The 2012-13 WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City Main Event got underway on Saturday with a lengthy first day of play divided into two flights with an option for players busting from the afternoon’s Day 1a to reenter for Day 1b in the evening. In the end, there were about 600 entries, with T.J. Crews leading the 322 players who made it through to Day 2 with a stack of 141,900.
Others building large stacks during the first day of play included Brian Nguyen (138,300), Brian Sonak (124,900), Gregory Fishberg (112,750), Michiel Ros (109,300), Maksim Kvitko (102,700), Tim Faro (101,200) and Chris Klodnicki (92,900).
The afternoon session saw 364 players participate in the $1,675 buy-in event, with a total of 192 of those making it through the nine 40-minute levels to Sunday’s Day 2. Meanwhile, a smaller group of approximately 236 played in the evening, among them several who had busted in the afternoon, and about 130 of those players made it through.
Late registration remains open until the start of play on Sunday, with players busting from Day 1b who did not play in the earlier session also able to reenter a second time.
The reentry format and late registration option led to an interesting scene near the end of the first Day 1a session, as both Will Failla and Dwyte Pilgrim entered Day 1a right at the start of the final Level 9. Both players were looking to accumulate chips quickly or bust, and as it happened the latter occurred for both in short order.
Failla’s knockout came in a somewhat standard spot when he found himself quickly all in with the 
versus an opponent’s 
. The board brought the 
to pair Failla’s opponent, and "The Thrill" was gone.
Meanwhile, Pilgrim was pushing from the start as well, and before long he found himself having committed much of his remaining stack by the turn in a hand in which the board showed 
. There was about 9,000 in the middle when the river brought the 
to put a full house on board. Pilgrim responded by pushing in his remaining 7,000, and his opponent called. Pilgrim had the 
— he was playing the board — while his opponent had the 
to send Pilgrim joining Failla on the rail.
However, both Failla and Pilgrim came back for Day 1b where things went better for both players. Pilgrim built his stack up during the first few levels before slipping back to finish with 21,600. Meanwhile, Failla’s day was highlighted by a late hand in which he managed to crack the pocket aces of Chris Reslock with the after a flop came 
. Thanks largely to that hand, Failla will begin Day 2 with 65,500. Reslock also will be coming back to a healthy stack of 83,100 to start Day 2.
Among the others surviving to Sunday were Jamie Kerstetter, Lee Childs, Jacob Coker, Brian Ali, Aaron Massey, Victor Ramdin, Drazen Ilich, Jared Jaffe, Amanda Musemeci and
"Miami" John Cernuto. Meanwhile, players who have fired two bullets and hit the rail for good include Matt Glantz, Josh Brikis, Kurt Jewell and Sirous Jamshidi.
Day 2 kicks off at noon ET Sunday when play resumes. Be sure to check in then for live updates on PokerNews as coverage of the 2012-13 WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City Main Event continues.
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