$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9: 500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Flight E Entries:  592

The second break is complete and Flight E players returned to their seats with registration closed. The unofficial number shows 591 and we will report once the numbers are counted.

We have a new big stack in Flight E and it belongs to Carey “Bubba” Dukes. He is up to 170,000 and tablemate Andrew Cooper is not far behind with 160,000. Other notable big stacks include Daniel Rambally (149,100), Brent Ballentine (144,800), Nigel Murray (136,700), and Jonathan Gordon (135,000).

$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8: 400/800 with a 800 ante
Flight E Entries:  558

Level 8 is halfway complete and the clock is ticking if you want to join this huge Flight E field. The second break will hit at 3:15 pm and registration will close when they return.

A few more familiar faces popped into seats including WSOP braclet winner (also 2014 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Champ) James Caleraro and 2018 WSOP Ladies Champ Jessica Dawley.

$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7: 300/600 with a 600 ante
Flight E Entries:  525

Peter Walsworth could be excused if he decided to skip today’s flight in Event 1. But he’s here with us this afternoon less than 24 hours after cashing a $200K ticket in New Jersey.

Walsworth made a detour between Tampa and Hollywood to head to Atlantic City to play the Borgata Fall Poker Open Championship. He made that final table yesterday and picked up a $197,000 payout for a second-place finish after a three-way deal.

Then Walsworth hopped a plane and now playing through the big Flight E field.

It was another busy time in the Seminole Ballroom on Thursday with two more flights of the $1,000,000 guarantee opening tournament and we awarded the second trophy of the series.

Event 3 was a $400 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament that required players to mix it up to build their stack. In the end, it was a bit of redemption for Barry Levy. He made the final table of last year’s RRPO H.O.R.S.E. tournament but had to settle for second place.

This year he closed it out for his fifth career H.O.R.S.E. and second such title here to go along with his 2011 Showdown win. He earned $8,425 with Charles Odenz taking $5,615 for his runner-up finish.

H.O.R.S.E. results:

1st:  Barry Levy  –  $8,425 + RRPO Trophy
2nd:  Charles Odenz  –  $5,615
3rd:  Matthew Smith  –  $3,805
4th:  Richard Shtrax  –  $2,675
5th:  Kevin Love  –  $1,955
6th:  Aaron Kupin  –  $1,485
7th:  Bobby Leff  –  $1,180
8th:  Roy Arkin  –  $975
9th:  Craig Chait  –  $840
10th:  Yuval Bronshtein  –  $840
11th:  Carey Pickus  –  $765

Complete Event 3 updates

Thursday also saw Event 1 hit the midpoint of the tournament. Flights C and D combined to add more than 850 entries and pushed the tournament total up to 1,593.

Flight C saw 65 players advance to Day 2 and Haing Thu took the overall lead as the only player so far over 400K. His 409,500 was good enough to take the top spot from Raminder Singh but it will be tough to hold with a huge weekend crowd expected.

The night flight put another 51 players into Day 2 and Perla Ojeda bagged the biggest in the late evening. The 363,500 stack she bagged up put her fifth overall and in great shape coming back.

Other notables advancing on Thursday included David Bradshaw, James Salmon, Stuart Paterson, Daniel Fuhs, Jeff Kessler, Cherri Beatty, Matthew Yorra, and Ido Ashkenazi.

1. Haing Thu – 409,500
2. Raminder Singh – 387,000
3. Gilles Dalco – 381,500
4. Alfredo Guevara – 379,000
5. Perla Ojeda – 363,500
6. Rafael Bababekov – 359,500
7. David Bradshaw – 347,500
8. Robert Grossman – 319,500
9. Jora Beit – 295,000
10. Denian Costa – 291,000

Chip counts through Flight D

Images courtesy of Eric Harkins and Image Masters. If you would like to purchase any prints of your pictures, you can visit his booth in the hallway or visit the Image Masters website.

$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5: 200/400 with a 400 ante
Flight E Entries:  432

It wasn’t too hard to find the big stack in the room during the break, it was pretty obvious. Michigan’s Brent Ballentine has a stack towering over all others, up from 20,000 starting stack to 130,000 in only two hours and way out front of the nearest competitors.

Not a bad start.

Ballentine came close to picking up his first major title a couple of years ago right here. We held a WSOP Circuit series in September of 2017 and he came one spot shy of a WSOPC ring in the $365 turbo event. Ballentine picked up a nice six-digit cash last year when he finished 66th out of 7,874 in the 2018 WSOP Main Event.

$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4: 200/300 with a 300 ante
Flight E Entries:  407

Four levels are down and more than 400 entries joined during that time. The 407 we have right now puts the combined title at exactly 2,000 and more than 2/3rd of the number needed to hit the $1,000,000 guarantee.

We will walk among the empty tables and track down our early leaders.

$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3: 100/200 with a 200 ante
Flight E Entries:  333

Another level down and another 100 entries into the count. The combined total is closing on 2,000 and it’s going to get very close to the $1,000,000 guarantee before the night is complete.

We found a lot more of our familiar friends in the game including Richard Rice, Erik Christensen, Michael Tait, Zoltan Czinkota, Nigel Murray, and WSOP bracelet winner Al Krux. Expect more as we get deeper into the weekend.

$400 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure
Level 1: 100/100

Four cards and a lot of action. That’s what is in store for Event 5 players this afternoon when the $400 Pot Limit Omaha game gets underway at noon in the Seminole Ballroom. Florida loves PLO and we should see a great gang playing it out for a trophy.

They will sit down to 12,000 starting stacks and all levels last 30 minutes. Late registration is available until the start of Level 9 at 4:30 pm and players may refire as often as they wish during that time. A dinner break is scheduled at 6 pm and they will return to play it out.

We will hit the highlights throughout the day until they reach a final table when we will pick up full coverage.

• Players begin with 12,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 4 Structure Sheet

$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2:  100/100 with a 100 ante
Flight E Entries:  221

The entry count quickly jumped over 200 after the first 30 minutes and there’s a quick-moving line at the registration desk of players trying to join the big field.

Michael Wang was an early entrant after migrating south to a warmer climate. The 2015 WSOP $5K bracelet winner flew into town from New Jersey but not before adding another trophy to his case. Three days ago, Wang won the Borgata Fall Poker Open Purple Chip Bounty tournament for a few RRPO buy-ins.

$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/100
Flight E Entries:  134

Without much ado, tournament staff put cards in the air for Flight E of RRPO Event 1. There are already 134 entries at the start and the anticipation of a big day seems to be coming true.

Players will make their way through the first four levels of the day before taking a 15-minute break.