The starting flights are complete in the WSOP Circuit Harrah's Cherokee $1,675 Main Event. The season's final trip to the hills of North Carolina attracted a total field of 1,164 entries across its two starting flights, making it the largest Main in the property's history and generating a prizepool worth close to $1.75 million.
Chance Kornuth (pictured) bagged up the big stack of 436,500 chips after Day 1A, and that lead remained untouchable through the Day 1B flight. Kornuth, a recent transplant to the mid-Atlantic region, is one of the more accomplished players in attendance this week. He has nearly $5 million in career earnings, including a $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet in 2010, and he'll be the man setting the pace when the survivors from both flights return for Moving Day.
Spencer Champlin ended Day 1B atop its leaderboard, bagging up 354,000 to advance to Day 2 in second place overall. Josh Vizcarra (342,000), Jason Gooch (339,000), Brett Feder (336,000), Dean Donovan (328,000), Michael Cooper (327,500), and Marshall White (308,500) finished their respective starting flights near the top of the counts, too. A bit further down the list, Ari Engel (175,000) Seville Hale (167,000), Robert Hankins (157,000), Joe Elpayaa (140,000), Lytle Allen (131,000), David Bach (128,000), and Martin Ryan (82,500) have also secured their seats in Day 2.
Brad Albrinck is the reigning Main Event champion in this building, besting a December field of 968 entries to collect his second ring and a career-best score of more than $275,000. He required his full allotment of entries to advance this time around, but he finally did so with 73,000 chips. He's the only player remaining with a chance to win a second Main Event title here, as Jake Bazeley, Steven Snyder, and Maurice Hawkins were all among the late-day casualties.
The 210 who did survive the opening flights will be back on Sunday for the combined Day 2. Only 117 of them will finish in the money, so getting through the money bubble will be the day's first hurdle. Blinds will be 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante when play resumes, putting the average stack around 37 big blinds.
Cards go in the air at 12 p.m.
Day 1 Chip Counts | Day 2 Seat Draw