Froehlich is the man to catch in Indiana

When the World Poker Tour (WPT) announced it was adding a new stop to its Season VIII schedule, more than a few people were surprised to learn it was not some gambling haven like Reno or some tropical island like Turks and Caicos. No, it was in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

Many of the pros who made the trek to Midwest were more than a little confused by their travel. They flew into the Cincinnati Airport, which is located in Kentucky, then hopped in a cab and drove to the Hollywood Casino—in rural Indiana. The obscure location may explain why the tournament drew one of the smallest fields in recent memory, with just 144 runners. The small field means the total prize pool in the event amounts to less than Andras Koroknai’s 1st place payout in this year’s LA Poker Classic at just $1.3 million. The first place finisher will take home $393,820 and the top twelve finishers will each take home a minimum payday of $23,019.

Several players made early exits in Lawrenceburg, including Gavin Smith, Greg “FBT” Mueller, Billy Kopp, Josh Arieh, Tom Marchese and Aaron Jones. While those big names may be out of contention for the title, there are several other known pros remaining in the field, including chip leader Eric Froehlich, big stack Faraz Jaka, Prahlad Friedman, Joe Serock, Ty “puffinmypurp” Reiman and Carlos Mortensen.

The remaining 96 players will return at 2PM ET on Sunday to play another five levels and get that much closer to taking down the next WPT title.  Until then, here are the top ten chip counts from the end of Day 1:

1. Eric Froehlich – 149,400
2. Faraz Jaka – 144,225
3. Mike Mustafa – 114,050
4. Gevork Kasabyan – 89,500
5. Jess Yawitz – 87,875
6. Shawn Buchanan – 81,125
7. Billy Pilossoph – 79,425
8. Richard Pflum – 79,275
9. Carlos Mortensen – 78,600
10. Larry Limpan – 75,000

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