The WPT500 Day 1B has officially come to a close!

Although there were 176 entries (with 29 re-entries) to start the flight, only 29 players remain after 16 levels. Congratulations to all the players still in the hunt! They will be joining all the other Day 1 survivors at the start of Day 2, which kicks off on Monday, October 29th at 3 pm.

The top stack so far is definitely owned by Mike Lafable. While the chip count will be finalized shortly, he has at least 650,000 in chips, easily doubling his closest competitor. That player is Jason Mandanici-Turcot, who has approximately 330,000 in chips. However, there were plenty of others that have healthy stacks and will be in a good position to start Day 2.

View the full Combined Day 1 Results here.

Speaking of which, there are still plenty of opportunities to qualify for Day 2, the first of which is tomorrow the Day 1C event at noon. There will be 2 flights on both Saturday and Sunday (at noon and 6 pm each day) as well as a Turbo Day 1 on Monday at 11 am, lasting only 4 hours.

Come on down and try your luck (and skill)!

As we wind down the WPT Day 1B event, there are less than 30 players still alive and playing, hoping to secure a spot on next week’s Day 2. One of the early chip leaders in the tournament, Ramsey Belmaaza, had commanded a solid stack throughout the evening. Unfortunately for him, his night was just ended by Fabio Luongo.

With only 20 minutes to play before the end, five players limped in for the 3,000 bb. Among them were Fabio and Ramsey.

Flop:

Ramsey raised it 10,000, but Fabio came over the top with an all in, easily covering Ramsey’s depleted stack, but still putting himself in danger with the move. Ramsey called, dominating with a Q-7 versus Fabio’s J-7.

But the turn was in Fabio’s favor, as the last two cards came down , pairing Fabio’s jacks for the win. As long as he can keep it for the next 20 minutes, Fabio’s in good shape for Day 2.

As the number of players dips below 50, every hand becomes crucial. And although no one was eliminated, there was an interesting hand on Table 78 just now between Mounzer Awada and William Blais. Mounzer opened the action with a raise of 6,500, with William calling.

Flop:

William checked to open the action, and was raised 8,500. He check-raised Mounzer to 26,000. After a moment, Mounzer called. Fourth street was a , and both players checked. This raised a couple of eyebrows at the table, considering the fact that William had just check-raised a minute earlier.

The river came down a , and again William checked. Mounzer, sensing weakness, decided to go all in. After a solid two minutes of thinking, William called, and it turned out to be prescient. He showed a pair of 9s with a . Incredibly, he beat Mounzer’s 5-7 off suit, a weaker hand than most at the table were expecting.

The final break of Day 1B will take place in a few minutes, once the clock strikes zero in this 12th level of play. Another 4 levels will remain following the break, after which the surviving players will bag their chips onto Day 2.

Photographs from level 11:

When registration closed today just after 11:30 pm, there were 176 official buy ins and 5,280,000 chips in play. As round 11 of 16 began, the average chip stack stood at approximately 64,000, with 82 players still in the hunt.