The WPT World Championship included a record-breaking $15 million guaranteed prize pool, making it the highest live poker tournament guarantee in history. In order to prevent overlay, tournament organizers need 1,531 participants. Outside of the World Series of Poker Main Event, tournaments with a $10,000 (or $10,400 in this instance) prize pool seldom draw more than a thousand entrants. It seems this won’t be an issue in our universe. Day 1A had 615 entrants, Day 1B had 1,052, and Wednesday will have still another beginning flight, therefore the guarantee has already been broken. The current prize pool is over $16.3 million, and if Day 1C follows the trend of most major events, it will likely be larger than both of the previous opening days combined.
With his 1.551 million chips, Aryan Oliveira holds a commanding lead over the other 438 survivors from Day 1B. Not only does he have almost twice the chips of his closest competition, but he is also the only Day 1B player with more than a million (Justin Bonomo, the leader from Day 1A, just made it over a million).
Near the conclusion of the night, Oliveira had more than a million in chips and began to pull away from the pack with two huge pot wins. WPT.com reports that with Q-J-5-Q-K on the board, he bet 90,000 and was called by a single player holding 140,000 chips. Oliveira had T-5, excellent for the second nut flush, and his opponent, holding pocket Aces, had to be disappointed.
Some hands later, with much less money in the pot, the same opponent pushed all-in with 9-6 on a flop of 9-8-7. Not terrible, with the best possible pair and a potential straight draw. However, Oliveira had a bottom set of 7s. The 8 on the turn handed him a complete house and effectively ended his opponent’s chances. All of their chips were taken away and added to Oliveira’s.
Once again, a massive field of competitors convenes at the Wynn Las Vegas at 11:00 a.m. local time on Day 1C with the hopes of getting off to a good start in their pursuit of the WPT World Championship. On Wednesday, we’ll have a third beginning wave for everyone who missed the previous two. And each flight is only allowed one re-entry. Those who made it through Day 1A or Day 1B must use the chips they bagged and cannot play again on Day 1C.
World Poker Tour 2022 Day 1B Chip Ranks
- Aryan Oliveira – 1,551,000
- Andrew Crookston – 879,000
- Gin Tillman – 825,000
- Nick Yunis – 782,000
- Dan Smith – 746,000
- Scott Wellenbach – 660,000
- Matt Stout – 657,500
- Kharlin Sued – 652,500
- James Carroll – 610,000
Source: www.pokernewsdaily.com