WSOPC TCH Austin

Day 1A chip leader Steven Mann

After a thrilling day of poker, with big pots, big hands, and big stacks, Steven Mann nabbed the chip lead away from Thibaud Martin in the final minutes of the night to claim the stack to beat of 913,000.

When play ended with 22:32 remaining in Level 17, Martin finished with 805,000, still good enough for a top-five finish among the 24 players to advance. Shawn Savage rebuilt the second-best stack by night's end after a bumpy couple of levels following the end of registration.

Shawn Savage

WSOPC TCH Austin  top ten end of Day 1A chip counts:

1. Steven Mann - 913,000
2. Shawn Savage - 860,000
3. Thibaud Martin - 805,000
4. Ben Anderson - 687,000
5. Jeffery Sowell - 682,000
6. Stephen Hesse - 661,000
7. David Mzareulov - 622,000
8. Sasha Guerin - 601,000
9. Eric Richards - 539,000
10. Dennis Brand - 511,000

Complete chip counts are available here .

The second of three starting flights gets underway at 11 a.m. CT here at TCH Austin and, with the 248 entry number from today expected to be dwarfed as players come out for the weekend.

Join us then for more exciting Texas Hold 'em in Texas from the WSOP Circuit Main Event at TCH Austin.

Thibaud Martin

With 27 players remaining and 25 moving on to Day 2, Eric Richards raised to 23,000 in early position and was called by Thibaud Martin in the cutoff.

Stephen Cooper then moved all in for 65,000 from the small blind, which was called by Richards and Martin.

The players checked the flop, leading to the on the turn. Richards now bet 21,000 and was called by Martin to see the complete the board.

Richards now bet 82,000, and after some thought, Martin called.

Richards showed for the nut flush and the winner as Martin could only show for a pair of tens, while Cooper had and was eliminated.

With the loss, Martin fell out of the chip lead for the first time in hours as the final hands of the night wrapped up, leaving Steven Mann as the new chip leader as players bag up for the night.

Stay with us for a wrap-up of an exciting Day 1A and complete end-of-night chip counts.

This beefy 400,000+ chip pot would be awarded to one fortunate player

A big three-way all-in has just sent Ekram Bozkurt into the top ten, while Hunter Rosling is now out with a min-cash after being in that top ten not 30 minutes ago.

Rosling was down to 144,000 when he jammed from the button and was called by Emmanuel Ignacio in the small blind. Bozkurt then moved in for 156,000 in the big blind, and Ignacio flicked in a few more chips to call.

Hunter Rosling watches his fate

Hunter Rosling:
Ekram Bozkurt:
Emmanuel Ignacio:

The flop came , providing plenty of drama with a set for Bozkurt, but a flush draw for Rosling. 

The added more intrigue, giving Ignacio hope with a Broadway straight draw.

Hunter Rosling and Emmanuel Ignacio

The river was a big nothing burger, though, as Bozkurt's set held up to score a virtual triple-up, while eliminating Rosling.

• Ekram Bozkurt - 460,000
• Emmanuel Ignacio - 420,000
• Hunter Rosling - eliminated

Ekram Bozkurt stacks his newfound chips

Tournament staff elected to bring the final 40 players back from break with hand-for-hand play in hopes of expediting the bubble.

The plan worked!

On the first hand back, Jason Hickey and Douglas Koebbe were eliminated on separate tables to burst the bubble, leaving the final 38 players in the money with a $3,410 min-cash to their name.

Play will now continue for two more levels or until the field is down to 25, whichever comes first.

Thibaud Martin

Hayley Hochstetler

Meanwhile, the top ten chip counts have been updated with Thibaud Martin (869,000) maintaining his chip lead, with Steven Mann (809,000) the only other player over 800,000.

Check out the full leaderboard under the 'chip counts' tab above.