Robert W. Cheung and J.C. Tran Battle for the Chip Lead
in WSOP Circuit Championship at Lake Tahoe
Day One ends as many of the biggest names go bust;
41 players set to return for Day Two
Heavenly Lake Tahoe is the final stop on the 2005-06 World Series of Poker Circuit. Harvey's Lake Tahoe Casino-Resort (owned by Harrah's Entertainment) is the site of the last major poker event before the 37th annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, which starts later this month. This was the second-consecutive year that Harvey's has hosted a WSOP Circuit event. Last year's tournament was one of the largest poker events ever held in Northern Nevada.
This year's $10,000 buy-in championship began with 110 entries, creating a total prize pool of $1,034,000. Two former world champions entered the main event - 2000 world poker champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and 1995 world poker champion Dan Harrington. Former WSOP gold bracelet winners included Billy Baxter, "Miami John" Cernuto, Allen Cunningham, Chau Giang, Barry Greenstein, John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, and Bob Stupak.
Other former major tournament winners in the main event included Don Barton, Andy Bloch, Steve Brecher, Chad Brown, Tony Cousineau, Erick Lindgren, Joe Sebok, David Singer, Gavin Smith, J.C. Tran, and David Williams.
However, most of the big names busted-out on Day One leaving a wide mix of players with different backgrounds and levels of experience to return for Day Two.
Players battled for nearly 12 hours on Day One. Currently, at the top of the standings is Robert W. Cheung (a.k.a. "RCW") from Canada, barely ahead of Sacramento's top poker pro – JC Tran. Cheung leads Tran by a slim margin – 151,000 to 150,100 in chips. Currently in third place is Brain Fidler. Six players have over 100,000 in chips.
Cheung is relatively new to the tournament poker scene. He is fresh off a victory at a major tournament in Las Vegas two month ago (winning $46,665). Meanwhile, J.C. Tran is no stranger to championship final tables. Tran won a WSOP Circuit event last year at the Rio. Also of note is the always-dangerous Dan Harrington, low on chips with 25,100, but still a threat.
Play is expected to get more intense over the next three days. The tournament will continue tomorrow until 27 players remain. Prize money will go to the top nine finishers – including first prize, $372,240. Play resumes tomorrow at 12 noon PST.
Interesting Note: The 2006 Tournament of Champions will be held later this month. The TOC is a $2 million freeroll tournament limited to just 27 players. Each WSOP Circuit championship winner, including the winner of the Lake Tahoe main event, is invited to play. Given the added prize money, each and every seat in the Lake Tahoe Circuit event was worth $673 in value-added money ($2,000,000 / 27 / 110 = $673).
Report by Nolan Dalla (Media Director)
End of Day One Standings (Chip Counts):
Name Hometown Chip Count Table Seat
Robert (RCW) Cheung Vancouver, BC 151,000 45 8
Tran, JC Sacramento, CA 150,100 43 3
Fidler, Brian Stamford, CT 138,000 42 5
Lineberry, Charles San Antonio, TX 129,300 45 5
Scott, Justin Detroit, MI 120,100 41 9
Russell, Matt Houston, TX 110,600 41 1
Keikoan, Matt Richmond, CA 93,800 42 7
Olson, Carl Seattle, WA 80,300 44 2
Spear, Stuart Reno, NV 73,700 45 4
Edler, Bill Las Vegas, NV 72,300 42 9
Hamrick, Dean East Lansing, MI 68,300 42 1
Chaconas, Shawn New York, NY 68,000 42 6
Van Horton, Jerry Capitan, NM 64,400 43 1
Le, Tony Reno, NV 58,400 43 5
Yawitz, Jess St. Louis, MO 54,700 44 9
Struck, Darrell Dallas, TX 54,000 43 9
Barton, Don Pahrump, NV 45,600 41 2
Rebello, Todd Oak Bluffs, MA 44,000 41 7
West, Patrick Portland, OR 43,100 43 2
Stokes, Jamin Grand Rapids, MI 37,400 42 4
Chau Giang Las Vegas, NV 37,000 45 9
Greenstein, Barry RPV, CA 36,900 42 2
Phillips, Kevin Acampo, CA 35,900 44 5
Brecher, Steve Reno, NV 35,600 41 3
Baskin, Clint Stockton, CA 34,000 44 3
Stupak, Bob Las Vegas, NV 32,400 44 7
Hayes, Nathan Elm Creek, NE 31,900 43 4
DuBois, Joe Green Bay, WI 28,600 44 4
Smith, Danny Folsom, CA 26,800 45 1
Juanda, John Las Vegas, NV 26,100 43 6
Harrington, Dan Los Angeles, CA 25,100 45 6
Brewster, John Dublin, CA 24,100 41 8
Giannone, Joseph Citrus Hts., CA 23,700 44 8
Bayha, Michael San Andreas, CA 22,700 42 8
Hubbard, Joe Nacogdoches, TX 20,500 45 2
Harmetz, Dan Sacramento, CA 20,200 43 8
Keikoan, Todd Las Vegas, NV 19,500 44 6
Reed, Jerry Palo Alto, CA 18,900 41 4
Saca, George Folsom, CA 18,700 41 5
Mayfield, Scott Granite Pass, OR 14,700 44 1
Bell, Chris Raleigh, NC 13,800 45 3 |
