The second starting flight of the WPT Choctaw Main Event was played on Saturday at the host casino. Day 1B of the tournament drew 476 entries to bring the total field to 755 participants. Lou Garza ended that second starting flight as the chip leader and was one of the 137 players to advance into Day 2 of the Main Event.

Garza has no previous cashes from the WPT, but if he keeps his momentum into the second day of play, he could well make it to one of the paid places or even scoop the title. However, this would not be an easy task as there were many seasoned poker pros to advance into Day 2.

Garza collected 531,500 in chips last night after surviving all the levels scheduled for Day 1B. The player cemented his leading position late into the night by winning two major pots, one of which saw him play against Mark Threadgill. The latter’s [Kc][Jc] clashed into Garza’s [10s][9h] on a [Kh][Jh][8c][Ad][7s] board.

The second important hand involved Garza and Ralph Massey. Massey moved all in with [Ad][7s], but his opponent’s [Ac][Kh] held up.

Here it is also important to note that Garza will enter Day 2 of the Main Event as the overall chip leader from the two starting flights. Viet Vo lead the way after Day 1A, but he is well behind Garza with his stack of 458,500 in chips.

As mentioned above, Day 1B of the event brought 476 entries to the felt. As many as 279 entrants registered on Day 1A. The tournament’s overall field thus reached 755 contenders who created a prize pool of $2,548,225. The top 95 finishers will get paid, with min-cashes being worth $5,865. The winner will take home the amount of $469,185 for their accomplishment.

Combined, as many as 207 players manged to secure their seats into Day 2 of the event. They will resume play at noon local time today and the plan is to play to the final 32. This means that the money bubble will burst at some point. Organizers have announced that an action clock would be brought at the tables once play is one table away from the bubble burst.

Andy Van Blair and former WPT Main Event champion Tony Ruberto were among the players to bag the largest stacks on Day 1B. Coming into Day 2 with 201,000 in chips, three-time WPT champ Anthony Zinno will take a shot at a fourth title from the series. The winner of the inaugural WPT Choctaw Main Event, Jason Brin, will too return for Day 2 action with 206,000

There were also many notables who did not make it through Day 1B. Former WPT champions Layne Flack, Seth Davies, and James Romero were few of these.

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