Sunday, August 28, 2016 12:51 AM Local Time
Julian Sacks Bags Chip Lead in Day 1B
Julian Sacks
Ledyard, Conn. (27 August 2016) - Day 1B of the Main Event at the World Series of Poker Circuit at Foxwoods is in the books, and the chip leader is Julian Sacks. Sacks vaulted to the top of the leaderboard right at the end of the night, moving from a slightly better than average chip stack into the clear chip lead. He finished the day with 437,500 in chips, well ahead of his closest competitor.
In second place behind Sacks is Jose Montes. Montes won the Main Event at the Choctaw Circuit earlier this year, and he heads a big group of previous Circuit Main Event winners advancing to Day 2, some of whom have accomplished the feat here at Foxwoods.
Montes played on Friday in Day 1A, finishing the day with a huge lead. He advanced to Day 2 with 364,000 in chips, and no one else was within 100,000. The next closest player was Samuel Taylor, who finished with 238,500. Taylor has also won a Circuit Main Event in the past. In fact, he’s the defending champion in this event, and it’s just barely more than a year since his victory here.
Before Taylor’s triumph a year ago, the previous time the Circuit came to Foxwoods, the Main Event champ was David Kluchman. Kluchman also advanced to Day 2. He played in Day 1B Saturday, finishing the day with 111,000 in chips.
Montes, Taylor, and Kluchman will be joined tomorrow by David Cossio (107,500) and Johannsy Joseph (84,500), both of whom came close to joining the club of champions, but fell just short. Cossio finished runner up in the biggest Circuit Main Event in history. And Joseph finished second place here at Foxwoods last year behind Samuel Taylor. Jeremy Meacham (sixth place last year), also advanced to Day 2.
The tournament began Friday at noon with Day 1A. There were 162 entries on Friday, and another 298 on Saturday’s Day 1B. The 460 total entries produced a $690,000 prize pool, well in excess of the half-million-dollar guarantee. On Friday, 30 players survived to make Day 2, and they’ll be joined by 50 from Day 1B. The top 54 players will make the money. The eventual winner will earn $148,350, along with a WSOP Circuit ring and a free entry into the 2017 WSOP Global Casino Championship.
Other players who made it to Day 2 include David Paredes (105,000), Eric Rivkin (127,000), Vinny Pahuja (46,000), Matthew Wantman (83,000), Tim Reilly (61,000), and Dena Pearlman (76,000).
All 80 players who made it through Day 1 will return on Sunday at noon to play in a combined field.
Here are the top 10 players to begin Day 2. A full list of advancing players will be posted to the Reports tab later tonight:
1 – Julian Sacks – 437,500
2 – Jose Montes – 364,000
3 – Muhammad Rahim – 331,000
4 – John Shin – 305,500
5 – Jeremy Meacham – 285,000
6 – Robert Corcione – 255,000
7 – Long Tran – 239,000
8 – Samuel Taylor – 238,500
9 – Vinny Dang – 209,500
10 – Solomon Yi – 196,000