Day 1 came to a close at the Season XV WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $3,500 Championship, and 476 players advanced from the field of 1,207 entries. The chip leader at the end of play was Alejandro Duque (pictured) with 320,600.
Other top contenders include Dantonio Brown (317,000) and Kelly Minkin (280,700). Brown surged up the standings just before the last level of play began, while Minkin scored a big pot to give her 275,000 in the closing minutes of play to secure her spot in the top three.
We caught up with Minkin at the end of play, and she gave us a rundown of her Day 1.
“I fired two bullets — my first bullet didn’t go well at all,” Minkin said. “I wasn’t playing great, I wasn’t hitting flops, I was card dead. So I really just trickled down to nothing and lost a flip to bust. I re-entered and just ran really well, played really well. I made a lot of thin-value bets on the river, which really helped increase my stack significantly. I’ve spent a lot of time since I started playing poker working on maximizing my profit in pots. Instead of getting scared on the river, I try to extract as much as I can from my opponents, so I think I did that really well today. There were a few gifts in there, but for the most part it was a slow and steady increase, and once I had chips I just leveraged that to my advantage.”
“I try to be pretty aggressive, so when I have a big stack it’s a lot easier to put pressure on the small stacks, and I connected with the board a lot as well,” said Minkin when asked about pushing her advantage near the end of play.
Since Minkin only gets so many chances to play in big tournaments, she was able to keep her energy and optimism high throughout the grind of a long Day 1.
“I have a full-time job, and I only really play poker when I play tournaments,” she said, smiling. “Win or lose, I have a good time, so I’m smiling no matter what. But it’s definitely a bigger smile when I have more chips. I appreciate the experience, and I enjoy playing for fun, so if I’m doing well at the same time it’s an even better experience.”
In addition to the interview with Minkin at the end of play, we talked to ClubWPT Qualifier Glenn Groper about achieving a lifelong dream by winning his seat in this event on ClubWPT. We also got an update from Sorel Mizzi this afternoon, and Jeff Gross filled us in on his tournament day on the dinner break.
Looking to win your way to a World Poker Tour event for your shot at becoming a WPT champion? Play for your chance on ClubWPT.com, where eligible VIP Members can play for over $100,000 in cash and prizes each month, including seats to WPT events, no purchase necessary.
Registration for this $3,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament closed at 10:15 p.m. tonight, and with 1,207 runners the total prize pool was set at $3,862,400. The top 151 players will take home at least $5,002 in prize money, and the eventual champion will take home $661,283. Click here to take a look at the total prize pool.
The huge returning field features a big number of big names, many of which are WPT Champions Club members. Among those near the top of the leaderboard are Matthew Waxman, Darren Elias, James Mackey, and Niall Farrell. WPT Commentator Mike Sexton also made it through the day despite losing a tough hand late in play, and WPT Raw Deal Analyst Tony Dunst advanced as well.
The Hublot WPT Player of the Year race is still undecided, and there is a tight battle at the top of the leaderboard. Benjamin Zamani (he bagged 123,000) still holds the lead with 2,500, but Sam Panzica is right on his heels with 2,450. Sexton is the only other player above 2,000 points with 2,100, but there are a handful of players that could still take the lead if they make a deep run in South Florida.
There was also a number of former WPT Player of the Year winners in the field today, including Season XIV POY Mike Shariarti, Season XIII POY Anthony Zinno, Season XII POY Mukul Pahuja, and Season VIII POY Faraz Jaka.
Notables that did not advance on Day 1 included ClubWPT Qualfier Anita Dahlstrom (she busted during the first level in a full house over full house hand), Shannon Shorr (who fell shortly after the close of registration), Kevin MacPhee, Jessica Dawley, and Aaron Massey.
Day 2 begins at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday. Return to WPT.com at that time for continuing coverage of all the action at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.
Looking to win your way to a World Poker Tour event for your shot at becoming a WPT champion? Play for your chance on ClubWPT.com, where eligible VIP Members can play for over $100,000 in cash and prizes each month, including seats to WPT events, no purchase necessary.