$600 Badugi (Re-Entry)
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 18:  15,000/30,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  5 of 48

Ryan Hoenig completed the small blind to 15,000, and Jacob Babins checked his option in the big blind.

Draw #1:  Hoenig took two cards, and Babins took two. Hoenig bet 15,000, and Babins called.

Draw #2:  Hoenig stood pat, and Babins took one card. Hoenig bet 30,000, and Babins called.

Draw #3:  Hoenig stood pat, and Babins took one card. Hoenig bet 30,000, Babins raised to 60,000, and Hoenig went into the tank to think.

Babins smiled and said something along the lines of, “I’m not good enough to bluff, but I might be raising incorrectly.”

Hoenig folded, and Babins showed a six-high badugi with as he took the pot.

Jacob Babins  –  400,000  (13 BB)
Ryan Hoenig  –  215,000  (7 BB)

With five players remaining from a field of 48, the average chip stack is around 288,000 (10 Big Bets). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $1,975 each.

$600 Badugi (Re-Entry)
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 17:  12,000/24,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  5 of 48

Manny Tarich raised from the button to 24,000, Ryan Hoenig reraised from the small blind to 36,000, and Tarich called.

Draw #1:  Hoenig took one card, and Tarich took two. Hoenig bet 12,000, and Tarich called.

Draw #2:  Hoenig took one card, and Tarich took one card. Hoenig bet 24,000, and Tarich called.

Draw #3:  Hoenig stood pat, and Tarich took one card. Both players checked. Hoenig showed a king-high badugi with , and Tarich showed his first three cards — . Tarich needed a non-pairing spade that was a king or lower to win the pot.

Tarich’s last card was the , but it gave him a pair for a three-card hand. Hoenig won the pot.

Ryan Hoenig  –  330,000  (14 BB)
Manny Tarich  –  135,000  (6 BB)

With five players remaining from a field of 48, the average chip stack is around 288,000 (12 Big Bets). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $1,975 each.

$600 Badugi (Re-Entry)
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 17:  12,000/24,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  5 of 48

The players return from break to begin Level 17, with increased limits of 12,000-24,000.

Here are the official chip counts from the break:

Seat 1.  Manny Tarich  –  204,000  (9 BB)
Seat 2.  Ryan Hoenig  –  277,000  (12 BB)
Seat 3.  Jacob Babins  –  435,000  (18 BB)
Seat 4.  Dominick Sarle  –  273,000  (11 BB)
Seat 5.  Joseph Olivieri  –  252,000  (11 BB)

And here are the payouts:

1st:  $9,625 + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  $5,685
3rd:  $3,460
4th:  $2,475
5th:  $1,975

6th:  Frederic Moss  –  $1,500

With five players remaining from a field of 48, the average chip stack is around 288,000 (12 Big Bets). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $1,975 each.

$600 Badugi (Re-Entry)
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 15:  8,000/16,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  7 of 48

When the seat was randomly determined for the button for the first hand at the final table, it went to seat 1 — which meant short stack Kenneth Po would be forced all in from the big blind on the very first hand.

So Po was all in for 8,000, and action folded to Ryan Hoenig, who called from the small blind.

Draw #1:  Hoenig took one card, and Po took one card.

Draw #2:  Hoenig took one card, and Po stood pat.

Draw #3:  Hoenig took one card, and Po stood pat.

Po turned over a queen-high badugi with .

Hoenig turned over his first three cards — — before looking at his final card. He’d need a non-pairing spade that was a queen or lower to win the pot, but it was the , so he only had a three-card hand.

Po won the pot with his queen-high badugi to double up in chips.

Kenneth Po  –  16,000  (1 BB)
Ryan Hoenig  –  315,000  (20 BB)

With seven players remaining from a field of 48, the average chip stack is around 205,000 (13 Big Bets). The final six players will finish in the money, with a min-cash worth $1,500.

$600 Mid-Series Showdown (Re-Entry)
$2,000,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 6:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Flight H Entries:  581

With 581 entries here in Flight H, the total field size for Event 26 is up to 3,853, which means they have surpassed the $2 million guarantee on the prizepool.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:30 pm, and this is the final starting flight. Day 2 begins at 1:00 pm.

$600 Badugi (Re-Entry)
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 15:  8,000/16,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  7 of 48

The final seven players redraw for random seats at the final table, and this also marks the beginning of the Money Bubble, since only the final six spots get paid. Here is the lineup with approximate chip counts:

Seat 1.  Manny Tarich  –  253,000  (16 BB)
Seat 2.  Ryan Hoenig  –  325,000  (20 BB)
Seat 3.  Kenneth Po  –  8,000  (<1 BB)
Seat 4.  Jacob Babins  –  285,000  (18 BB)
Seat 5.  Dominick Sarle  –  325,000  (20 BB)
Seat 6.  Joseph Olivieri  –  205,000  (13 BB)
Seat 7.  Frederic Moss  –  28,000  (2 BB)

And here are the payouts at stake:

1st:  $9,625 + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  $5,685
3rd:  $3,460
4th:  $2,475
5th:  $1,975
6th:  $1,500

With seven players remaining from a field of 48, the average chip stack is around 205,000 (13 Big Bets). The final six players will finish in the money, with a min-cash worth $1,500.

$600 Mid-Series Showdown (Re-Entry)
$2,000,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 16:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Flight G Players Remaining:  100 of 798

Once again, the Money Bubble burst before hand-for-hand play could begin, with 2:01 remaining in Level 16, with blinds at 3,000-5,000 and a 5,000 ante.

There were 100 players who survived this flight, and the full list of official chip counts will be posted soon. In the meantime, here are the eight players who bagged at least 400K in chips:

1.  Pablo Valdivieso  –  764,000  (153 bb)
2.  Seun Oluwole  –  543,000  (109 bb)
3.  Curtis King  –  538,000  (108 bb)
4.  Luis Ortiz  –  491,000  (98 bb)
5.  Zubair Pasha  –  475,000  (95 bb)
6.  Antuan Bunkley  –  448,000  (90 bb)
7.  Fabian Foster  –  440,000  (88 bb)
8.  Nerijus Kvedaras  –  414,000  (83 bb)

The final starting flight (Flight H) is already underway, and registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:30 pm. Day 2 begins on Sunday at 1:00 pm.

$600 Badugi (Re-Entry)
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 13:  5,000/10,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  11 of 48

The players return from break to begin Level 13, with increased limits of 5,000-10,000.

Here are the official chip counts from the dinner break:

TABLE 1
Seat 1.  William Mattison  –  47,000  (5 bb)
Seat 2.  
Seat 3.  Jacob Babins  –  219,000  (22 bb)
Seat 4.  James Cialella  –  15,000  (2 bb)
Seat 5.  Dominick Sarle  –  319,000  (32 bb)
Seat 6.  Frederic Moss  –  102,000  (10 bb)

TABLE 2
Seat 1.  Ryan Hoenig  –  142,000  (14 bb)
Seat 2.  Robert Morris  –  60,000  (6 bb)
Seat 3.  Kenneth Po  –  37,000  (4 bb)
Seat 4.  Joseph Olivieri  –  155,000  (16 bb)
Seat 5.  Manny Tarich  –  191,000  (19 bb)
Seat 6.  Donny Rubinstein  –  159,000  (16 bb)

And here are the payouts they’re playing for:

1st:  $9,625 + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  $5,685
3rd:  $3,460
4th:  $2,475
5th:  $1,975
6th:  $1,500

With 11 players remaining from a field of 48, the average chip stack is around 131,000 (13 Big Bets). The final six players will finish in the money, with a min-cash worth $1,500.

$600 Mid-Series Showdown (Re-Entry)
$2,000,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 15:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Flight G Players Remaining:  144 of 798

The players return from break to begin Level 15, with increased blinds of 2,000-4,000 with a 4,000 ante.

A scan of the field during the break turned up three players with at least 370K in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Seun Oluwole  –  472,000  (118 bb)
2.  Sridhar Sangannagari  –  375,000  (94 bb)
3.  Pablo Valdivieso  –  370,000  (93 bb)

With about 144 players remaining from a flight of 798, the average chip stack is around 139,000 (35 big blinds). This flight will continue until there are 100 players remaining, which will also be the Money Bubble. Players must bag chips for Day 2 in order to finish in the money.

$600 Badugi (Re-Entry)
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 13:  5,000/10,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  11 of 48

Level 12 comes to an end for the Badugi event, and the players take a 45-minute dinner break. Action is scheduled to resume around 6:15 pm.

With 11 players remaining from a field of 48, the average chip stack is around 131,000 (13 Big Bets). The final six players will finish in the money, with a min-cash worth $1,500.