JOSH TURNER LEADS LUMIERE MAIN EVENT AS 80 ADVANCE TO DAY 2
St. Louis, Mo. (March 1, 2015) — The first of two starting flights in the $1,675 World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event at Lumiere Place began Friday at noon CT. The opener, which drew 194 players, was complemented by Saturday’s Flight B which helped surge the field well past the 400-player mark and top it out at 415. After two days and nearly 24 hours of poker, just 80 players remain with Josh Turner leading the action.

Turner bagged an impressive 400,500 chips and sits more than 100,000 clear of second place. The next closest stack belongs to Byron Hubert who claims 261,000. From there Flight B’s chip leader Herb Montalbano is in third with 228,500, Russ Head in fourth with 219,500 and three-time ring winner Josh Reichard in fifth with 203,500. These five top the counts as the only players holding more than 200,000.

Others to play their way to a Day 2 berth include Ryan Tepen (194,000), Michael Sanders (148,500), Yuval Bronshtein (128,500), bracelet winner Tom Franklin (109,000), William Byrnes (95,500), seven-time ring winner Ari Engel (93,000), Ben Beighle (93,000) and Yossi Azulay (68,000). For five-time ring winners Kevin McColgan (59,000) and Kyle Cartwright (33,000), bracelet winner Chris Tryba (125,500) and two-time ring winner Chris Conrad (121,500), the second time was a charm as each re-entered and improved after busting their first buy in.

While the above players are still in contention for the tournament’s top prize, others were not so fortunate. Jeff Fielder and Mark Fisher were among to use their both entries in Flight A, while Dennis Phillips, Zal Irani, Neil Scott, Justin Kruger, Josh Wisdom, Jarod Ludemann and BJ McBrayer went the traditional bust-Flight-A-re-enter-Flight-B route and came up dry.

Day 2 begins Sunday at 2 p.m. Each of the remaining players is jockeying for one 45 in-the-money berths. A min cash earns $2,814 while the tournament’s victor is set to head home with $136,945, a Circuit gold ring and a berth in the National Championship.

Live updates throughout the tournament’s completion with be available right here on WSOP.com.
 
Here’s a look at the top 10 stacks heading to Day 2:

Play begins with blinds of 1,500/3,000 and a 500 ante

1. Josh Turner - 400,500
2. Byron Hubert - 261,000
3. Herb Montalbano - 228,500
4. Russ Head - 219,500
5. Josh Reichard - 203,500
6. Nate Ralston - 196,000
7. Ryan Tepen - 194,000
8. Michael Samner - 193,500
9. Michael Telker - 190,000
10. Shawn Quillin - 173,000

Complete chip counts are available on WSOP.com.