Published first on PokerNews.Com
On Saturday, the World Series of Poker Circuit presented by Southern Comfort 100 Proof continued with the Harrah’s Philadelphia Main Event. Amid the droves of horse-bettors in house for the Kentucky Derby, a grand total of 333 entrants showed up over two starting flights to participate in the $300,000 guaranteed event.
Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Hometown | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rachel Kranz | New York, NY | 143,700 |
| 2 | Aditya Prasetyo | Amherst, MA | 115,800 |
| 3 | Andrew Rudnik | Arlington, VA | 97,800 |
| 4 | Sterling Savill | Dover, FL | 93,800 |
| 5 | Joseph Mckeehen | North Wales, PA | 88,200 |
| 6 | Kyle Bowker | Walton, NY | 85,000 |
| 7 | Aaron Overton | Philadelphia, PA | 85,000 |
| 8 | Jonas Wexler | Southampton, PA | 85,000 |
| 9 | Asher Conniff | Brooklyn, NY | 78,300 |
| 10 | Nathan Parsons | Pittsburgh, PA | 78,000 |
While Andrew Rudnik was able to claw to the top of the Day 1a flight and bag up 97,800 for the flight’s big stack, it was ultimately Rachel Kranz who grabbed hold of the overall chip lead when she absolutely ran over the Day 1b flight and finished the evening with 143,700.
Day 1a saw 191 total entries with 101 players advancing while Day 1b had 142 entrants, 73 of which bagged up for Day 2. The two flights combined will see a Day 2 field of 174 returning players.
Kranz began her dominance early on in the day and seemed to trend upward consistently as the flight wore on. She tweeted about several big hands throughout the day, including her ace-king sucking out on pocket kings early. Interestingly enough, Kranz finished as one of the Day 1 top stacks in this very event last year, but was unable to cash. This year, however, she’s assumed the top position and has here eyes set on a better performance.
The top story to emerge from the Day 1a flight is that of 2012 WSOP Circuit Chester winner Christopher Bonn and runner-up Ken Silberstein. Bonn won his first and only gold WSOP Circuit gold ring in this event last year and will be returning for Day 2 with a stack of 45,100. Silberstein, on the other hand, was a force to be reckoned with all day. After cracking a set of aces early on with a straight, we came upon Seilberstein engaged in a critical pot against an unknown opponent. With the blinds at 100/200/25, the flop read 
, and action was checked to Silberstein. He bet 1,600, his opponent check-raised to 4,300, and Silberstein wasted little time making it 11,000 to go. His opponent snapped back with a raise all in for not much more, and Silberstein called.
Silberstein: 
Opponent: 
Silberstein needed to fade diamonds on the subsequent streets and did exactly that when the 
hit the turn and the 
finished off the board on the river. Silberstein continued to build his stack as the day went on, and he will be taking 75,100 into Day 2.
Joining Bonn and Silberstein on the felt for Day 2 include Day 1a participants Joseph McKeehen (88,200), Aaron Overton (85,000), Jonas Wexler (85,000), Tom Christopher (73,200), Ari Engel (68,700), Matt Glantz (36,300), Allen Kessler (27,000) and Michael Esposito (17,100).
While those recognizable names made it from the first starting flight, several others were able to find their way through to Day 2 via the second flight. Players like Aditya Prasetyo (115,800), Michael Taylor (60,000), Rex Clinkscales (59,800), Mitch Schock (45,600), Kenny Nguyen (33,800), Allie Prescott (32,200) and Beverly Cheney (18,300) will all be returning to the felt for the second day of play.
Fortune smiled on the returning 174 players, but not everyone to take a seat in the Harrah’s room was as lucky. Among those to fail at advancing to the second day are last year’s third-place finisher Pete Kaemmerlen, Doug Carli, Robert Cheung, Cord Garcia, Chris Reslock, Roland Israelashvili and Octo-Niner Russell Thomas.
Play will resume at Harrah’s Philadelphia at 2 p.m. EST where the final 174 players will return once more to do battle on the felt. Be sure to stay tuned to all of the latest updates here on PokerNews.
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