Antonio Ma Leads NorCal Main Event Day 1c
Ma’s 792,000 topped a flight that sent 25 players through, with Hellmuth and Persky among the survivors.
Day 1c of the $1,100 NorCal Poker Championship Main Event at Graton Casino Resort drew 194 entries and sent 25 players through to Day 2. Antonio Ma finished the flight with 792,000 chips, ahead of Eric Estrellado on 743,000 and Walid Fahmy on 699,000.
As covered earlier, Graton Casino Resort is hosting the RunGood Poker Series NorCal Poker Championships through Aug. 30. Day 1c was the third starting flight, and it ended after a double knockout at two different tables reduced the field to three tables. Day 1d was still underway when the Day 1c results were posted.
According to PokerNews, Phil Hellmuth also advanced with 211,000 after a late double-up, and his first cash at Graton came after bagging for Day 2. Michael Persky moved on too after Jixin Zhou cracked his aces early, then he rebuilt with a knockout in Level 13 and another late double. Persky entered with more than $750,000 in live earnings, and Graton was the site of his biggest score, a 2023 WSOPC win worth a little more than $175,000.
Ma’s run added another strong result to a résumé that already includes more than $500,000 in career earnings. His best Graton finish before this stop came in 2024, when he took fourth in a WSOPC Big O event.
Estrellado came into the flight with just over six figures in live career earnings, but had yet to land a big score at Graton. Walid Fahmy, a San Jose resident, picked up his first cash at Graton and bagged one of the biggest stacks in the room.
Ken Huynh’s deepest Graton run before this stop came in 2025, when he finished 22nd in the WSOPC Monster Stack.
