$250 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 14: 1,200/2,400/400 Ante

We have reached the end of Day 1 for Event 1 with the conclusion of Flight 1F with 32 players surviving.  We wrap it up with 1,210 entries and 142 players advancing to Day 2 with a prize pool over $250,000.

Three outstanding late surges set up three players to clear the 200,000 chip mark.  James Salmon III stormed to a final count of 265,000 to win the flight.  He was closely trailed by Christian Rojas who finished up with 235,500 followed by Daniel Linares at 225,500.

Congratulations to everyone who advanced to Day 2 tomorrow!

$250 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 14: 1,200/2,400/400 Ante

Event 1 has reached its final level on Day 1.  Flight 1F will conclude after another thirty mintues of play.  42 players remain but with a large amount of short stacks, this could be one of the more exciting levels we’ll have seen for the entire tournament.  Chris Lewis continues to try to hang on to the chip lead but a few players are closing in trying to take it away.  We’ll see who the last players standing will be shortly.

$250 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 12: 800/1,600/200 Ante

No more than 26 players have made it through a flight here in Event 1.  Flight 1F is trying to be the exception but we are under sixty players left right now with three levels to play.  It’s been a fairly serious atmosphere so whether everyone decides to put the pedal to the metal or back off the throttle tonight, it should be an interesting cruise to the finish line.

$350 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Level 21: 5,000/10,000/1,000 Ante

Shortly after the blinds increased, Murray limped from the small blind for 10,000, Jordan Peralta moved all in from the big blind for about 270,000, and Murray called with .

Peralta turned over , and he needed his pocket pair to hold up to stay alive.

The board came , and Peralta won the pot with two pair, sevens and sixes, to double up in chips — effectively reversing the chip counts from where they were when heads-up play began.

Jordan Peralta  –  545,000  (54 bb)
Nigel Murray  –  295,000  (29 bb)

The next hand, they got it all in again. Murray turned over , and he’d need to improve to stay alive against Peralta’s .

The board came — Peralta clinched it by pairing his ace on the turn, and the king on the river was too little, too late for Murray, who was eliminated.

Nigel Murray (pictured below) finishes as the runner-up, earning $5,478 for second place. Murray is currently ranked second in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year standings, so this second-place finish will move him closer to current POY points leader Ory Hen.

Jordan Peralta wins Event 3 ($350 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em), earning $8,088 and a gorgeous Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown trophy.

Congratulations to Jordan Peralta!

1st:  Jordan Peralta  –  $8,088
2nd:  Nigel Murray  –  $5,478
3rd:  Dwight Barclay  –  $3,579
4th:  Frank Argano  –  $2,862
5th:  Al Gomez  –  $2,148
6th:  Dominik Papa  –  $1,653
7th:  Steve Weintraub  –  $1,239
8th:  Steve Pollack  –  $1,239
9th:  Bryan Munoz  –  $1,239
10th:  Arthur Holmes  –  $825
11th:  Georges Boyadjian  –  $825
12th:  Charles Townsend  –  $825

$350 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Level 20: 4,000/8,000/1,000 Ante

After a flop of , Dwight Barclay is all in for 105,000 with [Qc9d] — an open-ended straight draw. But he’s in trouble against Jordan Peralta’s , because Peralta is sitting comfortably with a jack-high straight.

Barclay needs to catch a jack to stay alive (which would give him a queen-high straight for the double-up), but the turn is the , and the river is the .

Peralta wins the pot with his jack-high straight to eliminate Barclay in third place.

Nigel Murray  –  525,000  (65 bb)
Jordan Peralta  –  320,000  (40 bb)

Dwight Barclay  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($3,579)

$350 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Level 20: 4,000/8,000/1,000 Ante

With the board showing on the turn, Dwight Barclay got it all in for 85,000 with (jack-high straight) against Frank Argano’s (ten-high straight). Argano’s only hope is a jack on the river for a chopped pot.

The river card is the , and Barclay wins the pot to double up in chips — crippling Argano in the process.

Dwight Barclay  –  270,000  (33 bb)
Frank Argano  –  10,000  (1 bb)

The next hand, Barclay limps from the cutoff for 8,000, Argano moves all in from the button for 9,000, and everyone calls. It’s a four-way pot that includes Jordan Peralta in the small blind and Nigel Murray in the big blind.

The flop comes , and Peralta bets 24,000. Murray and Barclay both fold, and Murray shows his .

Surprisingly, considering he was down to a single big blind, Argano turns over a powerful hand — . But he needs to improve to stay alive against Peralta’s (two pair).

The turn is the , the river is the , and Peralta wins the pot with his two pair to eliminate Frank Argano in fourth place. (Murray points out that he would have caught a runner-runner jack-high straight.)

Seat 1.  Dwight Barclay  –  257,000  (32 bb)
Seat 4.  Jordan Peralta  –  158,000  (19 bb)
Seat 5.  Nigel Murray  –  425,000  (53 bb)

Frank Argano  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($2,862)

$250 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 10: 500/1,000/100 Ante

It hasn’t happened much in Event 1, but we finally have a player who has been able to pull off a solid breakaway midway through a flight.

Chris Lewis is in a super position raking in a whopping 154,000 chips after nine levels of play.  And speaking of position, Lewis can afford to get a little comfortable at the table with such a solid lead.  But he’s not relaxing as he called for another double-up before the night was over.

90 players remain alive here in Flight 1F.

$350 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Level 20: 4,000/8,000/1,000 Ante

Al Gomez was short-stacked and all in preflop from the small blind, with three players (Dwight Barclay, Frank Argano, and Nigel Murray) battling over a dry side pot.

Action checked all the way down on a board of . Barclay said, “King high,” and Argano showed for ace high. But Murray turned over for two pair, queens and jacks.

Gomez showed his , but it wasn’t enough, and he was eliminated in fifth place.

Nigel Murray  –  435,000
Jordan Peralta  –  145,000
Frank Argano  –  145,000
Dwight Barclay  –  130,000

Al Gomez  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($2,148)