Kuljinder Sidhu Leads Day 1C bwin WPT Prague

From the moment Rafael Daham seven bet jammed with ace-queen against the pocket kings of Sebastien Garrasi, in the first five minutes of play, you just knew it was going to be one hell of a day of poker.

By the time we had reached the eighth level there were nine players all within a shout of taking the chip lead, but after the fire died down and we were left with nothing but embers, it was Kuljinder Sidhu who managed to eek out just a few more chips than his competitors to take the chip lead at the end of Day 1C with 133,200; quad fives just one of the hands that helped the man from the UK reach the summit.

The man who caught our eye more than most was Fabrice Soulier. It’s not been the best year in poker for the enigmatic Frenchman, but a runner-up spot in the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) saved his year, and it seems that right blend of luck and skill has followed him into Day 1C.

Soulier’s charge to the top started with the elimination of the dangerous Paul Volpe. Soulier flopping Broadway whilst holding ace-queen, and Volpe couldn’t get away from his set of kings. Soon afterwards and Soulier was at it again, this time flopping the nut straight holding [Js] [Tc] on [Ks] [Qh] [9h] in a hand where the online qualifier Florian Gazouez saw the mirage of hope when an ace hit the river to give him a set of aces.

Tim Reilly was another player who had a very easy day after amassing an early stack. His biggest moment coming when he eliminated the highly rated Chaz Chattha AA v KK. Ryan Spittles, Mikalai Pobal, Jan Ramik, Kujinder Sidhu and Simon Deadman also having a wonderful day on the felt.

Not everyone has the luxury of sitting in front of a 2000BB stack for most of the day. Take Ludovic Lacay, for example, who spent more time in the taxi traveling to the venue than he did playing cards. Lacay losing his stack holding aces in a hand with Jan Ramik who was holding queens. A third queen taking a bow on the flop and Lacay was out before he had even begun.

Stevie Watts ran AK into A2 and was sent packing when a second deuce hit the flop; Giovanni Rizzo was out flipped to end his tournament early and Amanda Musumeci suffered a similar fate when her AQ just couldn’t find the muscle needed to out pace the pocket tens of Vineet Pahuja.

After the dinner break Pahuja would add the scalp of Simon Ravnsbaek to that of Musumeci when his pocket fours stood the test of time against the ace-ten of the two-time WPT final tablist; Salman Behbehani lost out AJ<TT in a fatal confrontation with Andrea Benelli; Ana Marquez was eliminated by Grzegorz Wyraz and Davidi Kitai lost his vital all-in and call when his AQ couldn’t beat the dominated KQ when a king arrived on the river.

So that’s a wrap for Day 1C.

92 players have made their way through to the Day 2, and if you add that Motley Crue to the Day 1A and Day 1B survivors then we have a starting field of 157 players. That number will rise, however, as players still have the opportunity to re-enter up to the point we start shuffling and dealing, which incidentally will be at the slightly later time of 14:00 (CET).