The starting days are complete at the WSOP Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club Main Event.
This $1,675-buy-in event began with the first of two flights on Friday. It drew 220 entries, and another 304 joined on Saturday’s Day 1B to bring the total field to 524 entries. That generated a prizepool worth $786,000 to be shared by the final 54 players.
Bracelet winner David Prociak (299,500) bagged up the lead after Day 1A, but his position was far from secure on Day 1B. Canada’s Salomon Ponte amassed a stack of 392,500 chips by night’s end, and he’ll be the one setting the pace when the 90 survivors return for Day 2. Ring winner Garry Simms (304,000) will begin the day in second place, followed by Prociak in third.
Peter Vitantonio won this event in 2015, and he advanced through Day 1B with 137,500 chips this time around. Vitantonio won a second ring in this building earlier this week, and he’s still in the Main with a shot to add to his collection. Fellow ring winners Tripp Kirk (219,000), Russ Head (188,500), Austin Peck (160,000), Sean Small (115,000), Steve Karp (112,500), Russell Sullivan (111,000), Sam Panzica (76,500), and Robert Georato (46,500) also have their seats reserved in the Day 2 field.
Bracelet winners David Diaz, Phil Hui, and Arkadiy Tsinis advanced, too. Diaz had a particularly productive Day 1B, ending in seventh place overall with 244,500 chips. Hui rode a late-day rush to a stack of 156,000, and Tsinis will return for Day 2 with a shortish stack of 42,500. Former November Niners Jerry Wong (140,000) and Josh Beckley (56,000) are also still alive.
Here’s the overnight top five:
1: Salomon Ponte - 392,500
2: Garry Simms - 304,000
3: David Prociak - 299,500
4: John Bamman - 293,500
5: Mitchell Allen - 266,500
While Vitantonio has a chance to repeat his title, a few other former champions do not. Maurice Hawkins, Mukul Pahuja, Darryll Fish, and Tristan Wade have all won Main Events in West Palm Beach, but all four were eliminated from the Day 1B field. Others who failed to advance to Day 2 include Ari Engel, Loni Harwood, Neil Blumenfield, Harrison Gimbel, and Brian Hastings.
The 90 players who did survive their respective Day 1 flights will be back in action Sunday to play down toward the final table. Blinds will be 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante when play resumes, putting the average stack just under 40 big blinds. Cards go in the air at 12 p.m.
Chip counts | Seat draw