$3,500 WPT LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1B Entries:  984

With the final board showing and a little more than 16,000 already in the pot, Vincent Welch checks under the gun, and the player in the cutoff bets 5,000.

Welch check-raises all in, and the cutoff goes into the tank for a very long time with 53,000.

At one point, the cutoff apologized to the table for taking so long, but it was down to the final few plays of the NFL playoff game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Tennessee Titans, and most eyes in the room were on the large TV screens showing the game.

“Take your time,” said one of the players. It was clear that nobody seemed too concerned about playing the next hand until the playoff game had ended.

Eventually, the player in the cutoff called with for a pair of aces.

But Welch turned over to win the pot with a rivered queen-high straight, eliminating his opponent.

Vincent Welch  –  250,000  (250 bb)

The tournament clock shows 984 entries so far here on Day 1B, for a two-day total of 1,877. Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9, around 9:15 pm. The total prizepool is already worth more than $6.0 million.

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm.