The Choctaw Casino and Resort played host to this year’s World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) main event which had a field of nearly a thousand players. On Day 1a, about 650 players took to the felt, and Day 1b, 300. At the end of the first half of Day 1 only about 320 players remained, and in the second half, 180.

Chris Tiller led them with a chip count of 167,500. His stack was almost double that of his nearest opponent, Ray Jennings. Rob Salaburu was close behind with 87,000. Some of the professional players who made their way to the second day of the event are Roland Israel, Men Nguyen, Scotty Nguyen, Chad Brown, Tommy Vedes and TJ Cloutier. Among the top players eliminated in the early stages of play were Todd Brunson and Gavin Smith.

Raja Kattamuri was one of the few players who made a huge impression at the felt. His game-play took him very close to securing the National Championship after he won the title of the Casino Champion. He participated in nine events and won gold in two. He was also a final tabler at two other events, landing a 2nd and 6th place finish in a 6 Max NL Hold’em and PLO.

Day 2 Starts with Nearly 500 Players

Day 2 started with a field of nearly 500 at the tables. Though Chris Tiller was in the lead with his chip count, his position was challenged by three time winner of WSOPC ring games, La Sengphet. Both did their best to secure their places on the leaderboard. However, their reign at the felt ended quite quickly. Both of them were eliminated before the money bubble at the 99-player stage.

A few other players to join them early were Tom McEvoy, Scotty Nguyen, Chad Brown, Tommy Vedes, TJ Cloutier, Berry Johnston and Men Nguyen. Layne Flack, the six time winner of WSOP bracelets, was also taken down early. He lost out when his stack was caught as he played a set against an opponent who made a runner-runner to land quads.

Abraham Araya Leads Day 2

Half-way through the event, tournament staff released information about the prize pool. 978 players in total got the chance to play for the prize pool worth $1.4 million. The final 99 players were guaranteed a share of this amount. The field was brought down to this when in one orbit, two players left the game with less than the minimum cash.

After the bubble, a few made their way steadily up the leaderboard. One of them was Abraham Araya. His impeccable play at the table helped him take a stack upward of 1.8 million. Two other players were close on his heels. Mark Buford and Larry Grayson are just short of a few hundred chips of Araya, the leader. If Araya wins the final day of the WSOPC Choctaw Main Event, it will not be his first in the tour. In 2011 October he took home the title to the Main Event in the TJ Cloutier Choctaw Poker Challenge.