VALENTIN VORNICU CONTENDING AFTER DAY 1 AT PH

The two starting flights are complete for the $1,675 WSOP Circuit Main Event at Planet Hollywood.

Friday's Day 1A flight generated 314 entries, and another 531 joined Saturday's Day 1B to bring the total field to 845 across both. That creates a prizepool worth $1,267,500 to be shared by the final 90 players.

Ali Imsirovic bagged up the big stack of 383,000 chips to set the pace after Day 1A, and his lead held through Saturday's session, too. Valentin Vornicu finished Day 1B with 296,500, good for second place heading into Day 2.

Here's the overnight top five:

1. Ali Imsirovic - 383,000
2. Valentin Vornicu - 296,500
3. Rodger Johnson - 277,500
4. Joe Reddick - 274,000
5. Fernando Galvan - 264,000

The field in chase is packed with players who've had good success under the WSOP banner and elsewhere.

Bracelet winner Ankush Manadvia ended Day 1A with 228,000 chips, putting him in ninth place entering Day 2.

Sean Yu is a bracelet winner, too and a three-time victor on the Circuit, as well. Including this event last year. The defending champ is right behind Mandavia with 225,000 chips.

Two-time bracelet winner Scott Clements is looking to add a second Circuit ring to his own collection, and he'll begin Day 2 with 141,500 chips.

Eric Baldwin (151,000), Jeremy Ausmus (110,000), Barry Shulman (70,000), Cliff Goldkind (53,500), and Kevin Eyster (49,000) are among the other bracelet winners who advanced through the Day 1 flights.

Former November Niner Dan Sindelar is right there with 155,500 chips himself, followed by the likes of James Carroll (106,000), Jordan Cristos (101,500), and Sorel Mizzi (87,500).

As for Circuit heroes, one needs to look no further than 10-time ring winner Valentin Vornicu (pictured). The California standout is tied for the Circuit's all-time wins lead, and he's put himself in reasonable position to chase down another title. Vornicu was way out in front of the Day 1B field before stumbling a bit toward the end. He ended the day with 296,500 chips.

Double ring winner Brett Bader will also return to action near the top with 199,000 chips after a successful Day 1A campaign. Two-time winner Kevin Calenzo (189,500) and three-timer Bryan Devonshire (186,500) had productive Day 1B sessions, finishing well above the chip average themselves. They're followed by Wendy Freedman (168,000), Stephen Bierman (144,500), Sal DiCarlo (101,500), Marshall White (77,500), and too many others to name.

Day 2 chip counts  |  Day 2 seat draw

The 160 players who survived the starting flights will return to action Sunday for 10 more levels of play. Blinds will be 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante when play resumes, putting the average stack just north of 35 big blinds.

Only the final 90 players will finish in the money, so bursting the bubble is first up on the day's to-do list. A top prize of nearly $250,000 will go to the eventual winner.

Day 2 begins at 12 p.m.