Day 1A of the $3,500 World Poker Tour Seminole Rock ‘N Roll Poker Open Championship drew 696 entrants the day after Thanksgiving. Ten levels of action trimmed the field to 238 advancing players with the eccentric Frank Stepuchin topping the chip counts.
Stephuchin put 394,000 in the bag and has three players nipping at his heels – William Lamar-Boone (391,000), Jesse Lonis (390,500) and Kevin Schulz (388,500).
Both official Day 1 chipleaders receive a Golden Passport to the ClubWPT Gold $5 million freeroll next month at the WPT World Championship.
Never-ending line of notables
Without any competing events on the poker calendar this week, the game’s best players are concentrated in South Florida. Ren Lin, Sean Deeb, Alex Foxen, Chance Kornuth, Lonis, Dan Sepiol, Jason Mercier and Bin Weng were all in the field on Friday.
With so many accomplished players in the field, during the last two levels of the night there were multiple Tables of Death. Table 40 sat Brad Owen, Faraz Jaka, Casey Hatmaker and Lin. Table 15 saw Cherish Andrews, Jake Schwartz, Kristen Foxen and Darren Elias. Another saw Scott Baumstein, Nicky Palma, James Calderaro and Josh Reichard.
Kristen Foxen was one of the many women in the field today and she’s got her eyes set on lofty goals for 2025.
Everyone’s favorite Vegas Daily grinder Jeremy Becker is back in action with the WPT. He revealed today he’s had to give up almost everything in his personal life to climb the poker ladder.
Player of the Year factors
2024 WPT Player of the Year leader Yunkyu Song was in action, as were four other players in the top ten: Eric Afriat, Reichard and Michael Wang were all spotted in the field on Thursday. Song holds a 450-point lead over Afriat, so any deep run in the last three events could lock up the title.
Becker, Steve Karp and Martin Zamani are a few of the players we saw bust today but expect to see back in action on Saturday.
The field generated $2.2 million of the $3 million guarantee, which looks to easily pass 2023’s mark, and could possibly flirt with $5 million.
Day 1B plays a mirrored schedule on Saturday with open registration through the first eight levels. The 2023 event drew 655 entrants on Day 1A and 792 on Day 1B for a total of 1,447 entrants. They generated a $4.6 million prizepool for the top 181 finishers and Istvan Briski $647,300.
Day 2 sends cards in the air at noon on Sunday with the field consolidated into a single room for the first time. Days 3 and 4 also kick off at noon with the final table starting at 1:00 pm on Wednesday.
Top five chip stacks
| Name | Chips |
|---|---|
| Frank Stepuchin | 394,000 |
| William Lamar-Boone | 391,000 |
| Jesse Lonis | 390,500 |
| Kevin Schulz | 388,500 |
| Gregory Back | 364,500 |
All photos courtesy of WPT.
