WPT: Rhea Motley Tops Record-Setting Day 1B at Bay 101

Maria Ho finished Day 1B with almost twice the average stack, and she's within striking distance of the lead pack. (Photo c/o World Poker Tour)

The Bay 101 Casino was packed to its capacity Tuesday as one of the signature events of the World Poker Tour broke an attendance record that stood for seven years.

By the close of registration on Day 1B of the 2013 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, 365 entrants had put up $7,500 to bring the total field to 635. That crushes the previous record of 516, which was set all the way back in Season IV of the WPT, and despite a reduced buy-in the prizepool and first place prize will each increase significantly when compared to 2012, when 364 players entered.

Rhea Motley claimed the $10,000 prize as the end of day chipleader on Day 1B with 243,100, and she’ll start Day 2 in third place with Andrew Lichtenberger holding the overall Day 1 chiplead. Steven Kelley (274,200), WeiKai Chang (195,400), Numit Agrawal (193,200) and Noah Wiseman (191,700) will each carry top ten stacks into Day 2 after very strong performances Tuesday.

Jesse Yaginuma, fresh off a final table appearance at the LA Poker Classic, is in the lead pack as well after making the most of his re-entry on Day 1B. He’s joined by Taylor Von Kriegenbergh, Jeff Gross, Jason Somerville, Justin Young, Tom Marchese and Bertrand Grospellier. A total of 155 players made it through Day 1B, joining the 93 who survived the opening session Monday.

It was a less than fortunate day for a number of players who were eliminated from this tournament twice before the close of Day 1, including Darryll Fish, Daniel Negreanu, David Sands, David Williams, Vanessa Selbst, Dan Smith, Phil Hellmuth, Will Failla and Shannon Shorr.

Play will resume at 11 am local time Wednesday and is scheduled to go all the way until 2 am unless they reach 18 players first. The official prizepool information has not yet been released, but it has already been confirmed that first place will be over $1 million in this tournament.

Here are the top ten stacks going into Day 2 of the 2013 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star.

1. Andrew Lichtenberger – 341,100
2. Stephen Boker – 274,200
3. Rhea Motley – 243,100
4. Andy Hwang – 242,000
5. Steven Kelley – 233,500
6. Phaly Nou – 232,800
7. James Calderaro – 205,200
8. WeiKai Chang – 195,400
9. Numit Agrawal – 193,200
10. Noah Wiseman – 191,700