World Poker Tour Festa Al Lago Day 1A Ends; Esfandiari Leads

The Festa Al Lago returned to the World Poker Tour schedule this year and saw a good turnout with one hundred and fifty three players participating in Day 1A. The buy-in for this event was $15,000 and many of the biggest names in the poker industry were in attendance vying for the top spot.

Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Carlos Mortensen, Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan were among the big name players participating in the event. Hellmuth showed up with a surprise. 14 time Gold Medal Winner, Michael Phelps appeared with Hellmuth to say hello to the players of Day 1A. Phelps was not playing in this even but rumors have surfaced that he may play in later event.

At the end of the day 52 players had lost their starting stack and were out of the tournament. The first player out was Anna Wroblewski and behind her was Raymond Davis. Later on Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, Freddy Deeb, Andy Bloch, Eli Elezra and Gavin Smith were knocked out as well.
Day 2 will begin on Wednesday and 101 players will be back to participate. Antonio Esfandiari has a good chip lead but Nicholas Slivinski is not far behind.

Chip Leads After Day 1A:

1. Antonio Esfandiari - 313,000
2. Nicholas Sliwinski - 209,800
3. Jennifer Tilly - 195,050
4. Jeremiah Vinsant - 184,575
5. Andrew Robl - 173,450
6. Johannes Van Til - 151,000
7. Jason Mercier - 145,500
8. Joe Sebok - 142,050
9. Johnny Chan - 138,000
10. Kagawa Masaaki - 123,150