Shawn Buchanan Leads Day 1 of the WPT World Championship

Level 6: 400-800, 100 ante

WPT World Championship, Day 1 Recap

The eighth season of the World Poker Tour is coming to a conclusion with the $25,000 WPT World Championship. In addition to the prizepool and the title of WPT Champion, there is also a hotly-contested Player of the Year race nearing the finish line. 

Day 1 began shortly after 12:00 noon PT with 117 players, and another 44 players signed up during the day to increase the field size to 161. Registration remains open until about 5:00 pm PT on Day 2, and we expect the field to approach 200 players. 

Everyone who registers overnight will begin play with a full starting stack of 100,000, which is still worth 125 big blinds at the start of Day 2. That's much better than the players who busted on Day 1, or those returning to Day 2 with a short stack. 

But some players made the most of their Day 1. Here's a look at the Top 10 chip counts with 138 players remaining:

1.  Shawn Buchanan  -  388,600
2.  Brian Lemke  -  298,825
3.  David Benyamine  -  291,275
4.  Yevgeniy Timoshenko  -  277,375
5.  Soheil Shamseddin  -  244,000
6.  Chris Moore  -  243,700
7.  Cody Slaubaugh  -  231,300
8.  Phil Ivey  -  230,250
9.  Todd Terry  -  213,825
10.  Christian Harder  -  211,675

Faraz Jaka finished the day in 95th place with 86,325. Jaka leads the WPT Player of the Year race, but his lead is far from safe. Among the chipleaders, Soheil Shamseddin could catch him with a third-place (or higher) finish, and Todd Terry could catch Jaka with a fourth-place (or higher) finish. Another 25 players or so are also in the running if they reach the final table. Of course, Jaka controls his own destiny as long as he is still alive in the tournament. 

Bellagio is running another satellite this evening to add players to the field, and we expect a fresh group of players (including Phil Hellmuth, Andy Bloch, and Tom "Durrrr" Dwan) to buy in before registration closes. 

Return to WorldPokerTour.com tomorrow (Monday) at 12:00 noon PT for continuing live coverage of the WPT World Championship and the hotly-contested WPT Player of the Year race.

Blue Diamond Almonds Bold Player - Brian Lemke

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

ClubWPT's Leron Washington Survives Day 1

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

ClubWPT.com's Leron Washington may have ended the day with less than he started with, but "Dream187" is keeping things positive as usual.

Washington said his first goal coming into the WPT Championship event was to survive the first day of play.  He did just that, ending the day with 46,000.  While that may sound like a small amount compared to the 100,000 chip starting stack, Washington will still have plenty of room to maneuver with 57 big blinds to start the day.

It was a bit of a roller coaster affair for Washington, who got short early in the day after running top two pair into another player's set.  He found a way to nearly triple up when he turned a Broadway straight and got it all-in against Bay 101 Champion McLean Karr's set of jacks.

That hand pushed Washington up to 120,000, but a series of tough hands whittled away at Washington's stack.  His kings failed to hold up against Keith Ferrera's suited connectors and he had to make another big laydown holding top pair on a Q-J-8 board against Karr.

Like any good boxer, Washington bobbed and weaved his way through some tough spots to accomplish his first goal and survive to Day 2.  Now his sights are set on the next day of play, where he hopes to pick up some big hands and get some momentum going to achieve his ultimate goal for this event: a second WPT final table.

Day 1 Ends With 138 Players

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

Day 1 of the WPT World Championship ends with 138 players remaining from a starting field of 161. But registration remains open until about 5:00 pm PT tomorrow, so we expect that number to approach -- and possibly surpass -- the 200 mark.

Among the chipleaders is Brian Lemke with 298,000. This tournament is particularly meaningful for Lemke, because it was a year ago today that his cousin, PokerRoad producer Justin Shronk, died unexpectedly of pancreatitis. Lemke won a WSOP bracelet in Shronk's honor last summer, and would love to add a WPT title in Shronk's memory.

We'll post the full list of official chip counts later this evening when they are released by the casino.

Tournament Chips Have No Value

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

Erik Cajelais' girlfriend was talking to someone on the rail, and they asked her how Cajelais was doing. She said he had 220,000. 

The other person said, "Wow. He's doing great." She said, "No, it's great for me. It's time for me to go shopping!" It might be in Cajelais' best interest to explain the difference between tournament chips and casino chips -- tournament chips have no value.

Josh Arieh vs. John Duthie

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

After a flop of 1074, Josh Arieh checks from middle position, John Duthie bets 5,500 from the button, and Arieh calls. The turn card is the 8, and both players check.

The river card is the 5, Arieh bets 8,300, and Duthie quickly calls. Arieh says, "Seven," and shows the 7 for a pair of sevens. But Duthie shows AA to win the pot with a pair of aces.

John Duthie  -  71,000
Josh Arieh  -  82,000

Beth Shak Doubles Through Jeff Shulman

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

With 35,000 in the pot and the board reading K8610 Jeff Shulman checks from under the gun and Beth Shak bets 30,000 from the cutoff.  Shulman check-raises all-in, just barely having Shak's remaining 50,000 or so covered.

Shak goes in the tank.  "Maybe you're just pissed off you folded that last hand to me," Shak suggests to Shulman.  She thinks a little while longer before announcing, "Alright, I call."

Shak turns over AA, which has Shulman's AK beat.  The river is no help to Shulman and Shak doubles.

Beth Shak - 190,000
Jeff Shulman - 2,000

Reigning WPT World Champion Yevgeniy Timoshenko

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

Preflop: Justin Bonomo Folds K-K, Keith Lehr Folds Q-Q

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

A player in middle position limps for 600, Keith Lehr raises from middle position to 2,700, and Justin Bonomo reraises from the button to 8,500. The middle-position player limp-reraises to 21,000, leaving himself 36,000 behind.

Lehr thinks for a bit before folding, and then Bonomo tanks for about two minutes before tossing KK face up into the center of the table -- a fold. 

Lehr says, "I folded two red queens." 

The middle-position player pushed his cards to the dealer face down as he received the pot, not offering any information about his hand. Isaac Haxton says, "You've gotta show something when a guy folds kings!" The player shrugs, but doesn't show.

After the hand, Lehr told Bonomo that he would have gone broke to him if the other guy wasn't in the hand. 

Justin Bonomo  -  99,000
Keith Lehr  -  87,000

The Rare Six-Bet Fold

Level 5: 300-600, 75 ante

Action folds to John Duthie in the cutoff and he opens for a raise. Cody Slaubaugh is on the button and reraises. Action is back on Duthie and he 4-bets an additional 12,000 or so. Slaubaugh thinks a minute and announces raise. He matches Duthie's bet, then throws out an additional 25,500.

Duthie then pauses to deliberate before making a min-reraise to 51,000. Slaubaugh hardly hesitates before announcing he is all-in, but he doesn't even get his chips over the betting line before Duthie mucks his hand.

Afterwards, Duthie tells Slaubaugh he had pocket kings.

"You're going to have to tell me the suits of those kings and put some money on it," Slaubaugh jokes

Cody Slaubaugh - 195,000
John Duthie - 60,000