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Punta Cana, Dominican Republic – Forget the $500,000 Gtd prize pool. This year's Punta Cana Poker Classic Main Event features $712,950 on the table, with $171,100 going to 1st place and the top 50 spots getting paid. After 10 levels of Day 1B action, 62 players will join the 87 from Day 1A to compete for the Main Event title and attempt to join Peter Cross, Demo Kiriopolous, and Matthew Weber in the record books.
When play resumes at 2pm today, all eyes will be on Chance Korneck, who holds the chip lead with 325,000. Rounding out the top five are William Valladares (217,800), Patrick Serda (173,500), Leonel Otazo (165,900), and Steve Stolzmann (163,000). 2011 Main Event champion Demo Kiriopolos found himself in the top 5 in Day 1A, but Day 1B performances push him down to 12th place with 141,900.
Day 1B featured a number of heavy hitters, including November 9 player Marc McLaughlin. Earlier this month, the poker pro walked away with a 6th place finish in the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event, earning $1,601,024. Day 1B saw McLaughlin make some waves early on, but he didn't manage to squeeze into the final 62 players moving on from Day 1B to Day 2.
Also playing in Day 1B was poker pro Jonathan Little, who recently landed a $238,833 payday for a 3rd place finish in a 6-handed Hold'em tourney at the WSOP. Little played Day 1A, but the re-entry structure of the Punta Cana Poker Classic allows players to re-enter the tournament if they bust out early up until the third level of Day 1A and Day 1B. Players who busted out in Day 1A after the third level had the option to re-enter on Day 1B.
Poker players who failed to make it to Day 2 still have plenty of poker options. Today marks the start of the No Limit Hold'em Second Chance tournament. The event gets underway at 2pm, with Flight B scheduled for 8pm. On Friday, the Punta Cana Poker Classic High Roller Event gets underway at 8pm ET. It features a $3,000+300 buy-in, however players can get into it for less through a $360+$50 Super Satellite at 2pm on Friday.
Day 2 kicks off today at 2pm local time (1pm ET), with Day 3 scheduled on Friday at 2pm ET local time. More information on the Dominican Republic tournament including a full schedule of events can be found at PuntaCanaPokerClassic.com
