06 Nov 09

WPT Foxwoods Day 1: The Grinder in the top 10

A field of 353 players signed up for the $10,000 buy-in event and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi was one of the players who shone on Day 1. He finished the day in 6th place.

WPT FoxwoodsAfter just 5 levels of play, the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals shed more than 40% of its starting field to end Day 1 with just 206 survivors. Todd Terry holds the lead with 165,700 chips but Danny Shiff and Adam Lippert follow close behind, both with about 159,000 chips.

A large contingent of top pros were in attendance at this event which in 2008 saw JonathanLittle take down the $1.12 million champions purse. Last year's runner-up Jonathan Jaffe is in eleventh place while Gavin Smith, Isaac Baron, Prahlad Friedman, Billy Kopp and Adam Levy are also still in contention.

Michael Mizrachi dominant on Day 1

Michael MizrachiMichael "The Grinder" Mizrachi was one of the most dominant players in the day as he leaped to a big chip lead in just the third level of play. In the hand which saw two early chip leaders butt heads, Mizrachi's A-A held up against Adam Gerber's K-K to put him well ahead of everyone else with 162,000 chips.

Mizrachi stubbornly held on to the lead for most of the day and only gave it up in the final hour of play. He however is still well placed for a deep run in the event after closing Day 1 with 125,900 chips, well above the average of 51,407 chips.

With registration closed after just one day, the event has managed to generate a prize pool of over $3.3 million. Attendance is slightly down from last year's total, but the winner in this edition of the tournament will still walk away with a very respectable $910,058. 36 players will finish in the money and they will be guaranteed a payout of at least $21,588.

Here are the top 10 players after Day 1:

WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals
Day 1 Standings
Place Name Chips
1st
 Todd Terry
 165,700
2nd
 Danny Shiff
 159,525
3rd
 Adam Lippert
 159,000
4th
 Jack Schanbacher
 148,775
5th
 Soheil Shamseddin
 126,000
6th
 Michael Mizrachi
 125,900
7th
 Chris Moore
 123,700
8th
 Danny Illingworth
 121,600
8th
 Alan Sasser
 121,600
10th
 John Barucci
 119,950