$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 1: 25/50 Flight E Entries: 296
We thought it would be a big day in the ballroom and the field is not disappointing. It took less than half of the first level to push the Flight E entrant count up to 296 for the magic number. That officially put 2,000 entries in the game for exactly $1,000,000 in the prize pool
But they won’t stop there. Players have until 3:30pm to get to the ballroom to participate in this flight followed by the final chance starting at 6pm.
$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 1: 25/50
The weekend is in full swing and we have the last flights of the $1 Million Guaranteed opening tournament. The first four flights combined to put 1,704 entries into the game to leave it only 296 away from pushing the prize pool over seven-digits.
It won’t take long to get there this afternoon.
We found a new overall chip leader after each flight and it is now held by Jon Borenstein, returning to a very healthy 338,000 stack (good enough for 113 bigs starting Day 2). The crowd this afternoon should easily top 500 entries so his chip lead is not a lock for tomorrow’s restart.
Today’s entrants will play out the same schedule as the previous four. They will sit down to 20,000 starting stacks and play 30-minute levels throughout the day. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 3:30pm and they will end their night after Level 14.
So far, 236 players have booked their way into Day 2 tomorrow afternoon. Today we’ll add a few hundred more to make for a nice returning field at 1pm.
Action gets underway at 11am and we expect an exciting day in the ballroom.
$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure Returning to Level 15: 1,500/3,000/500 ante Players Remaining: 332 of 1,704
Flight A: 441 Entries, 88 Advanced Flight B: 296 Entries, 59 Advanced Flight C: 458 Entries, 89 Advanced Flight D: 509 Entries, 96 Advanced Flight E: Saturday at 11am Flight F: Saturday at 6pm Day 2: Sunday at 1pm
$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure End of Level 14: 1,200/2,400 with a 400 ante Flight D Entries: 509 Players Remaining: 96
Jon Borenstein
Four of the six starting flights are complete in the series’ opening event, and the weekend brings the promise of exceeding the $1 million guarantee with ease.
This morning’s Day 1C flight drew 458 entries, and the field was trimmed to 89 by the time the clock ran out on their day. Jie Liu finished the flight atop the counts with 282,000 chips, good for the overall lead in Event 1 — for the time being, at least.
Raj Vohra (152,000) also made it through the session, as did Riley Fuller (108,000), Victor Figueroa (106,000), Evan Teitelbaum (87,000), Michael Amato (82,000), Tim Reilly (60,000), Ryan Olisar (46,500), and Andy Spears (26,000).
The later Day 1D flight was the biggest so far, with 509 entries turning up before the close of registration. That brought the total field to 1,704 entries across the first four starting flights — another stellar turnout with two flights still left to grow.
Jon Borenstein did the most work in the evening session, turning his 20,000-chip starting stack into 338,000 through the first 14 levels of play. That was just good enough to edge Sheldon Gross (326,000) for the overnight honors; both men surpassed Liu’s Day 1C mark.
It took Borenstein six entries to make one stick, a fact he made light of on Twitter as play concluded:
Bagged CL (so far) in the #shrpo 3420 1 mill opening event
Dantonio Brown also finished the day strong with 271,500 chips, and the same can be said for Josh Beckley (223,000). Vitor Coelho (189,000), Eli Levy (158,000), Matthew Zarcadoolas (125,000), Erik Christensen (111,000), Dylan Drazen (88,000), and Jewook Oh (66,500) also advanced.
The Seminole Hard Rock Poker team performed rather well in the evening session, too.
Michael Laake just arrived from his home across the state in Punta Gorda, and he wasted no time getting to work. Laake ran up a big stack early, and he ended the day inside the overall top 10 with 239,000 chips. Sheddy Siddiqui had a productive day himself, increasing his starting stack sixfold to end the day with 120,000 chips. Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Ambassador Wally Maddah also earned himself a day of rest tomorrow, putting 54,000 chips in the bag.
In the end, 96 players advanced through Day 1D, so a total of 332 have punched their ticket to Day 2 so far.
The event’s final two starting flights, Days 1E and 1F, run tomorrow at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., respectively. The combined Day 2 goes off Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 14: 1,200/2,400 with a 400 ante Flight D Entries: 509 Players Remaining: 108
The clock was paused with 10 minutes left in the level, and a three was pulled from the deck. Each table will play that many more hands before the survivors bag their chips for the night.
A recap of the day’s action will be posted once play concludes, along with the full list of chip counts through this flight.
$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 14: 1,200/2,400 with a 400 ante Flight D Entries: 509 Players Remaining: 108
Jon Borenstein
“All right, I’m done,” Jon Borenstein said as he stacked a big pot. Another big pot, that is.
It appears the New Jersey pro has been on a bit of a rush lately. His table is suddenly six-handed thanks to that knockout pot, and it seems likely that this most recent pelt wasn’t the first he’s claimed in recent minutes.
Borenstein is running out of free space in front of him to stack chips, and he’s now comfortably over the 250,000-chip mark. Call it 270,000 and the chip lead for Day 1D at the moment.
$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 ante Flight D Entries: 509 Players Remaining: 117
The field is shrinking quickly now, and the stacks are starting to become polarized as the shorties look for spots to play for double or nothing.
Wally Maddah was the most recent beneficiary of that trend. The player on the button moved all in for just over 20,000, and Maddah looked at one card in the small blind before calling to put his opponent at risk.
Button: Maddah:
The board ran out blanks for both players, coming . Maddah won the pot with ace-high, trimming the field by one in the process.
$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 12: 800/1,600 with a 200 ante Flight D Entries: 509 Players Remaining: 153
Kenneth Watson
Kenneth Watson opened to 4,000 in middle position, and the small blind three-bet to 11,000. Watson called.
The flop was . The small blind continued for 17,000, and Watson called. The turn was the , and the small blind moved all in for just over 50,000. Watson called quickly, having his opponent covered.
Watson: Small blind:
Watson’s king-high flush had his opponent drawing dead to the river. Finishing with the nut flush, Watson scooped the big pot to surge over the 200,000-chip mark and into the top spot on the Day 1D leaderboard.
$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 12: 800/1,600 with a 200 ante Flight D Entries: 509 Players Remaining: 162
The player under the gun opened to 4,000, and Josh Beckley called a couple seats over.
The flop was , and it checked to Beckley, who bet 4,000. His opponent called that bet, then another 8,100 after the turn. The river was the . When it checked to Beckley again, he bet 30,000. That was enough to cover his opponent, who eventually surrendered his cards into the muck.
Beckley won the pot with no showdown, padding his already-large stack.
. Maddah won the pot with ace-high, trimming the field by one in the process.
. The small blind continued for 17,000, and Watson called. The turn was the 
, and the small blind moved all in for just over 50,000. Watson called quickly, having his opponent covered.
, and it checked to Beckley, who bet 4,000. His opponent called that bet, then another 8,100 after the 
turn. The river was the