Day 1C of the World Poker Tour North American Poker Championship played out on Sunday. There were 166 entrants, upping the total field to 454. Among them were PocketFivers who have already experienced major live tournament success, including WPT Borgata Poker Open winner Vivek PsyduckRajkumar (pictured) and EPT German Open winner Michael timexMcDonald. There will be 276 players converging on the Fallsview Casino in Ontario, Canada for Day 2, which kicks off at 12:00 noon local time on Monday. PocketFivesLive.com, your source for online poker players in the biggest live tournaments, has been on-hand at Fallsview providing the best WPT coverage.

In third place in chips heading into Day 2 is Stephen Stevie444Chidwick (pictured), who sits with 165,700. The native of the United Kingdom won the $100 rebuy on PokerStarsin August for $30,000, one week removed from taking sixth in the Super Tuesday for $18,000. He’s a Triple Crownand Monthly PLB winner on PocketFives.com and will look to expand his poker resume during the remainder of the NAPC. PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Court Harrington, who has been following the action live at the NAPC, commented, “Steve stayed patient through the first few levels and came on strong late in the day to accumulate a mountain of chips. Going into Day 2, he is in a great situation to sit back and pick his spots in order to set himself up for a solid run deep into the tournament.”

Vivek PsyduckRajkumar finished Day 1C with 99,600 chips, the 22nd largest stack in the room entering Day 2. The last time that he played in a World Poker Tour event, he won it. Rajkumar took down the Borgata Poker Open for $1.4 million, defeating a final table that included Sang Kim, Daniel Heimiller, Jason Strochak, Mark Seif, and Andrew Knee. He has eight World Series of Poker cashes on his resume for a grand total of $161,000, highlighted by a final table appearance in a $3,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em tournament in 2007 for $36,000. Online, Rajkumar took sixth in the Sunday Million on PokerStars for $32,000 in March. In July, he took second in the $100 rebuy.

Harrington noted how Rajkumar’s Borgata victory plays into his mindset: “Coming off a win at the Borgata, followed by a couple of duds in Europe, Vivek looks like he is back in top form and ready to make another deep run at Fallsview. Confidence goes a long way in poker and there is no better confidence builder for a poker player than winning a major live tournament.”

Also in the fray on Day 1C was Mike timexMcDonald (pictured), who won the European Poker Tour German Open, held in Dortmund in February, for $1.4 million. He also cashed in the Prague event last December. He’s also a Monthly PLB winner and Triple Crown holder on PocketFives.com. McDonald won the $100 rebuy one month ago for $36,000. He also took third in the $150 buy-in $65,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker for $9,000. Harrington describes McDonald’s chances on Day 2: “Mike is young, but already has a major victory under his belt. Finishing up with over 85,000 chips, he is in solid shape going into Day 2 and is a serious threat in this and any tournament.” McDonald holds 86,900 chips, the 33rd largest chip stack after the three starting days.

Play will resume on Monday with 276 players and continue until only 99 are left. The total prize pool has not yet been announced by the WPT, but is estimated to be around $4.4 million. On Day 2, Harrington expects the following: “Day 2 at the NAPC will be a large combined field after three relatively small day ones. The action is expected to be fast right from the get go.”

Other PocketFivers who survived Day 1C, along with their chip counts, included:
59. Phil USCPhildo Collins – 72,800
111. Mike SirWatts Watson – 49,500
123. Adrian flmodesq21 Gavile – 45,000
176. Daniel poncholoco Youngblood – 30,300

PocketFiver Jamie thecronic420 Rosen holds the chip lead headed into Day 2. Here are the top ten chip stacks headed into Day 2, which begins on Monday and features the survivors from Days 1A, 1B, and 1C:
1. Jamie Rosen – 196,300
2. Darus Suharto – 188,000
3. Stephen James Chidwick – 165,700
4. Justin Tran – 159,300
5. Kenan Zhang – 155,800
6. Jon Hoellein – 143,400
7. Steve Paul-Ambrose – 136,500
8. Lee Markholt – 128,200
9. John Mori – 127,600
10. Christian Harder – 125,400

You can find all of the action from the Fallsview Casino on PocketFivesLive.com, your source for WPT coverage.