Event 1 ($240 No Limit Hold'em) Results

800 players ponied-up the $240 to play in Event 1 of the Chicago Poker Classic, 326 more players than all the attendances of last year's events combined.

If you're wondering what 800 players looks like, enjoy (Courtesy of IMPDI)

More players on day one meant more holdovers for day two, as 54 players returned on Saturday, February 27, to battle over the first title of the series.

With 54 returning and needing to play down to one, the possibility of finishing before daybreak on Sunday was looking slim.

A little more than two hours later 40 players had exited, in a mass exodus tournament directors called "ridiculous."

Amidst the chaos a significant chip leader emerged, Tim Barney, who with 20 players left had accumulated a chip stack that represented about 1/8th of the total chips in play.

Good time to buy a lottery ticket kid (Courtesy of IMPDI)

Not everyone was flying as high, however, as former options trader and Chicagoan Gary "Mow" Herstein was left with just two chips, good for 35,000, when the tournament got down to its final 20.

Both Barney and Herstein managed to maneuver their very different stacks to the final table, which looked like...

Like the rest of the tournament, the final table's progression was fast and furious, finishing in around three hours.

So eager were the players to finish up that the night ended with three winners when a three-way chop was eventually agreed upon.

And guess who had the top stack when the dust finally settled...

Tip of the Day: Sometimes lots of chips is good (Courtesy of IMPDI)

That's right, Tim Barney, along with Gary "Mow" Herstein and Nathan Timmerman split up the final prize pool at the end of the day. Barney walked away with the most money, $29,000, the title and a seat into Friday's Main Event.

Barney was nice enough to answer some question just after his breakthrough victory.

Windy City Rounder: So, what did you think of the tournament?

Tim Barney: It was really good, obviously. Great tournament, best structure, a lot of poker.

WCR: All the players that were knocked out at the final table pointed to you as the one they thought was going to win, what do you think about that?

Barney: Wow, really? That's really cool. I thought I was playing well and I guess they thought that too.

WCR: So why chop?

Barney: I thought it was a good deal, $29,000 plus the seat. It was too good to turn down.

WCR: So now that you won, what are you going to do?

Barney: Well, I'll be playing in the Main Event of course, and probably some of the other tournaments.

WCR: All right, Tim, congratulations.

Barney: Thanks.

Final Table Results and Payouts:

Random Stuff from the CPC's First Weekend

• When he was down to just two chips in Event 1, Gary "Mow" Herstein managed to rake in a small double up. He then pointed to me and said "You'll need my name because I'm going to take this down." Mow was close; he was part of the three-way first place chop at the end of the night. I later learned that running good at the Horseshoe is sometimes referred to as "running like Mow." Justified or jealous? You'll have to decide for yourself.

• Not everyone with a two-chip stack can create an amazing run. After showing up an hour late for the restart of Event 1, one player found himself left with only two, purple $500 chips. Needless to say, he didn't run like mow, but his late arrival did mean he outlasted enough bust outs to move him up to the next payout point of the tournament...so I guess it wasn't all bad.

See, he was even smiling about it