Poker News

Players turned out in droves for the second of two Day Ones at the World Poker Tour’s Jacksonville BestBet Open in Florida, pushing the overall entries over the 300 entries mark.

With only 125 players on Friday stepping into the brand new BestBet Jacksonville poker room, there was a chance that the overall numbers for the $5000 buy in tournament would be less than exciting. WPT officials, however, decided to make this tournament a re-entry event, meaning that players who didn’t make it through Day 1A (or those with less than the 30K starting stack) could plop down another $5K and get back in the action. Some of those eliminated on Friday, such as Hoyt Corkins, Shannon Shorr, Phil Collins and Steven Merrifield, decided to do just that, along with a host of newcomers.

One of those newcomers was former World Champion Jamie Gold, making a rare appearance on the tournament poker scene. Gold was joined by WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown runner-up John Dolan, Andy Frankenberger and Lauren Kling (among others) in being the players who took a singular shot at the tournament. By the time the late registration process had finished late Saturday afternoon, 320 entries were posted on the tournament clock, building a roughly $1.5 million prize pool (as of this morning, official payouts have yet to be announced).

The action was relatively quiet through the early going as the players settled in for the marathon run rather than a sprint. There were some notable knockouts, however, as Collins couldn’t make his second bullet work, Tweeting to his followers, “I’m out. Picked a bad spot to bluff in a big pot (and ran) into the nut flush. Back to Vegas, ASAP!” Chance Kornuth and Ebony Kenney also weren’t fortunate on Saturday, leaving the felt battleground before the dinner bell was sounded.

Following the sustenance, several players began to separate themselves from the pack. Matt Marafioti was one of those players, popping his chip stack over the 100K mark after flopping a straight flush and then “only” making a baby flush. Outpacing him to the top of the leaderboard, though, was Amine Chabane, who was able to work through the day with little attention from those in the BestBet Jacksonville. By the time the end of the day came, Chabane had taken the chip lead for the day and is set up for Day Two’s action:

1. Amine Chabane, 193,500
2. David Jackson, 150,000
3. Brandon Barnes, 145,600
4. Brian Haas, 119,200
5. Mike Scarborough, 114,400

Barnes is one of the players to watch when Day Two begins this afternoon. The WPT Jacksonville BestBet Open was open to players 18 or older; only six players, including the 19-year old Barnes, stepped up for the event. As there is an award for the “last player standing” among the sextet, Barnes has a good shot at winning that prize.

Although Chabane was able to seize the title of Day 1B chip leader, he will not start Day Two at the top of the mountain:

1. Darren Elias, 213,600
2. Amine Chabane, 193,500
3. David Paredes, 170,300
4. David Jackson, 150,000
5. Brandon Barnes, 145,600
6. Darryll Fish, 140,800
7. Robert Gorocletsky, 139,600
8. Byron Kaverman, 134,800
9. Will “The Thrill” Failla, 132,600
10. Alistar Melville, 128,500

By making a strong run in this tournament, Failla will return to what has been a familiar spot for him. The leader of the WPT Player of the Year race since his victory at the Legends of Poker last fall, Failla was knocked off that perch when Joe Serock scored his second third place finish of the year in Hollywood last week. Failla, it seems, wants that spot back as he has been playing with a vengeance at the WPT Jacksonville.

There are 160 players remaining from the original 320 entries, but there is still a long road ahead for those looking for this inaugural WPT championship. Sunday’s play will start a bit later than usual (at 2PM Eastern Time), with play scheduled to try to get the numbers down to the money. Tuesday will be Championship Day for the WPT Jacksonville BestBet Open, where someone will add their name to the WPT Champions’ Cup and pick up a nice six-figure score to go along with it.

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