A day after the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open I had already overcome it $2 million guaranteeAnother 877 players bought into the $3,500 tournament in South Florida, none of whom were able to field a stack larger than Nohad Teliani.
The combination of Friday’s Day 1a and Saturday’s Day 1b sessions brought the field to 1,541 entrants, creating a prize pool of $4,931,200, more than double the guarantee.
Assessment of the situation
When the tournament ends on November 30th (Wednesday), one lucky and skilled player will take home $785,800 along with a seat to the $10,400 December buy-in. WPT World Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas, the first $15 million guaranteed live poker tournament.
Of the 877 participants on Day 1b, only 306 found bags and will return to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Sunday at 11:00 a.m. ET for Day 2. Those individuals, led by Teliani’s 485,500-chip stack, will be joined by the 220 players who advanced from the Day 1 session. Jaume Calderarowith a stack size of 527,500, it has the general leadership.
The blinds will resume at 1,500/2,500 with a large big blind of 2,500 on Sunday morning. Those who weren’t lucky enough to get a Day 1 stack might find some solace in being able to attend the Miami Dolphins vs. Houston Texans NFL game in South Florida on Sunday afternoon. Of course, they’d rather be among those still chasing one of the eight six-figure prizes up for grabs during the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open.
In all, 193 players will finish in the money, and the field will likely shrink past the bubble before Day 2 concludes Sunday night.
Teliani doing big things in Hollywood, Florida
Teliani, a Canadian poker player, had a banner start World Poker Tour no-limit hold’em tournament. He ended up with over 240 big blinds (194 based on Day 2 opening blinds) and is in a great position to take the money and potentially more.
Entering the Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open, Teliani had $239,744 in tournament cashes, according to Hendon Mob. His biggest score of $55,378 came in August EPT Barcelona series, a second place. He would nearly double his career high with a fifth-place or better finish this coming week.
There’s a host of big-name players who packed and tagged on Day 1b, led by the WPT Player of the Year leader Ray Qartomy (304,000), Opportunity Kornuth (269,000), Brian Altman (215,000) i Darren Elias (150,000).
Top 10 Chip Counts of Day 1b
PlacePlayCerunt 1Nohad teliani485,500 2Jonathan Gilliam442,500 3constantinos Psallidas383,000 4antonio Lievano349,000 5alexander yen347,000 6nick pupillo306,500 7ray Qartomy304,000 8alex keating297,500 9pasqual
*Images courtesy of WPT/Drew Amato.
