Luc Glodt Narrowly Clinches Lead as Day 1a of WPTDeepStacks Berlin Draws to a Close

By Lisa Yiasemides

There a total of 183 entries (including re-entries) and once the dust had settled after eight hours of play, only 56 had survived the fray at Casino Spielbank Berlin.

It was a close call, but in the end 3,500 chips was enough to secure Luc Glodt (pictured above) the chip lead at the end of Day 1a of the Main Event. The Luxembourger finished with 253,500, and Berlin-native Julian Selinger finished just a whisker behind with 250,000.

Glodt had numerous hands that saw him reach the top of the counts, but one hand in particular stood out – when he made quads against a broadway straight with pocket-jacks versus ace-king. All the chips went in preflop but with a queen-four-ten-jack-jack runout, it will likely be a long time before he forgets that flip.

For Selinger (pictured below), it was a slightly different story. Speaking to WPT.com as he was bagging, Selinger explained that there was no denying he had run well – he had been dealt three pocket-aces, three pocket-kings and three-pocket jacks througout the day.

However, he did stumble with the aces – losing twice with them. One of those times was against the other pair of pocket aces. In the end the pot was enough to cost him the chip lead, but he conceded that it would have been so much worse had his opponent chosen to get it all in preflop instead of slow-playing.

Other big stacks to make it through were Kai Vater (211,500), Adem Kacir (209,000) and Rita Shmuel (194,000) who complete the top five.

There were also some big names that survived, though Remigiusz Wyrzykiewicz (168,000) was the only one to clear six figures. Thomas Traboulsi (97,500) was the closest rival and will be joined by Firoz Mangroe (70,500), Roman Herold (51,000), Wojciech Wyrebski, (44,000), WPTDS Champion Sandro Pitzanti (43,000), Frederik Jensen (31,500), Rasmus Larsen (24,000) and Tomasz Gluszko (27,000) on Sunday for Day 2.

It wasn’t good news for everyone though, with some big names such as Michael Mrakes, Gaelle Baumann, Georgios Vrakas and Eyal Bensimhon all bowing out before the end.

That’s all for now, but tomorrow sees it happen all over again when Day 1b kicks off at 2 pm local time. Apart from the earlier start time, the format will be the same as it was today. There will also be Day 1c, the third and final flight, which kicks off at 10 pm and features reduced 20-minute blinds.

Be sure to check into WPT.com for live updates of Day 1b’s action. See you tomorrow.