News
JOSH TURNER LEADS COUNCIL BLUFFS MAIN EVENT AFTER DAY 1
Joshua Turner is looking to win his fifth career gold ring and second of the series.
Council Bluffs, Iowa (April 10, 2016) -- Day 1 of the Main Event has officially come to a close as players in Flight B bag their chips. Bagging as the Flight B chip leader was Joshua Turner (pictured). He managed to accumulate 282,500 chips over the course of the day. Turner will be the overall chip leader heading into Day 2. Flight A's chip leader was Maurice Hawkins (bagged 245,000). Turner and Hawkins are the hottest players at the series right now. Turner won his fourth career WSOP Circuit gold ring Friday by defeating a field of 124 entries in Event #10 - $580 No-Limit Hold'em. On Thursday Hawkins won his fifth career WSOP gold ring by defeating 265 players in the $365 Monster Stack event. The only other gold ring winner from this series to bag was Jason Seitz (37,500) Seitz was the winner of Event #6 - $365 No-Limit Hold'em.
Other notables advancing to Day 2 with above average chip stacks include Ting Ho (163,000), Janet Fitzgerald (162,500), Rex Clinkscales (152,000), Ray Henson (135,500), Neil Scott (132,000), and Ryan Tepen (101,000). One other featured player advancing is Blair Hinkle (154,900). Hinkle has won this event three times in the past and heads to Day 2 with 154,900 chips and shot at winning this tournament for a record extending fourth time.
Not everyone was as lucky as the names above. The Circuit's all-time gold ring leaders did not fair well in Flight B. All-time gold ring winner, Alex Masek (nine rings) busted twice in Flight B as well as eight-time gold ring winners, Ari Engel and Valentin Vornicu. Last year's champion in this event, Michelle Chin, busted out and will not be defending her title.
There tournament drew 321 entries generating a $481,500 prizepool. The participation was up 36% over last year and the prizepool increased by over $100,000. The eventual champion will earn $113,152, a WSOP Circuit gold ring and an automatic berth into the 2016 Global Casino Championship. Day 1 saw a total of 63 survivors between the two starting flights. The top 33 spots will be paid Sunday with a min cash valued at $2,875.
The complete payout structure can be found here.
Live updates from the Horseshoe Council Bluffs Main Event will be available at WSOP.com for the remainder of the event.
Here's a look at the top five chip counts heading into Day 2:
1. Joshua Turner - 282,500
2. Maurice Hawkins - 245,000
3. Daniel Shea - 237,000
4. Daniel Jensen - 227,000
5. David Huebner - 122,000
Full chip counts are available here.
