The first of two starting flights in the World Poker Tour (WPT) $5,250 buy-in Gardens Poker Championship in southern California wrapped up on Sunday evening after ten levels of play with just 54 players remaining. Leading the star-studded field that includes multiple WPT champions is Los Angeles native Girish Reknar with a stack of 459,500.
Day 1a drew 162 players as WPT made its return to Gardens Casino, one of the biggest poker rooms in the country. Those who advanced to Day 2 included WPT champions Adam Weinraub, Joshua Pollock, Anthony Zinno, Matthew Wantman and Frank Stepuchin, who took down the 2019 $10,000 WPT Gardens Poker Championship for $548,825.