Event 1: Paul Kelly Leads 609 Survivors After Day 1

$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Prizepool
End of Level 14: 1,200/2,400 with a 400 ante
Players Remaining: 609 of 3,173

The starting flights are in the books for the series’ opening event. This $570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) event drew a huge total field of 3,173 entries across its six starting flights, creating a prizepool well in excess of $1.5 million.

Day/TimeFlightEntriesAdvanced
Thursday at 11amA44188
Thursday at 6pmB29659
Friday at 11amC45889
Friday at 6pmD50996
Saturday at 11amE735129
Saturday at 6pmF734148
Total 3,173609

The chip leader came from the Day 1F flight, though the name at the top ended up being a bit of a surprise. Down the stretch, it looked like a three-horse race between James Smart, Rodney Banks, and Gediminas Kiuberis for the overnight honors, but Paul Kelly stormed into the lead right at the tape. Kelly finished with 442,500 chips, nearly 100,000 clear of his nearest challenger, Smart.

Here’s the top of the leaderboard after Day 1:

1: Paul Kelly – 442,500
T2: Prashray Rai – 353,000
T2: James Smart – 353,000
4: Fernando Halac – 348,000
T5: Jon Borenstein – 338,000
T5: Rodney Banks – 338,000
7: Gediminas Kiuberis – 328,500
8: Sheldon Gross – 326,000
9: Bruce Jorgensen – 303,000
10: Otto Palacios – 299,500

Michael Laake

The Seminole Hard Rock Poker team will be well represented on Day 2, as well. Michael Laake only needed one entry to amass a stack of 239,00 chips, good for a spot just outside the overnight top 20. Matt Affleck isn’t far behind with 213,000, followed by Sheddy Siddiqui (120,000), Loni Harwood (82,000), Darryll Fish (63,000), Stewart Newman (43,000), and Jessica Dawley (21,000).

Matt Affleck

They and the rest of the 609 survivors will return to action Sunday with the goal of playing all the way down to a winner. A top prize of $272,508 is waiting up top, along with the first trophy of this year’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.

Blinds will be 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante when play resumes, putting the average stack around 35 big blinds. Only 300 of the remaining players will finish in the money, so bursting the bubble will be the first item on the day’s to-do list.

Day 2 begins at 1:00 p.m.

Day 2 Chip Counts  |  Day 2 Seat Draw