Plethora of Stars Through to Day 2 of the WPTWOC Main Events

September 12 saw the trio of massive WPT World Championships Main Events complete their respective Day 1Cs, leaving only the Turbo Day 1s on September 13 left to play. Scores of the game’s best-known players flocked to partypoker to start their quest for WPTWOC Main Event glory. The day went better for some than others.

Macdonald Excels in the $5,300 Main Event

Another 346 players bought into the $5,300 Main Event, taking the total attendance to 1,028 and ensuring that the $5 million guarantee has been blown out of the water with the turbo-structured flight remaining.

Kevin Macdonald was the start of the show on Day 1C, turning his 200,000 starting stack into 3,604,687 chips by the time the curtain came down on proceedings. Macdoanld’s stack is so large that he currently occupies third place overall, and should be there or thereabouts when the largest prizes are dished out.

Fifty-two players punched their Day 2 tickets from the Day 1C flight, and the list of names reads like a who’s who of the online poker world.

Daniel Smiljkovic (3,523,096) and Joshua McCully (3,333,705) are just two stars who regularly frequent the biggest tournaments at partypoker.

Rok Gostisa (2,504,235), Mike Watson (2,415,633), Benjamin Rolle (2,038,777), Aleksejs Ponakovs (1,441,367), Mustapha Kanit (1,372,302), Connor Drinan (601,500), and our very own Matthew Staples (511,314) were among those who navigated their way through.

The Day 1 Turbo for the $5,300 Main Event shuffles up and deals at 16:05 BST on September 13. Day 2 kicks off at 20:05 BST with action streamed via our partypokerTV Twitch channel from 20:30 BST.

Day 2 lasts as long as it takes to whittle the field down to the nine-handed final table, so expect plenty of high-level action with huge bluffs, and more.

WPTWOC $5,300 Main Event Day 1C Top 10 Chip Counts

Place | Player | Country | Chips
1 | Kevin Macdonald | Canada | 3,604,687
2 | Daniel Smiljkovic | Austria | 3,523,096
3 | Joshua McCully | New Zealand | 3,333,705
4 | Timothy Francis | United Kingdom | 3,236,086
5 | Viktor Zsemyle | Austria | 2,946,379
6 | Rayan Chamas | Canada | 2,891,653
7 | Nikola Cokesa | Slovenia | 2,506,794
8 | Rok Gostisa | Slovenia | 2,504,235
9 | Mike Watson | Canada | 2,415,633
10 | Simeon De Maertelaere | Belgium | 2,084,382

Ruys Runs Away With Mini Main Day 1C Chip Lead

Netherlands’ Joris Ruys claimed the $1,050 Mini Main Event Day 1C chip lead and almost did enough to take the overall lead, too. Ruys shone brightly on Day 1C and bagged up 4,737,596 chips, over 1.3 million more than Manuel Fritz who finished the flight in second place.

Ruys now goes into Day 2 second in chips, trailing only Alexandru Baron who bagged up 4,853,183 chips from his opening flight.

A plethora of poker superstars joins Ruys from Day 1C. British duo Tom MacDonald (3,307,681) and Simon Higgins (3,109,021) are just two players to look out for on Day 2. Others include former Team partypoker member Anatoly Filatov (2,751,912), Sylvain Loosli (2,710,538), Timo Kamphues (2,566,956), Talal Shakerchi (1,515,757), Andrii Novak (966,690), former WPT500 champion Fabio Sperling (771,637), and our very own Mikita Badziakouski (515,038).

The turbo Day 1 shuffles up at 16:05 BST with Day 2 starting at 20:05 BST. The $1 million guarantee is already obliterated with $1,315,000 already in the pot. How much will it grow to?

WPTWOC $1,050 Mini Main Event Day 1C Top 10 Chip Counts

Place | Player | Country | Chips
1 | Joris Ruys | Netherlands | 4,737,596
2 | Manuel Fritz | Austria | 3,402,807
3 | Armin Rezaei | Malta | 3,356,131
4 | Tom Macdonald | United Kingdom | 3,307,681
5 | Simon Higgins | United Kingdom | 3,109,021
6 | Laszlo Molnar | Hungary | 2,878,014
7 | Anatoly Filatov | Russia | 2,751,912
8 | Sylvain Loosli | United Kingdom | 2,710,538
9 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | 2,626,127
10 | Joao Ferreira | Netherlands | 2,621,668

Kessler Crushes Micro Main Event and Leads Overall

Day 1C of the $109 Micro Main Event will be fondly remembered by Germany’s Philipp Kessler because he not only finished with enough chips to top the 1C counts, but also leads the tournament overall.

Kessler turned his 200,000 starting stack into 5,442,855 and has done his chances of becoming this event’s champion no harm at all. More than $44,000 is pencilled in to be awarded to the champion, but that sum could grow because a Turbo Day 1 is still to run.

Some 2,601 players have bought in across the first three flights, and the event needs 3,000 to hit the $300,000 guarantee. Will 399 players buy in today, or will those finishing in the money places enjoy an overlay? Only time will tell.

WPTWOC $109 Micro Main Event Day 1C Top 10 Chip Counts

Place | Player | Country | Chips
1 | Philipp Kessler | Germany | 5,442,855
2 | Omar Chagkill | Germany | 4,517,660
3 | Maximilliano Gallardo | Argentina | 4,115,543
4 | Jordan Courtney Warrilow | United Kingdom | 3,856,068
5 | Pablo Roman | Argentina | 3,789,623
6 | David Farkas | Hungary | 3,679,781
7 | Ignas Vaitulionis | Ireland | 3,643,028
8 | Francois Billard | Canada | 3,474,779
9 | Arthur Henrique | Brazil | 3,233,608
10 | Eero Abbey | Finland | 3,123,374