Day 1 at the World Poker Tour Emperors Palace Poker Classic has come to a close and at the end of play, about 90 players have advanced to Day 2 on Saturday from the 152 that entered. The total field size can still grow because registration is open for entries and re-entries until the start of play tomorrow at noon local time in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The chip leader at the end of play is Darryn Lipman with 162,250. Other top stacks are held by Aaron Overton (153,400), Alvin Pillay (145,100), and Nick Sissou (141,200).
There were a number of notables that advanced today, including Xuan Liu, Scott Baumstein, Jesse Sylvia, Melanie Weisner, Dylan Wilkerson, Chris Moorman, and Lacey Jones. South African players that are still in the mix are Raymond Rahme, Ronit Chamani, Kinesh Pather, Jarred Solomon, Greg Tucker, and Greg Ronaldson.
Lost along the way today were Tony Dunst, McLean Karr, Vanessa Selbst, and Katie Lindsay, but they all have the option to re-enter before the start of play tomorrow. After registrtation closes tomorrow we will get a clear picture of the prize pool and see just how deep the remaining players will have to run to cash in the tournament.
Tune back in at noon on Saturday to follow along with the big hands, chip counts, and photos from the WPT Live Updates team in South Africa.