Southern Poker Championship Day 1

Day 1 of the World Poker Tour Southern Poker Championship $10,000 no limit hold’em main event kicked off Wednesday afternoon.  The events first day brought in 283 players which is an increase from the tournaments first year when 256 players paid to play at the Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.

As play on Day 1 came to a close, 175 players surprisingly still remained standing.  The Beau Rivage put up $24,219 in additional money to sweeten the pot creating a first place prize worth $1,025,500.  The additional $25,500 represents the cost of a seat in the World Poker Tour Championship in April.  The field of players returned today at noon for Day 2 competition with the plan to play down to 27 players.  Considering the large number of players still in the hunt, it is likely the day will be a very long one to reach that goal.

A few of the more notable Day 1 eliminations included Layne Flack, Kristy Gazes, Scott Montgomery, Shaun Deeb, Kevin Saul and Erick Lindgren.  The hand of the day was played out by Curt Kohlberg and Shaun Deeb.  Kohlberg raised to 625 from early position preflop, prompting two players to call before Shaun Deeb decided to reraise to 3,825.  Kohlberg then opted to reraise to 13,925 forcing out two of the players in the process though Deeb stepped up, moving all in for a bit more than the size of Kohlberg’s bet.  Kohlberg then called holding 5c 3c and Deeb showed 9h 9c.  The board read Kd 6d 4c Kc 2s.  Initially, Deeb was way ahead when the hands were revealed but the 2s gave Kohlberg a straight on the river, eliminating Deeb in the process.

Below is the leader board as play heads into Day 2:

1: Esther Taylor — 139,475
2: Jacquelyn Scott — 138,800
3: Bobby Suer — 118,125
4: Hevad "Rain" Khan — 117,275
5: Gary Reed — 112,475
6: Bryan Devonshire — 110,700
7: Justin Dykes — 108,800
8: Woody Vanstratum — 110,425
9: Paula Halata — 93,175
10: Jamie Rosen — 90,775