Day 1b of the Season XVII WPT Choctaw Championship concluded on Saturday night, drawing another 476 entries to the felt and bringing the total field size up to 755. With that, a prize pool of more than $2.5 million was generated and first place will be $469,185. The top 95 places will reach the money.
Leading the way after Day 1b was Lou Garza (pictured below). Garza bagged up 531,500 in chips and helped his cause by taking two pots at the end of the day.
On the first, Garza called a raise from Mark Threadgill before the two saw the 
flop. Threadgill check-called 7,500 from Garza, the turn was the 
, and both players checked. The river was the 
and Threadgill bet 25,000. Garza raised to 100,000, and Threadgill called with the 
for two pair. Garza had the 
for a straight and won the pot.
After that, Garza sent Ralph Massey packing. Massey moved all in from under the gun for about 30,000, and Garza called with the 
from the hijack seat. Massey had the and Garza’s hand held up.
Garza’s lead was good enough to give him the overall chip lead heading into Day 2.
Coming up behind Garza on the leaderboard for Day 1b were Andy Van Blair with 363,000 and WPT Champions Club member Tony Ruberto with 358,000.
Elsewhere on the leaderboard, Jason Brin, the first-ever WPT Choctaw winner, has 206,000 and three-time WPT champion Anthony Zinno has 201,000.
Some of the notables to bust on Day 1b were WPT champions Seth Davies, Layne Flack, and James Romero. Aaron Massey joined his brother Raph on the rail, Eric Bunch, who finished sixth in WPT Choctaw last season, busted, and then Allen Kessler was also eliminated.
In addition to the prize pool and payouts being set, the points have been set in this event for the Hublot WPT Player of the Year competition. In addition to taking home the $469,185 top prize, the winner will earn 1,200 points in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race. As things stand right now, Simon Lam is on top after his opening win at WPT Gardens.
With 70 players from Day 1a and 137 players from Day 1b advancing, there were a total of 207 players to return to action for Day 2. The plan for Day 2 is to kick things off at 12 p.m. local time and play down to 32 players remain.
With the money set to be reached on Day 2, that also means the Action Clock will be implemented when the field is one table outside the money.
As always, stay tuned to WPT.com for continued coverage from the World Poker Tour.
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com
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