The World Poker Tour returned to Jacksonville for the $5,000 bestbet Scramble for the first time since 2019. Covid and scheduling issues contributed to a three-year hiatus from the Main Tour but the venue welcomed back the tour with 165 entrants for Day 1A. After ten levels of play Bin Weng leads the remaining 55 players with 411,500.
“It was not a smooth sailing day for me, I got off to bad start,” Bin Weng said. “I’m on my third bullet but I bagged over 400,000. I’ll probably hang out with my friends tomorrow and maybe come in to play a little cash game if I have time."
Weng’s joined at the top of the counts with Sean Cotter and Ian O’Hara. Ray Qartomy, Blake Bohn, Harrison Gimbel and Byron Kaverman all survived the day and return for Day 2 on Sunday.
WPT Ambassadors Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen both played today but only Neeme bagged up at the end of play. Jake Schwartz, Maurice Hawkins, Cord Garcia and TK Miles took a shot in Day 1A but were eliminated.
WPT's return to bestbet Jacksonville
Faded Spade playing card founder and Floridian Tom Wheaton advanced to Day 2. “I’m so happy with WPT’s return, bestbet Jacksonville was always a staple for such a long time,” he said. “Poker has grown so much in Central Florida and for north/central Florida bestbet is it. To have it back here in such a big way means a lot for the Florida community.”
Poker in the dark
A short power outage made the start of the day a little more interesting at the first break. But it only netted a 20 minute delay, the emergency power kicked on, everything was rebooted and play continued.
Weng is WPT’s hottest player this season with three final tables and two wins. He’s a virtual lock for this season’s Player of the Year title.
Day 1B is scheduled to have cards flying at noon and the field will play ten levels. The advancing players from both Day flights resume on Sunday for Day 2 at noon. Monday’s Day 3 will play down to six players and the final table is live streamed at 2:00pm on Tuesday.
Top Ten Chip Counts
- Bin Weng – 411,500
- Sean Cotter – 387,500
- Fred Normand – 382,500
- Ian O’Hara – 369,000
- Henry Hull – 310,000
- Chad Gardner – 296,000
- Bryce McVay – 278,500
- Jon Connors – 249,000
- Manuel Fritz – 248,000
- Jeremy Joseph – 235,000
Photos: WPT
