Matthew Ashton Tops Day 1 of Poker Players Championship Field

The top pros in the world circle their calendar for the World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship event each year – battling for five days across eight games of poker to determine the best all-around pro. Day 1 of the 2017 event drew 93 entrants, with 87 moving on to Day 2 with 2013 PPC Champ Matthew Ashton leading the field with 705,500.

Rob Mizrachi would like to be the first set of brothers to win the prestigious event. (Photo: PokerPhotoArchive.com)
Robert Mizrachi, Mark Gregorich, James Obst and Johnny Chan all finished among the top ten stacks. Isaac Haxton, Daniel Negreanu, Paul Volpe and double bracelet winner this year David Bach. It should be noted Bach’s two bracelets this year came in the HORSE Championship and a Dealers Choice event – his first bracelet was this event in 2009.

David Bach could jump to the top of the POY rankings with a deep run in the PPC. (Photo: PokerPhotoArchive.com)
Brian Rast – the defending champ – and 2011, one of two players to win the event twice along with Michael Mizrachi in 2012 and 2010 both return for Day 2. Rast is above the average stack and Mizrachi is right on par.

Gus Hansen, Jeff Lisandro, Talal Shakerchi, Matt Glantz and Mike Gorodinksy all return at the bottom of the leader board.

Gus Hansen put in a rare appearance at the Rio. (Photo: PokerPhotoArchive.com)
Six players met their end on Day 1 – Jared Bleznick, Ben Sulsky, Dan Shak, David Benyamine, Iraj Parvizi and Daniel Cates.

Registration is open through the start of Day 2, so the field could grow. The 93 entrants is already an improvement over the last two years that drew 91 and 84 entrants respectively.

Day 2 resumes with cards in the air at 2 pm PT (5 pm ET) and the field will play six, 100-minute levels before bagging for the night.

Top Ten Chip Counts

1. Matthew Ashton – 705,500
2. Aaron Katz – 682,700
3. Robert Mizrachi – 485,500
4. Harry Madoff – 478,600
5. Mark Gregorich – 465,200
6. Brett Richey – 455,300
7. Daniel Alaei – 446,100
8. Marco Johnson – 422,900
9. James Obst – 417,600
10. Johnny Chan – 408,500