Waleed Mian Runs Away With Day 1b Lead at Potomac Main Event
He was the only player above 1 million chips as 38 of 180 entries advanced from the final flight at MGM National Harbor.
Waleed Mian turned Day 1b of the Potomac Summer Poker Open $3,000 Main Event into a runaway, bagging 1.185 million chips and finishing as the only player to clear the million-chip mark. He ended well ahead of the 38 players who survived the flight, and the second starting day pushed the event to 280 total entries.
As covered in the earlier Day 1a report, David Van Noy led that opening flight with 655,000 after 20 of 100 entries advanced. According to PokerNews, Mian did most of his damage early, knocking out three players in the first hour before closing the day by busting Justin Arnwine.
The last hand was a clean one for Mian. His ace-nine held against Arnwine’s ace-eight when the chips went in for 131,000 from the cutoff.
Kyle Lin finished second with 586,000, and his run came with some extra heat attached after he entered the Main Event fresh off winning the $1,100 High Roller the day before. He also picked up a big double-up with two pair, while Kyle Smith was next on 565,000, followed by Changfeng Fan on 488,000, David Kinane on 477,000, Yonnas Banteamlak on 440,000, and Dejan Ristov on 250,000.
Michael Bohmerwald finished with 216,000, Tim Pool had 210,000, Russ Dunlevy bagged 120,000, and Elia Ahmadian moved on with 111,000. Among the players sent to the rail were Daniel Iachan, Lucas Vergara, Aaron Pinson and Matthew Su.
The 38 survivors from Day 1b will join the 20 Day 1a finishers for Day 2 at noon local time. Play resumes on Level 16 at 4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 big blind ante, the levels stretch to 60 minutes, and the plan is to keep going until the final table is reached after play starts; the official prize pool should be announced shortly after the cards get back in the air.
