Vadim Trincher won his way into the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship by virtue of winning the Foxwoods Poker Classic earlier this month. He banked $731,000 in the tournament as well as a $25,000 seat into the end-of-season Championship, which kicked off on Saturday from the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
A total of 126 runners began the day and, when play concluded, Trincher found himself in a familiar spot: atop the leader board. He was helped in part by taking down a massive pot that occurred at the end of the first of two Day Ones, coming out on the winning end of a set over set situation. In the hand, Season VII Legends of Poker winner John “The Razor” Phan bet 18,000 on a board of 10-8-3-K-J. Trincher promptly raised to 43,000 and Phan called, flipping over pocket eights for a set. However, Trincher exposed pocket kings, catching a two-outer on the turn to push his chip stack over the 300,000 mark; he ended play on Saturday with 309,725.
Trincher leads the field after Day 1A. However, a brand new set of players will take to the felts for Day 1B on Sunday. Here is a look at the top 10 in chips after play on Saturday from the storied Las Vegas casino:
1st Place: Vadim Trincher – 309,725
2nd Place: Johnny Chan – 291,675
3rd Place: Burt Boutin – 281,000
4th Place: Shaun Deeb – 269,900
5th Place: Brian Powell – 254,075
6th Place: Ryhnie Campbell – 239,600
7th Place: Bruno Fitoussi – 230,650
8th Place: Corwin Cole – 229,900
9th Place: Robert Suer – 226,000
10th Place: Ran Azor – 218,875
The average chip stack is nearly 120,000. Phil Hellmuth was eliminated within 15 minutes of showing up at the Bellagio. He arrived at 4:00pm local time and at 4:15pm, he tangled with Amnon Filippi for his tournament life. On a flop of 10-6-3, Filippi checked, Hellmuth bet 5,000, and Filippi called. The turn came a deuce. Filippi once again checked, Hellmuth bet 10,000, and Filippi called behind. The river was a queen and Filippi check-raised Hellmuth all-in. The “Poker Brat” made the call with 10-3 for two pair, only to see that Filippi had rivered a set of queens to take the pot and eliminate the 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner. We can only imagine what Hellmuth’s reaction was.
Also at Hellmuth and Filippi’s table were Layne Flack, Kenny Tran, and Hasan Habib for one of the toughest groups ever assembled leading up to a final table. Holding the second largest stack after Day 1A is 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan. He owns over $4.1 million in WSOP winnings and grabbed fourth in a $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha with rebuys tournament during last year’s festivities for $246,000. Other accomplished poker pros who survived Day 1A and finished in the top 25 include:
12th Place: David Benyamine – 211,975
13th Place: Andy Bloch – 208,800
15th Place: Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier – 206,275
18th Place: Scott Montgomery – 170,000
22nd Place: Amnon Filippi – 152,000
23rd Place: Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson – 151,325
24th Place: Tuan Le – 150,000
25th Place: Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy – 149,625
Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch made a straight flush a half-hour into play on Saturday. On a flop of 6d-4d-4c, his opponent checked, Bloch bet 300, his opponent raised to 800, and Bloch made the call. The turn came a deuce, inducing a 1,500 chip bet from Bloch’s opponent and the former MIT Blackjack Team member once again called. The river card came the five of diamonds and Bloch’s opponent led out for 10,000. Bloch made it 30,000, his opponent bumped the action to 80,000, and Bloch shoved, exposing 2-3 of diamonds for a six-high straight flush. However, his opponent folded to the river all-in.
Play will kick off on Sunday with the second of two starting days. The players remaining from Day 1A and Day 1B will combine for Day 2 on Monday. The newest WPT self-made millionaire will be crowned next Saturday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the Bellagio.
