Junglen Fever

Suddenly the performance of Daniel Negreanu on Day 1a of Event #1 (£1,500 No Limit Hold'em) at the 2008 World Series of Poker-Europe isn’t nearly as impressive as first thought. American Adam Junglen came out with all guns blazing on Day 1b and wound up with 83,600 chips, nearly 9,000 more than Negreanu.

Junglen built his stack throughout the day but if not for the for the fateful river card on one hand early on, his day would have been done. Junglen put his tournament life at risk after a flop Js-9c-3h only to see his opponent call with pocket nines. Junglen, holding pocket aces, figured his day was done until the river when a third ace saved Junglen, doubled him up and sent him on his way to a dominating day.

The second biggest stack of the day is 19,100 behind Junglen. Remy Beichel had a good day that was overshadowed by Junglen. Biechel joins James Akenhead, Costas Artemi and Phil Laak as the only players above 50,000 in chips. The second starting day featured a much bigger field with 219 players making their way to the felt.

Some of the big names who won’t be in the running for the bracelet after being eliminated on Day 1b include John Phan, Howard Lederer, Allen Cunningham and Annette Obrestad.

The total prize pool ₤615,000 ($1.125 Million US) with first place taking home ₤144,218 ($264,000 US). A total of 45 players will be paid. The remaining 88 players will get back at it Sunday at 1 pm London time.

Top Chip Counts from Day 1b

1. Adam Junglen   84,200
2. Daniel Nutt   74,500
3. Remy Biechel   65,500
4. James Akenhead   58,800
5. Costas Artemi   57,300
6. Salim Ghozali   52,700
7. Phil Laak   50,000
8. Fuad Serhan   40,700
9. Jesper Hougaard   38,800
10. Thomas Marchese   36,200