It was an action-packed day of poker for the 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Rincon Main Event. On Day 1a, 142 players forked over $1,600 with title dreams. After 17 levels of play, only 18 players remained with David Randall leading the way. He bagged up a whopping 330,000 in chips, and he is the only player over 300,000. Amazingly, Randall started the day as chip leader of the $1,000 preliminary event, but finished short of his goal in third place before hopping in the Main Event. The next closest stack is Ryan Leng who bagged up 284,500.
WSOP-C Harrah’s Rincon Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Randall | 330,000 |
| 2 | Ryan Leng | 284,500 |
| 3 | Eric Baldwin | 260,000 |
| 4 | Ray Henson | 185,000 |
| 5 | Casey Stewart | 180,500 |
| 6 | Erik Roussakis | 165,000 |
| 7 | Bobby Suer | 135,000 |
| 8 | Edmond Lin | 131,000 |
| 9 | Paul Hendee | 120,000 |
| 10 | Ted Jivkov | 116,000 |
One of the notable hands won by Randall happened during Level 16 with the blinds at 1,200/2,400/400, and it was one that pushed him up over 200,000. After he opened the pot with a raise to 6,000, an opponent in the cutoff seat reraised to 15,000. Randall called to see the 
flop. Both players checked, and the dealer added the 
on the turn to pair the board. Both players checked again. The river was the 
, and Randall led for 15,000. His opponent made the call, but mucked after Randall tabled the 
.
A handful of big names hit the rail on Day 1a. Some early casualties included Dwyte Pilgrim, Chad Brown, Kathy Liebert, Joe Kuether and five-time ring winner Alexandru Masek. Kuether is the reigning champion of this event, and stated on Twitter that he will be coming back for Day 1b to try to his defend his title once again.
Some of the notables who were eliminated later in the day included David "ODB" Baker, Matt Affleck, Chris Bigler and Jeff Madsen.
It wasn’t all bad news for the notables, though. There are still have a few well-known pros in the fight, including Valentin Vornicu (112,500), Kenna James (109,500), Ray Henson (185,000) and Eric Baldwin (220,000).
All players who were knocked out on Day 1a have the option to reenter on Day 1b, so another solid group of players is expected. Another full 17 levels are on the slate for Saturday, and the survivors will reunite with the lucky 18 from Day 1a to form Day 2 on Sunday. Day 1b will begin at 12:00 p.m. PT, and you can find all of the action in the PokerNews Live Reporting pages.
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