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WSOP National Championship – Day 1 Report
Posted by: James Carter. - Thu, 2013-05-23 04:15
The WSOP’s National Championship kicked off the other day in New Orleans, drawing 126 players to its tables. The stakes are high indeed: the player who wins this event will end up taking home the first ever
WSOP bracelet awarded in the US in a location other than Las Vegas.
The tournament featured a rather unique buy-in/qualification structure. Participation was restricted to those who had won a WSOP-C Main Event or were Casino Champions, and to those who finished in the top 60 on the National Leader Board. Also, those within the top 100 on the WSOP PoY list could buy in for a hefty $10k.
A total of 9 levels went into the first day of action, at the end of which 62 players were still standing. Valentin Vornicu was the one who finished in the lead, having built up a stack of 203.2k chips. Brock Parker had a good day as well: he finished second, with 133.9k chips. Jeff Gross, Ari Engel and Jeremy Ausmus finished within the top 10 as well.
Vornicu didn’t jump into the lead courtesy of any single massive pot. Instead, he built his stack steadily through the day, taking down a more massive pot every now and then to further his cause. One such pot was the one he took off Nick Jivkov late in the day. Vornicu was the one who initiated the confrontation by moving all-in on a flop of J,9,7 with pocket 9s for the set. Jivkov had a top pair (J,8) and he made the call walking right into the trap. Though he did make a 4-card flush on the turn, he ultimately failed to get there and he was bounced.
Jesse Sylvia and David Baker both managed to earn a seat for Day 2.
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