Eight-time Circuit winner Valentin Vornicu surges to lead at WSOP Main Event
Valentin Vornicu, one of the top players on the World Series of Poker tournament circuit, had the overall lead after Day 2A/2B of the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Texas Hold ’em World Championship.
Vornicu, a San Diego resident, was sitting on 838,600 chips when play in the Main Event was paused early Wednesday at the Rio Convention Center and was the only play to surpass the 600,000-chip mark.
Jamie Shaevel of Santa Monica, California, bagged up 586,000 chips and was in second place, followed closely by Alvaro Lopez of Tucson, Arizona, who was one of the chip leaders throughout the day.
The Main Event continues at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Rio with Day 2C, featuring many top professionals and celebrities. The tournament runs through July 18 and resumes Oct. 30 with the final table at the Rio’s Penn & Teller Theater.
Vornicu has eight career WSOP Circuit rings, which is tied for second all time, but has yet to win a bracelet at the WSOP. He cashed in four events this summer, including a sixth-place finish in the $1,500 buy-in Seven-card Razz event.
Also in the top five was Chad Power of Pittsburgh, who made a deep run in last year’s Main Event before finishing in 26th place. Las Vegas resident Ronnie Pease enjoyed a big day as well and is seventh.
Others notable poker pros among the 760 players to advance include: Maria Ho (435,000), Antonio Esfandiari (327,400), Jon Turner (318,500), Antoine Saout (291,100), Melanie Weisner (280,000), Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier (278,200), Anthony Zinno (209,300) and 2004 Main Event champion Greg Raymer (179,800).
TICK, TOCK — The early stages of the Main Event went off without any major drama. That seemingly changed on Tuesday.
Professional poker players Chris Klodnicki and Jordan Cristos tangled throughout the afternoon over Cristos’ — let’s call it methodical — preflop play.
Cristos, renowned for his glacial pace at the table, took several seconds to make a decision on the majority of his hands. That didn’t sit well with Klodnicki, who, at one point, followed through on an earlier threat to call for a clock after 15 seconds.
It was the second time a WSOP tournament supervisor was called to the table to resolve an issue over Cristos’ pace of play. As supervisors discussed the issue for several minutes, the next hand was dealt and action again came to a halt when it was Cristos’ turn to act.
According to WSOP.com, the following exchange occurred:
Klodnicki: “See, that thing you’re doing right there. Squeezing your cards like that. What’s going through your head? Are you trying to figure out how much to raise? What could you possibly be doing?”
Cristos: “I would be frustrated if I was sitting here watching me win all the pots and stuff, too.”
Klodnicki: “You’re unbearably slow. You’re affecting the game in a negative way.”
Cristos: “I’m not going to change. I’m going to take 10 or 15 seconds preflop. This is the Main Event.”
Cristos had a top-10-percent stack at 319,600, while Klodnicki was slightly down the chip counts with 213,700.
‘LITTLE ONE’ STARTS — The $1,111 buy-in Little One for One Drop No-limit Hold’em event continues Wednesday with the second of three starting flights. The tournament, which benefits the One Drop charity, runs through Saturday.
The “Little One” field included numerous notable players knocked out of the Main Event and drew 754 entrants on Day 1A.
Yaron Zeev Malki of Israel bagged 278,900 chips and has a big lead over second-place Barry Hutter, a WSOP bracelet winner from Hollywood, Florida (189,600).
DAY 2A/2B CHIP COUNTS
1. Valentin Vornicu (San Diego) 838,600
2. Jamie Shaevel (Santa Monica, California) 586,000
3. Alvaro Lopez (Tucson, Arizona) 573,200
4. Ramin Hajiyev (Baku, Azerbaijan) 558,400
5. Chad Power (Pittsburgh) 546,800
6. Petr Bartagov (Moscow) 546,000
7. Ronnie Pease (Las Vegas) 518,100
8. Jonas Lauck (Primstal, Germany) 510,000
9. Gaelle Baumann (France) 504,600
10. Eric Afriat (Saint-Laurent, Quebec) 501,000
