Our first ever $1,100 Main Event kicked off at Horseshoe Council Bluffs yesterday, and 68 players turned out for the first of two starting days. When play was halted a few minutes into Level 15, Russell Licking sat atop the leaderboard with 240,500 chip, besting the 213,500 bagged by RunGood Pro Justin Gardenhire.
Russell Licking (left), Justin Gardenhire (right)
Today (Saturday, August 19) at noon, Day 1B kicks off in the $100,000-guaranteed event, for another eleven hours of play, with the surviving players coming back at noon on Sunday to play down to a winner.
Thirteen of the 68 Day 1A players punched tickets to Day 2. Day 1A chip standings:
| Name | Chip count |
| Russell Licking | 240,500 |
| Justin Gardenhire | 213,500 |
| Michael Sanders | 165,500 |
| Reggie Tynes | 139,500 |
| Carlos Requena | 114,000 |
| Mike Sortino | 100,000 |
| Brandon Fish | 91,000 |
| James Mullin | 85,500 |
| Jasen Currie | 59,500 |
| Bryan Barnell | 57,500 |
| JJ Feregrino | 39,500 |
| Clint Lilienthal | 30,000 |
| Steve Bell | 22,500 |
PokerNews is on site to report all the action live. Live updates and chip counts can be found here. The photo gallery from Day 1A can be found here.
RGG will bring you the Day 2 chip counts and seat assignments following the completion of Day 1B. Good luck to all the players! Run Good!