Event #2: The COLOSSUS II - $565 No-Limit Hold'em

 
Dan O'Brien is one of the notable big stacks advancing from 1A

David Polop leads after Day 1A of the Colossus, building a stack of 513,000 chips and a significant lead through the first 18 levels of play. He and the other 120 survivors will have two days off before returning for Day 2.

Last year's inaugural Colossus set a new high-water mark for live poker tournaments, drawing a total field of 22,374 entries across four starting flights. The popular event is back again for 2016, and it's looking to break its own record for attendance. This year's event features two additional starting flights and an increased prizepool that’s guaranteed to reach at least $7 million.

Day 1A began at 10:00 this morning, the first of six starting flights. By the time registration closed, 3,249 players had registered, a strong turnout for a Thursday morning. Among the early risers was the reining champion, Cord Garcia, who earned more than $600,000 and his first gold bracelet in this event’s colossal debut one year ago. Garcia could not get much going today, though, and he was eliminated in plenty of time to join the afternoon's Day 1B flight. Others who were out early include fellow bracelet winners Barny Boatman, Carlos Mortensen, Noah Schwartz, Barry Schulman, Annette Obrestad, and Ylon Schwartz.

Another change to this year’s format includes paying the top 15 percent of each flight, so the money bubble burst right around dinner time today. The final 488 players earned a share of the prizepool with a min-cash worth $833. Some of those who were eliminated with a small profit include bracelet winners Max Pescatori, Dominik Nitsche, Scott Davies, and 2009 Main Event Champion Joe Cada, along with John Morgan, Erica Lindgren, Jamie Kerstetter, Faraz Jaka, and Justin Schwartz.

Polop is the man atop the counts, but the surviving field is littered with familiar faces. Fresh off a deep run in a WSOP Circuit Main Event, Seville Hale is one of Polop's nearest challengers with 320,000 chips. Behind them are the likes of Justin Zaki (290,000), Dan Weinman (255,000), Dan O'Brien (216,000), Maria Ho (186,000), Rep Porter (185,000), and John Monnette (150,000). Tony Yazbeck, a Tony Award nominee in 2015, also advanced through Day 1A, finishing with 58,000 chips. A full list of survivors can be found in the Reports Tab.

Friday and Saturday are days off for this group of survivors, but the Rio will still be filled to the brim, with tens of thousands more players expected for flights 1C through 1F. Survivors from all six flights will return Sunday for the combined Day 2.

On a flop of    , Dan O'Brien leads out for 17,000 from the small blind. David Farber is in middle position and immediately goes all in. O'Brien calls for the rest of his chips. 

The   turn improves Farber's hand, but O'Brien's aces up are still good. The insignificant   river secures O'Brien's late-night double up. 

Dan O'Brien - 216,000
David Farber - 140,000

Poker Hall of Famer Billy Baxter raises and John Monnette moves all in for 62,000. Baxter calls when action comes back to him.

Monnette:   
Baxter:   

The board runs out       and Monnette spikes an ace on the river to double up.

John Monnette - 130,000
Billy Baxter - 27,500

Tony Yazbeck raises from the button and the small blind shoves to see Yazbeck call with almost the same stack size.

Yazbeck:   
Small blind:   

"I can't fold the ace-ten," the small blind says and finds a very promising flop    . Both the   turn and   river change nothing and Yazbeck lets out a "I take a chop," his opponent replies "I am extremely happy with the chop."

Tony Yazbeck - 75,000

The very same player that had doubled up through Hector Rodriguez only minutes ago now opens to 20,000 from under the gun and Rodriguez asks him for the remaining stack behind before announcing all in. The opponent calls for around 65,000 with    and Rodriguez has a flip with   .

After the     flop, the player at-risk is left with running outs to stay in. However, it is all over on the   turn, making the   river a mere formality.

Hector Rodriguez - 500,000

A raising war breaks out on the table of Daniel Weinman and Hector Rodriguez, all initial bets are already pulled into the middle. This includes the shove of a short stack in the big blind and the call of Weinman, before Rodriguez then reraises all in himself with a massive stack. Weinman folds and tells the table he allegedly had pocket tens.

Big blind:   
Rodriguez:   

The board runs out       and Rodriguez scores the knockout.

One hand later, a short stack shoves from under the gun for 30,000 and Rodriguez calls. After everyone else folds, the short stack flips over    and Rodriguez turns over   . The       board gives the all-in player a nine-high straight and the pot, and Rodriguez suffers a small setback to his stack.

Hector Rodriguez - 370,000

On a board of     , the pot is around 30,000 when big stack Hector Rodriguez shoves all in. It's effectively a shove for twice the size of the pot, as his opponent has around 60,000 behind. After contemplating for a while, his opponent elects to call.

Hector Rodrguez:   
Opponent:   

Rodriguez is currently ahead with a pair of jacks, but has to dodge a plethora of outs from his opponent. The river   is one of those blanks, shipping the huge pot to the man from Spain.

Hector Rodriguez - 300,000

Neil Griffith raises from early position a player in late position calls, as does Billy Baxter in the big blind. On the     flop, Baxter checks and Griffith bets 13,000. The third player in the hand folds and Baxter calls. Both players then check down the   turn and   river.

Baxter shows    for a busted flush draw, while Griffith turns over    for eights and threes.

Neil Griffith - 223,000
Billy Baxter - 180,000

As the final few levels of the first Colossus flight emerge over the horizon, some of the remaining 216 players find themselves with a difficult decision to make.

Do they forfeit their stack at the end of the day and take the min-cash, giving them the option of registering for a later flight, or do they take their stack through to Day 2, guaranteeing them a higher cash but a potentially short stack when play restarts?