2016 World Series of Poker Daily Update: Maguire Takes Online Event, McKeehen Off to Great Start in Main

July 12th, 2016 | by Greg Shaun

Clayton Maguire, known as “SLARKDUCK” online, is now a gold bracelet winner. He earned that in Event #66, the $1,000 WSOP.com Online championship, on Monday.

The tournament started on Friday online. Play then resumed at the Rio yesterday with the final six players. Maguire was the chip leader heading into the final table.

Colorado’s Clayton Maguire took down the second annual WSOP.com Online NLH championship, Event #66, on Monday at the Rio. (Image: WSOP.com)

He won $210,279. The remainder of the final table included:

2 Simeon Naydenov $150,569
3 Marc-Oliver Carpentier-Perrault $110,172
4 Spencer Taylor $82,926
5 Richard Tuhrim $59,233
6 Park-Yu Cheung $46,201

Maguire, originally from Colorado, is now a Las Vegas resident. Previously, he only had two lifetime cashes at the WSOP, and this was his first career bracelet.

McKeehen Sailing in Main Event

Last year’s champion Joe McKeehen got off to a great start in the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event. On Day 1C, the defending champ bagged 110,000 chips. That’s more than double the 50,000 starting size.

McKeehen came ready to defend his title. His stack never dropped low on Monday. He wasn’t as dominant as he was at the final table last fall, but he didn’t let his opponents push him around either. McKeehen, representing his hometown with a Philadelphia Phillies shirt, also announced “shuffle up and deal” at the start of play.

Day 1C always brings out the stars, and on Monday, Daniel Negreanu was one of them. The good news for Kid Poker is he made it through Day One. The bad news is he bagged a small stack (18,600). Last year’s 11th place finisher will need to go on a heater early on Day Two if he hopes to make another deep run.

Daniel’s good friend Jennifer Harman, on the other hand, walked away from the Rio with a healthy 112,500 chip stack by end of day. And she wasn’t afraid to express her excitement afterwards on Twitter.

“Bagged 112,500 in the Main Event. I had so much fun today. That’s what it’s all about. Players at my table were a blast,” Harman posted.

Moneymaker on a Roller Coaster Ride, Ivey Shows Up

Within Chris Moneymaker’s first two hours of play, he was down to 20,000 chips. Moneymaker’s dream of winning this event for a second time appeared in jeopardy. But then he stepped on the pedal, hit some hands, and ended the day with 62,000.

Go show: Phil Ivey made his first and only descent to the World Series of Poker 2016 by playing Day 1C in the Main Event on Monday. He advances to Day Two on Tuesday. (Image: PokerSites.com exclusive)

As for Phil Ivey, he’drather crush the biggest cash games in the world on the other side of the globe in Macau. Before Monday, one of the greatest players in the game hadn’t even showed up to the Rio this summer. But the Main Event is prestigious enough to get the 10-time bracelet winner on a plane.

Ivey had a rocky day, but finished up strong. He was on life support by midday, but finished up with 26,1000. That’s a well below-average chip stack. But a player of his caliber understands that the main goal on Day One of this event is to just survive and advance, and that he did.

Play has just gotten underway for the Main today at the Rio. Also kicking off on Tuesday will be the Little One for One Drop NLH, Event #69, which gets cards in the air at 3 pm Pacific time in Las Vegas.