The tournament circuit offers multiple exotic locations throughout the year, but few are truly poker in paradise. The Atlantis resort in the Bahamas has become the mecca of tournament poker. For one week out of the year, players young and old escape the cold to the warm waters of the Atlantic, and when it is all over, a champion will walk away with well over $2 million.
Because of the two-starting day format, every player is guaranteed some time for fun in the sun. However, a total of 660 players would have to wait their turn for the beach and attack the large convention-center room holding the grandiose poker tournament. The huge turnout has virtually guaranteed that this EPT tournament will produce the largest field ever assembled outside of the continental United States.
The players began the day with 20,000 in chips and small enough blinds to allow for some maneuvering. Despite the deep stacks, the field dwindled at a rapid rate, and many of poker’s best found themselves on the rail early. Among the notables to bust were Gavin Smith, David Pham, Gavin Griffin, Chad Brown, Erik Seidel, Chris Ferguson, and Online Player of the Year winners Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kamberis and Isaac "WestmenloAA" Baron.
Speaking of online players, the field was flooded with so many top-ranked mouse-clickers that most were completely unaware of each others’ identities. Of course, that doesn’t mean they didn’t recognize their playing styles. After online phenom Johan "busto_soon" Van Til was eliminated, the others at this table were made aware of his online handle and were able to put two and two together when they recalled a few standout hands.
Ryan Young jumped out to a massive lead at one of the outer tables but was unable to hold on when his pocket kings fell to David "Bakes" Baker and his pocket aces. The gargantuan pot gave Baker the chip lead and had Young holding on for dear life. Young was eliminated shortly afterwards, but Baker finished the day strong with 219,600.
The overall chip leader from day 1A was Felipe "mojave14" Ramos, who finished the day with 360,100.
Join us tommorow at noon E.S.T, as we continue to bring you coverage from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
