David Van Noy Takes Day 1a Lead in Potomac Main Event
A river call against Nicholas Verderamo pushed him to 655,000, with Justin Liberto close behind and 20 of 100 entries advancing.
David Van Noy finished Day 1a of the Potomac Summer Poker Open $3,000 Main Event with 655,000 chips and took the lead over Justin Liberto, who bagged 638,000. Twenty players survived the opening flight from a field of 100 entries.
As covered yesterday, the event opened at MGM National Harbor with two starting flights and a 60,000-chip starting stack. According to PokerNews, Van Noy’s surge came after he faced Nicholas Verderamo in a big pot, called off his last 130,000 with aces and tens, won the hand on the river, and then kept building his stack through the rest of the night.
The top end of the leaderboard was crowded behind him. Ed Hill bagged 495,000, Casey Hatmaker finished with 351,000 after spiking a river set of jacks late in the last level, and Yebetse Wedeneh ended with 343,000. James Morris moved on with 340,000 while multi-tabling a blackjack tournament downstairs, and Samuel Rosen and Ari Katz each finished with 325,000.
A few other familiar names also made it through. Faraz Jaka bagged 186,000, Nicholas Verderamo finished on 247,000, and Christian Harder advanced with 151,000. Last year’s version of the $3,000 Main Event drew 377 players and was won by Robert Anderson for $211,915, while this year’s Day 1b starts tomorrow at 11 a.m., with Day 2 on Aug. 16 at noon and the final table set for Aug. 17 at 1 p.m.
