Kristy Arnett Among Top Stacks in First-Ever WSOPC Aruba Main Event
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It's exciting times at the World Series of Poker International Circuit event in Aruba as for the first time in many years, a large poker tournament was held in the country. Tournament organizers and staff at the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Casino and Resort held their breath as they weren't quite sure what to expect, but the numbers didn't disappoint as a total of 133 entries were recorded for the first of two flights, and 136 for Day 1b.
22 players made it through from each respective flight, leaving the field three off the money. The remaining 44 players all have their sights set on the first-place prize of $95,061 and the WSOP gold ring, which will be awarded on Saturday, November 23.
WSOPC Aruba Main Event - Top 10 Stacks After Day 1a & 1b
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Russell | United States | 418,000 |
| 2 | Friman Villalona | United States | 413,000 |
| 3 | Dave Grandin | United States | 313,000 |
| 4 | Steven Fuhrman | United States | 256,000 |
| 5 | Kristy Arnett | United States | 234,000 |
| 6 | Clyde Hinton | United States | 216,000 |
| 7 | Charles Furey | United States | 209,000 |
| 8 | Vic Adams | Canada | 188,000 |
| 9 | Jeet Moenesar | - | 157,000 |
| 10 | Kevin Rines | United States | 156,000 |
Day 1a Action
After 17 levels, the field reached its 16% threshold and play was halted with just 22 players remaining. Among those bagging chips, Matt Russell and Friman Villanola were the two front runners with 418,000 chips and 413,000 chips respectively.
Russell had a successful summer in Las Vegas where he made two final tables but is still searching for his first piece of WSOP jewelry, whether that comes in the form of a ring or a bracelet. He made a late charge after the dinner break and finished on top of the counts. As for Villanola, he picked up two massive pots throughout the day, one of which brought an end to Day 1a. Villanola flopped bottom set against top two pair and it was no doubt that the chips were going in the middle.
Some other big stacks making it through to Day 2 include Dave Grandin (313,000), Charles Furey (289,000), Kristy Arnett (234,000) and power poker couple in Aruba, Clyde Hinton (216,000) and Debbie Hinton (155,000). Both Clyde and Debbie put on quite the show today on separate tables as they were eliminating players left, right, and center towards the end of the night. Clyde is coming off his first WSOP Circuit victory in Event #8 where he claimed over $10,000 while Debbie has also had a successful series this week.
Day 1b Action
Another action-packed 10 hours of poker in the Main Event saw 136 entries showing up for Day 1b, slightly surpassing the number of Day 1a. The $250,000 guaranteed prize pool was smashed and tournament organizers couldn't be happier.
Play concluded for the night once again with just 22 players remaining and Tomas Teran topped them all with 413,000 chips. He was up to over 440,000 at one point after picking up aces versus kings versus sixes in a three-way all-in pot. Teran held on with the best hand which catapulted him to the top of the counts. He will be only one big blind behind overall chip leader Russell who bagged up 418,000 on Day 1a.
Not far behind Teran is Craig Trost who accumulated a healthy stack of 400,000 chips. Trost, who already has two WSOP Circuit rings to his name, scored the biggest knockout of the tournament thus far when he was also victorious in a three-way all-in. Trost picked up jacks against Greg Merson's kings and another player's ace-queen. A jack on the flop put Trost in the lead and he secured the double knockout. With over $300,000 in career earnings, Trost will be looking to add a third ring to his resume along with his largest career score.
Some other notables moving on to Day 2 include Michael Hanson (296,000), Andrew Hills (291,000), Ray Henson (251,000), Jason James (168,000), Andrew Moreno (106,000), Garry Gates (94,000), and Heather Alcorn (69,000). They will join the other 22 players from Day 1a and will only be three places off the money when the action gets underway.
Unfortunately for some others, the day was not as kind to Ronnie Bardah, Mark Kroon, Wendy Freedman, Facundo Vazquez, June Jenkins, Damjan Radonov, and Kimberly McClymont who all failed to advance.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back to cover the final day of action leading up to the eventual winner. Check back for all of the live updates and to find who will be crowned the inaugural WSOP Circuit Aruba champion.
