$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 18: 6,000/12,000/2,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 144
Average Stack: 396,000 (33 bb)

Jason Young took a seat next to TJ Shulman (good luck getting a word in Table 22) not long before a small, cute hand played out. It was three-handed when Shulman and an Brandon Miller found out they were chopping a pot, while sending Laddavan Gaddah out, with trip Kings.

Shulman had against and the last two Kings came on the flop. The Gaddah’s short stack KO wasn’t a big boost to either stack but it gave Shulman a chance to ask how many Kings were in the deck.

We have 144 remaining midway through the 18th level with former WSOP Ladies Champion Marsha Wolak among the recently departed.

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 18: 6,000/12,000/2,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 189
Average Stack: 352,000 (29 bb)

TJ Shulman was indeed the chip leader as the break rolled around, only a few chips short of becoming the first player over 1 million. James Salmon and Ronald Camillo are the two other players over 900,000 with Raminder Singh not far behind.

Salmon has Event 1 history here in the past. He won the opening event of the 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown over 1,200 other entrants.

Top and notable stacks:

TJ Shulman – 984,000 (82 bb)
James Salmon – 930,000 (78 bb)
Ronald Camillo – 924,000 (77 bb)
Raminder Singh – 883,000 (74 bb)
Gedeminas Kiuberis – 824,000 (69 bb)
David Price – 742,000 (62 bb)
Vasilii Leshchenko – 721,000 (60 bb)
Andrew Kay – 714,000 (60 bb)
Kevin Ho – 666,000 (56 bb)
Scott Giesse – 652,000 (54 bb)
Lazaro Rodriguez – 652,000 (54 bb)
Arthur Peacock – 651,000 (54 bb)
Mohd Eid – 643,000 (54 bb)
Brandon Berkenfeld – 627,000 (52 bb)
Roberto Alberro – 615,000 (51 bb)
Olvenso Savoie – 615,000 (51 bb)
Johnny Tang – 614,000 (51 bb)
Kent Taepakdee – 607,000 (51 bb)
Richard Hutchings – 600,000 (50 bb)
Chad Freedman – 458,000 (38 bb)
Jason Young – 428,000 (36 bb)
Jean “Prince” Gaspard – 418,000 (35 bb)
Evan Teitelbaum – 341,000 (28 bb)
Steven Bennett – 198,000 (17 bb)
Stuart Paterson – 166,000 (14 bb)
Matt Affleck – 154,000 (13 bb)
Luke Brereton – 149,000 (12 bb)

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 18: 6,000/12,000/2,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 189
Average Stack: 302,000 (25 bb)

After the craziness of the restart, players now have a chance to take a quick breather to settle themselves down.

The field lost 160 players in 80 minutes of play, that averages out to two eliminations per minute.

One player every 30 seconds.

We’ll take our first look at the new big stack and check in with our leaders.

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 17: 5,000/10,000/1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 220
Average Stack: 260,000 (26 bb)

It’s tough to tell in all the craziness at the moment but it appears TJ Shulman has taken the lead with more than 125 players eliminated in the first hour.

His stack is over 800,000 even after sending 100,000 over to a short stacked opponent. Shulman put the Flight G field in the money with a come-from-behind win but couldn’t pull it off this time with against .

This continuing list of players hitting the rail include Stewart Newman, Zo Karim, and Nancy Birnbaum.

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 17: 5,000/10,000/1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 279
Average Stack: 204,000 (20 bb)

It’s all hands on deck for the tournament staff as the blistering pace continues. The rough count (because it literally changes by the second) stands at 279 remaining after 23 minutes of action.

Among those in the long payout line were Nancy Birnbaum, Zo Karim, Brandon Byars, and Steven McKoy.

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 16: 4,000/8,000/1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 327
Average Stack: 174,000 (22 bb)

We predicted a quick parade out the door and it’s going faster than anticipated. The field dropped two tables from the field (and in the process of breaking another) in the first five minutes and they yells of “Payout!” are ringing across the room.

Sometimes short stacks were just running into coolers. Willie Wiggins probably thought his would get him over 100,000 but he ran into Eric Rivkin’s . The aces held and Rivkin moved up to 152,000.

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 16: 4,000/8,000/1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 345
Average Stack: 166,000 (21 bb)

Players are taking their seats and we’re just about ready to restart the Ultimate Re-Entry tournament. We have 345 players remaining of the starting 4,075 entrants and they are already in the money before the first card goes in the air.

We expect a lot of activity at the start as players try to double their short stack or hit the payout desk. Hour-long levels on Day 2 will deepen the stacks quickly but there will be a line to get paid in the beginning.

Chad Freedman bagged up the biggest stack in Flight A and he stayed there after all eight flights were complete. His 639,000 is slightly ahead of Richard Whitebrook’s 636,000 and former Seminole Hard Rock Poker champion Raminder Singh.

Play will resume with 23 minutes 24 seconds remaining in Level 16.

• Event 1 Day 2 Table and Seat Assignments (by table)
• Event 1 Day 2 Table and Seat Assignments (by name)
• Event 1 Day 2 Chip Counts
• Event 1 Payouts

$570 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max (Single Re-Entry)
Level 3: 75/150

While tournament staff are preparing for the huge Ultimate Re-Entry restart, Event 2 continues to build up in the front corner of the ballroom. It has attracted 60 entrants so far to the single re-entry tournament including Neil Blumenfield.

The last time we saw him, he was cashing in the 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Coco Poker Open Championship but most know him from a little tournament earlier in the year. Blumenfield made himself known when he final tabled the WSOP Main Event and finished third during the November Nine play down to Joe McKeeken taking the title.

Link: Ultimate Re-Entry Table/Seat Assignments

$570 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max (Single Re-Entry)
Level 1: 25/50

Now that the opening flights of the Ultimate Re-Entry are in the books, the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open can start running out some new events. Today’s tournament is the second in the series but will award the first trophy.

Event 2 is a $570 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament with a 6-handed format and $50,000 guaranteed prize pool. It’s also a one-day tournament, they will keep on playing until we have the first champion.

They sit down to 12,000 stacks and play 30-minute levels throughout the day. Late registration is open until the start of Level 9 at 4:30pm but players are limited to a single re-entry if they lose their first stack. There is a dinner break scheduled at 6:30pm and we will keep one eye on that side of the room as the Ultimate Re-Entry plays down as well.

Cards are in the air and they are underway.

Link: Ultimate Re-Entry Table/Seat Assignments