oronto – Toronto Rock Owner and President Jamie Dawick advanced to Day 2A of the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event with a final chip count of 32,475 after starting the day with 30,000.
The tournament opened with a field of 1066 players entering Day 1A of the $10,000 buy-in event. Dawick’s chip count saw him finish the day in 428th place among 657 survivors.
“It was definitely the most up and down first day I have ever played,” said Dawick who found himself all-in twice on Saturday. “You hate to put your life on the line that early in the tournament, but I came out on the right side of things both times.”
Notables further down the Day 1A chip count leaderboard include Mike “The Mouth” Matusow (28,450) in 468th, Mike Sexton 594th (15,200) and David Williams 636th (9,100). Several big names were sent to the rail on Day 1A including previous Main Event winners Phil Hellmuth, Joe Hachem, Jim Bechtel and Berry Johnston.
“I don’t think there are many weak players in the field,” explained Dawick. “There’s the top-flight pros and great amateur players, but anyone that’s willing to put up the $10,000 to play in the tournament knows what they’re doing. It’s mentally and physically draining. It’s such a grind just to get through the days and not lose your focus on what you’re there to do.”
At the 2011 WSOP Main Event, Dawick made his way through the first two days of the WSOP Main Event before being eliminated on the third day of action. After Day 1 last year, Dawick was just over 10,000 chips shy of his starting stack finishing the day with 19,625 chips.
“This might be the highest chip stack I have ever had after the first day,” said the veteran of the WSOP Main Event. “I feel pretty good about the position I’m in considering where the blinds are at when we get back at it on Tuesday. There’s no urgency, I can continue to play my game.”
Day 1B and Day 1C will play out on Sunday and Monday before Day 2A begins on Tuesday with action beginning at 12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET. Players who made it through Day 1A and 1B will play on Tuesday but the fields will not be combined, as Dawick will play amongst the Day 1A survivors.
You can follow Dawick on Twitter (@JDawick) as he will tweet updates throughout the day on Tuesday. You can also go to torontorock.com for even more coverage of Dawick’s pursuit of poker’s most coveted championship.
