Kroon Grabs Lead On Final Hand; Ivey, Negreanu, Hellmuth, Mercier and Piqué Advance
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Day 1c of the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event proved to be the biggest and baddest of the starting days, topping out at 3,467 players and surpassing last year's record-second field of 3,418 that was largest one-day Main Event field in history. Combine that number with Day 1a's 943 players and Day 1b's 1,942, and you've got yourself a grand total of 6,352 entrants. The field created a prize pool of $59,708,800, and the eventual winner will be taking home $8,359,531.
As so often happens, the player emerging as the chip leader of the final starting day claimed the overall top spot. That man, Mark Kroon, bagged up 246,300 in chips and will lead the way heading forward. Kroon has cashed once prior in the WSOP Main Event, placing 399th in 2011 for $30,974.
Kroon took out Ylon Schwartz in the final hand of the night to snatch the chip lead from Imari Love, who bagged up 214,300. Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi was another player amongst the leaders for much of the day, and he bagged up 176,100.
As expected, poker's elite were out in full force today. Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier, Joe Hachem, Allen Cunningham, Nick Schulman, Antonio Esfandiari and Ben Lamb were amongst those in action today, and they'll all be advancing. From that bunch, Ivey bagged the most chips with 119,650. Two other very well known faces in poker, Gus Hansen and Tom Dwan, both "played" the Main Event today, but didn't actually show up and play a single hand all day long. Instead, their stacks were put into play and blinded off. Hansen's stack was 17,975 at the end of the day, and Dwan finished on 18,075.
Arguably the most world-renowned person in the field was not a professional poker player, but rather a professional soccer player, Gerard Piqué. The 26-year old defender is widely regarded as one of the best centre backs in the world, playing for FC Barcelona and Spain, and his résumé includes a World Cup win, a Premiere League title, four La Liga titles, two UEFA Champions League titles, and three consecutive selections (2010-2012) to the UEFA Team of the Year. While Piqué began the day on the rise, climbing to nearly 100,000 in chips, he slipped in the final two levels of the night. He was able to find a double and get back to 19,400 to finish out the day, though.
The survivors from Day 1c will have Tuesday off while Day 2a and 2b play out inside the walls of the Rio. On Wednesday, today's survivors will be back in action to continue their quest.
For us at PokerNews, we're done for the night, but you can catch us right back here tomorrow at 12 p.m. for the start of Day 2a and 2b. See you then!