The opening day of the Season XVII WPT Choctaw Championship kicked off on Friday at Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant, Oklahoma. A field of 279 entries was generated and the first 12 levels of action are in the books, with 70 players remaining. Leading the way was Viet Vo (pictured below) with 458,500 in chips.
Vo is from Texas and has more than $1 million in live tournament earnings on record ahead of this WPT Choctaw event. Vo has two WPT Main Tour cashes on record, and his largest live score was worth nearly $200,000.
Vo picked up a nice pot in the final 30 minutes to solidify himself as the chip leader. Vo recalled the hand to WPT.com and said he opened pocket kings before receiving a call. The flop was jack-high, Vo led, his opponent raised, and Vo called. Then, according to Vo, the turn and river were both bricks and he led with bets both times. His opponent called with ace-jack, but Vo’s kings were best.
Behind Vo finished Brady Holiman with 440,000, and then reigning Hublot WPT Player of the Year Art Papazyan bagged 385,000. Men Nguyen, who placed third in the Season XVII WPT Gardens Main Event, bagged the fourth-largest stack to end the day at 365,500.
Like Vo, Papazyan picked up a nice pot towards the end of the night. Papazyan’s was against Jean Gaspard when Papazyan made aces up with the 
on a board of 
.
Elsewhere on the leaderboard, defending WPT Choctaw champion Jay Lee bagged 73,000 in chips. He spoke with WPT.com earlier in the day about how his victory last season allowed Lee to take up a new business venture.
Among those eliminated on Day 1a were Joe Cada, who also took time to speak with WPT.com. Cada discussed the hot streak he’s been on, but for now, the streak will be put on hold until at least Day 1b of this WPT Choctaw tournament. In the final level of the day, Cada was all in with ace-ten against an opponent’s 
. The flop, turn, and river ran out 
to bust Cada.
Cada, along with everyone else who failed to bag on Day 1a, has the opportunity to play again on Day 1b, which kicks off on Saturday at 12 p.m. local time in Oklahoma. The field will play another 12 one-hour levels, with registration and reentry open until the start of Level 11.
As always, keep your browsers locked right here to WPT.com for continued coverage of the World Poker Tour.
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com
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