Season V), Mike Vela (Season VI), Jonathan Little (Season VII), Cornel Cimpan (Season VIII), and reigning champ, Jeff Forrest.

The first $10,000 buy-in tournament of Season X of the WPT kicked off on Thursday and drew a field of 185, including many of the aforementioned champions. Registration is open until the Day 2 begins, so that number is expected to grow. With a kind structure and a stacked field, it wasn’t surprising to see some elite poker action. Some players who were in action, and managed to survive the day, include David Williams (16,775), Lee Markholt (37,175), Dwyte Pilgrim (63,400), and Erik Seidel (69,500); however, each of them trails the Day 1 chip leader, Thomas Schreiber, who bagged up 104,000.

There were some crazy hands throughout the day as evidenced by Greg Lang’s once-in-a-lifetime feat of flopping a royal flush, holding the in a heads-up pot. Unfortunately, he didn’t get paid off because his opponent checked behind on the flop and then folded to Lang’s small turn bet.

In another intriguing hand, four players limped for 200 preflop only to have Tony Sinishtaj raise to 1,500 from the button. According to the World Poker Tour Live Update Team, three players made the call and the players saw a flop of . Action checked to Sinishtaj and he fired out 2,500. An early-position player called, and then Nikolai Yakovenko check-raised to 6,500 from middle position. Peter Polianto called from the cutoff, Sinishtaj folded, and the early-position player came along for the ride.

When the hit the turn, the early-position player and Yakovenko checked, opening the door for Polianto to bet 13,000. The early-position player called all-in for 12,000, and Yakovenko folded face up.

Showdown
Early-Position Player:
Politano:

It was an action flop as the early-position player hit a full house but was second best to Politano’s quad threes! What’s more, the river would have given Yakovenko a straight flush; instead, it was Politano who chipped up to 62,000.

Some players thrived, but others failed to survive. Among the players who fell on Day 1 were Micah Raskin, Jason Somerville, Jonathan Aguiar, John Cernuto, David Paredes, and Justin Schwartz. The last player on that list met his demise in Level 5 when an early-position player raised to 725 and Dwyte Pilgrim called from the cutoff. Schwartz responded by moving all-in for 5,850 from the button, Jason Mercier called from the small blind, and the other two players folded.

Showdown
Mercier:
Schwartz:

Schwartz was behind and even more so when the flop fell . Neither the turn nor river helped Schwartz, whose elimination came at the hands of the man many consider to be the best tournament poker player in the world. It would be hard to argue with that if Mercier can somehow add a World Poker Finals victory to his résumé.

On Friday, the remaining 141 players will return to action at 1200 EDT (1600 GMT). In the meantime, here’s a look at the top stacks at the end of Day 1:

Top 10 End of Day 1 Chip Counts

*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

Stay up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.

Follow Chad Holloway on Twitter – @ChadAHolloway

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