WSOP front-runners can’t count on cashing in

Martin Jacobson is off to a fast start in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that having a lot of chips at this stage of the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Texas Hold ’em World Championship is no guarantee of success.

Jacobson, who owned the chip lead at the end of his weekend starting flight, continued to climb the leaderboard Tuesday during Day 2A/2B at the Rio Convention Center and is hoping to avoid the same fate that has befallen so many of the early Main Event big stacks.

“It’s always nice to get a big stack early and not worry so much about busting early and covering everyone at the table,” Jacobson said. “It’s one of the longest tournaments, so even though things are going great early, I’ve got to stay patient and not rush it.”

Jacobson, a native of Sweden with more than $4.8 million in live-tournament earnings, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database, ended Day 1A with more than 200,000 chips and was in the top five at Tuesday’s 7 p.m. dinner break with an unofficial total of 275,000 chips.

But, according to a study published Tuesday on Bluff.com, nearly half of the players (50 of 110) who finished their starting flight in the top five since 2008 failed to cash in the Main Event.

The same study also revealed that of the 54 players to make the final table in the past six Main Events, only four — Joe Cada (2009), Filippo Candio (2010), Michael Mizrachi (2010) and Ben Lamb (2011) — were in the top five in chips after the first day.

Last year, Mark Kroon led after Day 1C and 2C but went on to finish in 458th place.

In other words, expect several new names to emerge over the next few days as the tournament grinds on.

“I think it’s always a blessing to have chips in front of you,” said Jay Farber, last year’s Main Event runner-up. “The structure in this tournament is so deep, as long as you play smart, you can last a really long time whether you have a big chip stack or not.

“I’m not going crazy trying to accumulate every chip on the table. I see a lot of guys trying to win the tournament on Day 1, and that just doesn’t happen.”

The Main Event continues at noon today with Day 2C, and the remaining players join Tuesday’s survivors for Day 3 on Thursday. The tournament continues through Monday, and the final nine players return Nov. 10 at the Rio’s Penn &Teller Theater to compete for the $10 million first prize.

This year’s tournament is the fifth-largest Main Event in history with 6,683 entrants.

Farber, who was stationed at one of the secondary featured tables in the Amazon Room, was one of several notables with a healthy chip stack. He had more than 150,000 at the dinner break before losing a pot about an hour later, according to updates provided by WSOP.com.

Defending Main Event champion Ryan Riess, who ended Day 1A with more than 70,000 chips, doubled his stack by Tuesday evening. Curtis Rystadt, who was nearly out of the tournament early in the day, had the unofficial lead at 9:30 p.m. with 370,000 chips.

Eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel and Allen Cunningham, who owns five bracelets, were unofficially in the top 100 at the dinner break. Johnny Chan, the 1987 and 1988 Main Event champion, was stuck in neutral for most of the day but still had more than 120,000 chips at 9:30 p.m.

The two top contenders in the WSOP Player of the Year race — leader Brandon Shack-Harris and George Danzer — were eliminated Tuesday, as were 2012 Main Event winner Greg Merson, Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton and four-time bracelet winner Mike Matusow.

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.