August 8, 2017 (Cherokee, N.C.) - Day 1 of the Global Casino Championship is in the books at Harrah’s Cherokee. After ten hour-long levels of play, 47 of 124 players remain. Registration will be open until the start of Day 2 on Wednesday at 1 p.m. Final entries and prize pool information will be posted after registration closes.
Dylan Wilkerson stayed toward the top of the counts for much of the day and ended the night still on top after bagging 218,200. Wilkerson received his automatic entry into the event with his win in the Circuit Main Event at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, where he cashed for more than $200,000.
Rounding out the top five heading into Day 2 are Josh Reichard (187,000), Fabrizio Gonzalez (159,900), Sean Yu (157,600), and Michael Hahn (140,500).
Other familiar Circuit grinders who found a bag include Maxwell Young (99,300), Ben Keeline (80,400), Cody Pack (92,100), Jesse Yaginuma (107,000), Brett Bader (82,500), Caufman Talley (98,300), Dylan Linde (46,500), Joshua Turner (75,100), and Ravi Raghavan (32,300). Some of the familiar international qualifiers who bagged are Martin Kabrhel (26,100), Michal Mrakes (17,500), and Maria Lampropoulou (29,200).
A total of 115 players who received automatic entries into the event played today, in addition to nine qualifiers who bought their way in for $10,000. Players won their seat for the event in one of a few ways; by winning a Circuit Main Event, winning Casino Champion at a Circuit stop, or finishing in the top 50 points earners during the 2016/2017 Circuit season.
Several others were eligible to buy in for $10,000 by winning a Circuit ring during the 2016/2017 season or by finishing in the top 100 in the 2016 Player of the Year race. Nine of those qualifiers chose to buy in today, and five of them bagged. They were Roland Israelashvili (137,700), Jason Mercier (104,200), Loni Harwood (40,200), Mohsin Charania (29,500), and Alex Rocha (30,600).
Ryan Laplante, Guilherme Moura, Phong Nguyen, and David Chapman bought in directly but did not bag chips for Day 2. Several other hopefuls who played today and busted before the bag and tag included Mike Leah, Alex Aqel, John Holley, Maurice Hawkins, Vincent Moscati, Robert Hankins, Grant Hinkle, Mike Cordell, Martin Ryan, and Michael Sanders.
The remaining 47 players, along with any qualifiers who buy in before the Day 2 restart, will start play in Level 11 with blinds of 800/1,600 with a 200 ante at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
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