With the money bubble looming, Dan Lowery brings massive chip lead into Day 2 of the Choctaw main event
November 11, 2017 (Durant, OK) - The Day 1 flights of the Choctaw Durant Main Event are at their
conclusion and coming out of the two flights as the overall chip leader
is Dan Lowery, who bagged up 389,000 chips after grasping the lead in
astounding fashion at the end of Day 1B.
A total of 555 players joined the field for Day 1B along with the 353
from Day 1A brining the total number of entrants and re-entrants to 908
and creating a total prize pool of $1,362,000. Of those 555 players who
joined, 96 survived, and combined with the 61 players who made it
through Day 1A, a total of 157 players with return Sunday at noon for
Day 2 of the Main Event.
The chip leader of the 1B flight and the entire tournament is Dan
Lowery. Lowery was able to bag up 389,000 chips. He got most of his
chips early in the day, but a monster pot at the end pushed him over the
moon when he flopped quad threes in a multiway pot and one of his
opponent turned a full house. That earned Lowery the top spot which he
will carry into Day 2. Lowery is looking to improve on his finishes here
in the Choctaw Durant Main Event, as his best finish is from 2012 where
he came 2nd for $167,230.
Some of the notables making it through the day were the likes of
Johanssy Joseph (170,000), Marshall White (145,000), Jesse McVicker
(43,500), and Jean Gaspard (241,000). They join a cast of notables from
Day 1A including Aaron Massey (163,500), Schuyler Thornton (208,500),
Jonathan Hilton (51,000), Maurice Hawkins (262,000), Kevin Eyster
(152,000), Joe Elpayaa (123,000), Sal DiCarlo (34,500), Josh Lowing
(102,000), Kurt Jewell (193,500), and Bart Bogart (193,000).
But there were plenty who couldn't get much going and fired their
final bullets on Day 1, such as Bryan Campanello, Irene Carey, John
Holley, Allen Kesseler, Ben Keeline, Craig Varnell, Adam Geyer, and last
year's champion Grant Hinkle. Also not making it through the day was
Circuit regular Cory Smith. Smith took a brutal beat when his opponent
didn't realize the action was on him and slowrolled him with the nut flush, while Smith was holding pocket aces.
Day 1A saw 353 entrants and re-entrants and making it through the day
were 61 hopefuls. Nick Swarmann led the pack after the first flight,
bagging up 291,500 chips, which was good enough for 2nd place overall.
Those remaining in the field will be playing for their piece of the
$1,362,000 prizepool. Of the 157 remaining players, 99 will be paid with
a mincash being worth $2,792. An appearance at the final table will be
worth $24,952 and the eventual champion of the event will take home
$258,784 and the WSOP Circuit ring. Also coming with a victory is an
entry to the Global Casino Championship.
Play will resume at noon on Sunday and there is sure to be plenty of
action as players are just 58 spots off the money. When Day 2 gets
underway, the levels will be increased to 60 minutes and they will play
10 levels before bagging and tagging chips for the night, as opposed to
the 15, 40-minute levels that were played on Day 1.
Players that can survive the day’s action will come back on Monday at
noon to play down to a winner. WSOP.com will have complete coverage of
all the action.
Top 10 Chip Counts:
1. Daniel Lowery - 389,000
2. Nick Schwarmann - 291,500
3. Kenneth Blanton - 277,000
4. Nam Doan - 272,500
5. Maurice Hawkins - 262,000
6. Mike Russ - 249,000
7. Orlando Romero - 248,000
8. Matt Newcombe - 247,500
9. Jean Gaspard - 241,000
10. Walter Rodriguez - 237,500
Complete Day 2 Chip Counts