Day 1 of the World Poker Tour Emperors Palace Poker Classic Main Event is in the books, and it is Nipun Java (pictured) who holds to lead with 113,200 chips. There were a total of 120 entrants on Day 1, and that number’s looking to grow with still another level of re-entries possible on Day 2. A total of 78 players bagged up chips at the end of the night.
We saw plenty of top pro players in action on Day 1, including reigning WPT Johannesburg National Event winner Wesley Wiegand. Wiegand survived Day 1 on one bullet, taking 23,375 chips onto Day2. Two-time WPT champion Darren Elias also participated on Day 1, and he bagged up 55,625.
Defending champion Dylan Wilkerson also managed to survive and he takes 45,625 into tomorrow. Top local pros Jarred Solomon (106,075) and Darren Kramer (25,575) battled it out on the same table all day, and the former clearly had the better day closing out with a top five stack.
Among the other notables we spotted Chris DeMaci (67,150), Xuan Liu (14,500) and Jonathan Abdellatif (30,350), winner of the High Roller event last night at the Emperors Palace. Australian pro Jonathan Karamalikis busted towards the end of the night, but he’s expected to make a return tomorrow.
Play will resume on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. local time and registration remains open throughout the first level of play. Follow the live updates on WPT.com.