Saturday, March 29, 2014 9:58 PM Local Time
Kurt Ulek Bags Overwhelming Chip Lead to End Day 1B
The day is done and the chip have been bagged here on Day 1B of the 2013/14 World Series of Poker Circuit Lumiere Place Casino Main Event and in the end it was Kurt Ulek who bagged up the largest stack. Ulek will return for Day 2 with a stack of 326,700, which will make his the largest stack in the field.
Ulek's day became something truly special during the latter half of the day. He hit his rush right after the second break of the day and began accumulating chips at an increasingly rapid rate. At one point, Circuit regular Everett Carlton moved all in for his tournament life and it folded around to Ulek who, already sitting with a big stack, moved all in over the top. The blinds folded and Ulek showed two red aces to crush Carlton's pocket jacks. From there, Ulek continued to trend up, score knockouts, and add to his ever-growing castle of chips.
A grand total of 74 players advanced from Day 1B. These players, combined with the 53 from Day 1A, will return for a total Day 2 field of 127. Registration is still open up until the start of Day 2, so it is likely that this number will increase a bit.
Ulek may be the largest stack in the room, but other notable players were also able to bag chips to return for the second day of play. Familiar faces and big stacks returning include Greg Sullivan (149,800), Michael Horchoff (135,300), Event 1: $580 No-Limit Hold'em ring winner Matt Bond (129,900), David Nicholson (100,600), John Holley (92,500), Ryan Tepen (73,200), Michael Hahn (67,700), Jacob Bazeley (55,000), and Chris Lillie (43,500).
While those players progressed onto Day 2, others were not as fortunate. Travell Thomas, Ralph Massey, Brian O'Donoghue, Michael Sanders, Ari Engel, Dennis Phillips, Bryan Moon, Katherine Bowen, and Eric Crain were just some of those to fall today.
Play resumes for Day 2 at 11 a.m. at the Lumiere Place Casino in St. Louis. Be sure to stay tuned here for all of the latest from the felt.