Paul Dhaliwal Claims Overnight Chip Lead in the $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack
Day 1 of Event #9: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack is in the bag and what a day of poker it was. When all the entries were processed and tallied up, the tournament had an incredible 6,150 entrants. After 20 levels of action, only 582 players had chips in front of them that needed bagging and tagging.
Canada’s Paul Dhaliwal is the man to catch going into Day 2 after amassing an impressive 1,612,000 chips before the curtain came down on Day 1. The Canadian is no stranger to the World Series of Poker, especially larger field events. Dhaliwal navigated his way to a 58th place finish in the 2017 WSOP Main Event, a result that netted him $121,188.
Five other players finished Day 1 with stacks of chips in excess of 1 million. Michael Morhaime (1,275,000) returns to the felt second in chips, David Elet (1,255,000) and [Removed:321] Saadeghvazri (1,215,000) hot on his heels. The two other seven-figure stacks belong to Christopher Battenfield (1,190,000) and Zachary VanKeuren (1,032,000)
Dhaliwal will need to finish fourth or higher if he wants to win a larger sum of money from this event. Some 923 places are being paid in this tournament, with a min-cash being worth $874, a final table appearance guaranteeing a $35,183 prize and the eventual winner banking a cool $398,281 and a coveted WSOP bracelet.
Among those who bust on Day 1, but inside the money places, included 15-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, Joe Cada, Ismael Bojang, Brock Parker, Joseph Cheong, former WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess, and Joe Kuether.
Still in with a shot of glory and a big payday are such luminaries as Scott Davies (800,000), Jake Schwartz (712,000), the legendary Daniel Negreanu (601,000), Tobias Peters (357,000), Ylon Schwartz (342,000), and Erik Seidel (290,000).
End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Dhaliwal | Canada | 1,612,000 |
| 2 | Michael Morhaime | United States | 1,275,000 |
| 3 | David Elet | United States | 1,255,000 |
| 4 | [Removed:321] Saadeghvazri | United States | 1,215,000 |
| 5 | Christopher Battenfield | United States | 1,190,000 |
| 6 | Zachary VanKeuren | United States | 1,032,000 |
| 7 | Kyle Dover | United States | 951,000 |
| 8 | Richard Smith | United States | 922,000 |
| 9 | Edvinas Gruzdas | Lithuania | 896,000 |
| 10 | Roman Kroupa | Germany | 893,000 |
Play resumes at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday 4th June with players returning with the structure having reached Level 21, meaning the blinds are 8,000/16,000 with a 16,000 ante. PokerNews will be on the tournament for throughout this event, we hope you’ll be joining us for what should be a spectacular Day 2.
and the former Main Event champ is out.
board. The big blind led out for 10,000 and Hellmuth raised to 37,000 and got the call. 
and scooped the pot.
. Hawkins made the call, and the river came the 
.
for the full house.
. An opponent in the small blind called, and the 15-time WSOP bracelet winner showed 
for a flopped straight.
