Jer El Salsero Storms to WPTDS Netherlands Day 1A Chip Lead

Jer El Salsero left all other players in his wake on his way to bagging up an eye-watering 350,100 chips after Day 1A of the WPTDeepStacks Netherlands Main Event.

El Salsero shot up over the 200,000 chip mark after winning a classic flip, and fading a flush draw, with pocket Kings against the Ace-Queen suited of Joris Ruijs. The turn and the river were both bricks and El Salsero added to his stack.

“I could have had more!” said El Salsero whilst bagging up his chips, “Ten minutes ago I lost a pot but I could have had 500,000!

“However, I like to say that I play poker with my foot on the break, if you understand that. I throw away aces; I’m quiet!”

It appeared late on that former WPT National Valkenburg winner Kees Aerts might challenge for the chip lead, but he faded as the day drew on. Aerts will be looking for another deep WPTDS run after final-tabling WPTDS Amsterdam at the start of the season. He bagged up 194,700.

It was a whirlwind final hand on El Salsero’s table, with a four-way all-in culminating in Andreas Eller walking away with 250,000 chips after his Aces held against Kings, Jacks and Queen-Nine suited.

Other big stacks include Jasper Meijer van Putten (104,900), Harry Snijders (117,500) and Joris Ruijs (160,800).

Also advancing to Day 2 is Jan Jansma, who finished third in WPT Amsterdam. Just like his bust-out hand from that event, Jansma suffered a horrific runner-runner bad beat late in the day, and managed to bag up 28,400 in chips.

Kunal Patni (pictured above), wearing a patch of the WPT’s partner in India Adda 52, will also be moving on to Day 2 with a healthy stack of 101,400.

Unfortunately WPTDS Amsterdam winner Thijs Menco won’t be advancing to Day 2, at least not just yet. He fired two bullets in today’s flight. The first ended when he missed a double gutshot straight draw, and the second when he jammed Queens into Aces. He assured us that he will be back again tomorrow firing in the Main Event.

Today’s flight of the Main Event narrowly missed out on 100 runners, with 95 players entering the fifth WPTDS event of the season. By the end of 13 levels only 28 remain, and they will advance to Day 2.

Day 1B of the Main Event gets underway at 14:00 local time here at Holland Casino in Valkenburg, so stay tuned to WPT.com for all the live updates for the rest of the festival.