After Day 1 of the TonyBet Open-Face Chinese World Championship Main Event, the 118 entrants were whittled down to 12. When the day ended, Russia's Sergey Bagirov was in the lead with 552,000 in chips. His fellow countryman, Sergei Illarionov, was second with 472,000 in chips.
Many big names that entered the event were eliminated before the money bubble broke, including last year's Main Event winner Mikal Blomlie from Norway, last year's TonyBet OFC Championship High Roller event winner Jennifer Shahade from the USA, yesterday's High Roller runner-up Evgeny Kocherov from Russia, and this year's Progressive Pineapple event winner and TonyBet Poker Ambassador Isabelle Mercier.