Bryn Kenney Leads After Day 1 of WSOP Event #10

Bryn Kenney leads a group of eight American players after Day 1 of (World Series of Poker) WSOP event #10 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Kenney, from Long Beach in New York, holds 59,000 as the chip leader in the $5,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud tournament, to be closely followed by New Jersey’s Michael Sigel (54,900), Maxwell Troy (54,200), of Los Angeles, Tennessee’s Frank Kassela (53,800) and Vegas-based David Singer (53,400).

Three other US players – four-time bracelet winner Huck Seed (47,700), of Vegas, Pennsylvania’s Paul Volpe (46,900) and Vegas’ Mike Leah (45,700) – fill places six to eight, before Germany’s Marco Liesy holds 45,200 in ninth, just ahead of a ninth States player in 10th placed Matthew Kelly (43,600), of Forth Worth in Texas.

Leader Scores Double Knockout

A total of 145 players signed up to the event to create a prize pool of $681,500, with $190,826 going to the eventual champion and $12,035 to 16th as the first place to make the money. Last year’s event saw 126 entries, but that tournament had a $10,000 buy-in so it is difficult to make comparisons.

A long but exciting opening day came to a conclusion after eight levels were completed and the field had been cut back to 91 survivors for Day 2 of the three-day competition.

Kenney moved atop the leaderboard with a crucial hand involving four players – with the overnight leader eliminating Stud specialists Jennifer Harman and Chad Brown in the process.

Harman (Q♠ 8♥ 7♣ 8♠) and Brown (K♣ 3♠ K♥ 3♣) were all-in on third street against McCormick (10♦ 5♣ 6♥ 4♣) and Kenney (6♣ 9♠ 4♦ A♥), who then bet all the way until McCormick mucked his cards on sixth street. Kenney revealed J♦ J♠ and then caught the A♦ on the river to have a pair of aces, while Brown failed to land another three or king on seventh street to make a full house. Harman, meanwhile, showed K♠ Q for a pair of queens before heading to the rail.

Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier Still in Contention

Meanwhile, French Triple Crown winner Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier (78th on 10,300) and Vermont’s Steve Landfish (23rd on 31,100) – who fought out for the title last year – were sat at the same table for most of the opening day and will return for Day 2.

Also making it through Day 1 were the likes of Jason Mercier (19th on 32,900) and Andy Bloch (36th on 24,800) – as he aims for a second bracelet this year after winning event #7 – as well as event #4 champion Cory Zeidman (37th on 24,700) and two previous winners of the tournament in Freddie Ellis (13th on 36,000) and Chris Reslock (44th on 23,400).

However, Stud specialist Chris Tryba failed to survive the day, as did players such as Phil Ivey, Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi, Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu, Robert Mizrachi, Justin ‘Boosted J’ Smith, Chris Klodnicki and Dan Kelly.

The remaining players will come back today to play down to the eight-handed final table, although Day 2 will end after 10 levels – even if the final table has not been reached.

Top 10 Chip Counts after Day 1 of Event #10

1. Bryn Kenney (USA) – 59,000

2. Michael Sigel (USA) – 54,900

3. Maxwell Troy (USA) – 54,200

4. Frank Kassela (USA) – 53,800

5. David Singer (USA) – 53,400

6. Huck Seed (USA) – 47,700

7. Paul Volpe (USA) – 46,900

8. Mike Leah (USA) – 45,700

9. Marco Liesy (Germany) – 45,200

10. Matthew Kelly (USA) – 43,600