WPT bestbet Jacksonville Fall Poker Scramble, Day 1A Recap

By BJ Nemeth

Here’s a look back at a couple of highlights from the day of the WPT bestbet Jacksonville Fall Poker Scramble.

Last season was the first time the World Poker Tour made a stop in Jacksonville, and with Florida emerging as one of the top poker states in the country, the WPT returned again in Season XI.

Vince Van Patten (second from right) welcomes the players to the bestbet casino and gives the traditional "Shuffle up and deal" announcement.

Van Patten is joined by bestbet TD Jesse Hollander (left), bestbet Executive Director of Poker Deborah Giardina (center), and Royal Flush Girls Jeannie Duffy (left) and Tugba Ercan (right)

Mark Eddleman was the early chipleader, and one of the first players to cross the 100,000-chip mark. Eventually, however, the field caught up to him, and Eddleman finished the day with 111,500 — slightly above the average stack of 105,000.

Matt Glantz (standing) checks out the action at the table of Jason Mercier (seated, center) on Day 1A. Mercier is widely considered one of the top poker players in the world, and made the journey to Jacksonville along with other top pros like Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu.

Unfortunately, even top players have bad days, and Mercier, Hellmuth, and Negreanu all busted on Day 1A. Expect all three to take advantage of the re-entry format to try again on Day 1B.

Robert Salaburu was catapulted to fame in the poker world by making the WSOP Main Event final table as a member of the "October Nine." Salaburu doesn’t seem too distraught over his eight-place finish in that event, and he got off to a great start here, finishing the day fourth in chips with 249,700.

At the end of the day, two of the chipleaders were seated side by side — Tom Nguyen (left) and Mohsin Charania.

Both players had about 200,000 when they Charania took his seat, but Nguyen went on a run to finish the day as chipleader with 295,800. Charania dropped off a bit but still finished in the top 10 with 181,200.

Noah Schwartz was awarded the ClubWPT Player of the Day title by WPT reporter Diana Cox. Schwartz, a Florida native, finished the day with 200,700 in chips, but losing a big pot in the final minutes cost him a shot at crossing the 350,000 mark.

There were 214 entrants on Day 1A, and 61 survived to reach Day 2. Since this is a re-entry event, the players who busted have the option of buying in for another $3,500 to take another shot on Day 1B.

There is even a single same-day re-entry option, so players who bust within the first four levels can re-enter one last time.

Here’s a look at the top of the leaderboard from Day 1B:

1.  Tom Nguyen  –  295,800  (184 bb)
2.  Edward Gray  –  260,000  (162 bb)
3.  Blake Bohn  –  254,100  (158 bb)
4.  Robert Salaburu  –  249,700  (156 bb)
5.  Michael Wong  –  239,400  (149 bb)
6.  Joey Weissman  –  236,300  (147 bb)
7.  Noah Schwartz  –  200,700  (125 bb)
8.  Joseph Elpayaa  –  193,500  (120 bb)
9.  Mohsin Charania  –  181,200  (113 bb)
10.  Jeremy Menard  –  173,000  (108 bb)

Day 1B begins today at 12:00 noon ET. Stay tuned to WPT.com for live coverage and chip counts throughout the day.