Lou Garza Leads 137 Remaining Players After Day 1b of WPT Choctaw; 207 Total Remain, 95 Cash

Day 1b of WPT Choctaw has come to a conclusion with the 476-entry flight reduced to just 147 players heading into Day 2.

Those 137 players will join the 70 survivors from Day 1a to see just 207 remain of the 755-entrant WPT Choctaw. Those 755 entrants created a prize pool of $2,548,225 that will see the final 95 players finish in-the-money with a guaranteed $5,865 payday, while whoever wins WPT Choctaw will capture the $469,185 first prize and have their name inscribed on the WPT Champions Cup.

Lou Garza (pictured) is the current chip leader with 531,500 after winning two big pots late in the day; one of which was the elimination of Ralph Massey. On Garza’s heels are Andy Van Blair (363,000), Tony Ruberto (358,000), Emmett Hickey (335,000), Dusti Smith (321,000), Chance Kornuth (312,500), Thad Smith (306,500), Joseph Elpayaa (305,500), and Mo Arani (300,000).

Also in contention are WPT Champions Club member Anthony Zinno (201,000), and Season XIV WPT Choctaw winner Jason Brin (206,000), along with 2015 WPT500 Champion Craig Varnell (84,500), Season XVI WPT Choctaw fifth-place finisher Paul Fisher (186,000), and 2009 World Champion Joe Cada (73,000).

Day 2 begins Sunday, August 9 at 12:00 p.m. (CDT), and the plan is to play down until 32 players remain in the tournament.

A full recap of the day, along with a full list of chip counts and the seating draw, will be posted later tonight.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com