A new record was set on the World Poker Tour today at Bellagio with 1,001 entries populating the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic field. The number shatters the mark at Five Diamond last season of 812 and sets a new all-time high for most entries in a $10,000 buy-in event. Approximately 180 players are left to fight on to Day 3 and 126 will make the money.
Leading the charge is multiple bracelet winner and online poker superstar Calvin Anderson. A player well-versed in tournament success, Anderson owns a modest total of two cashes on the World Poker Tour and is poised to make it three tomorrow. 789,000 chips were deposited in Anderson’s bag to put him 5,000 ahead of second place on the leaderboard Joe McKeehen.
Anderson was among the chip leaders for most of Day 1 and maintained his momentum on Day 2 despite losing a few pots that would have given him even more chips.
“It went smooth,” Anderson said about his day. “I don’t like to brag on myself or anything, but I got it in for six flips and lost them all. And I got Queens to Jacks once and won that. Besides that, I’ve been taking pots post-flop mostly and just either my bluffs worked or I made a hand and get paid. That’s kind of how it’s been going.”
Anderson commented on the field size and noted, “December’s my favorite month of the year because a lot of people have extra money and they come out and spend it. This is a phenomenal tournament. I didn’t expect it to be this good.”
Mike Cordell (666,000), Dan Shak (628,000), Farid Jattin (570,000), and four-time WPT winner Darren Elias (569,000) round out the top of the leaderboard. Other Champions Club members to advance include Brian Altman (520,000), Paul Klann (465,000), last season’s Five Diamond third-place finisher Mike Del Vecchio (456,000), Mike Leah (452,000), and Dominik Nitsche (402,000).
Shak (pictured) won a dramatic pot against Kristen Bicknell late in the day to surge up the leaderboard and, at one point, held the chip lead.
The two previous Five Diamond gold medalists both found a bag as well with James Romero (305,000), and Ryan Tosoc (162,000) both bagging. Antonio Esfandiari (280,000), Ravi Raghavan (277,000), Mohsin Charania (240,000), and Joe Hachem (106,000) join them among the group of players who have won Five Diamond in prior seasons.
Those not as fortunate to advance were Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, David Peters, Maria Ho, Sam Panzica, Art Papazyan, and Alex Foxen, who are part of the long list of top players who don’t have a seat in Day 3 waiting for them.
Day 3 starts at 12 p.m. local time and continues for six 90-minute levels. The seating draw and chip counts will be posted as soon as they are shared with WPT.com.
Stay tuned for all coverage of the Season XVII WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
Photography by Jamie Thomson / PokerPhotoArchive.com
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