$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 4: 100/200 with a 25 Ante
Flight 1E Entries: 300

Players are on their first break of the day right after Event 5 officially surpassed the $150,000 guaranteed prize pool. Every new entrant from now through Flight F will push that number higher.

Former WSOP National Champion Ryan Eriquezzo is back in the ballroom. He had a deep run in Event 1 but ran into problems after the money bubble.  We’re starting to see more top players jump into the small buy-in, big prize pool field as the day gets older.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 11: 600/1,200 with a 200 Ante
Flight 1D Entries: 283
Players Remaining: 57

On one side of the room we have Flight E climbing closer to the $150,000 Guarantee, the other side of the room has Flight D dropping quickly. Only 57 of the starting 283 entrants are still around with more than three levels to go in the day.

Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Poker ambassador Wally Maddah is making the most of his day. He’s increased his starting stack tenfold and contending for the end-of-flight lead.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 3: 75/150 with a 25 Ante
Flight 1E Entries: 245

The race is on. Can Event 5 go over the $150,000 guaranteed prize pool in the afternoon flight or will it be a few players short heading into the evening game? Either way it’s a lock there will be more than $150,000 when registration closes for good on Event 5 tonight at 10:15.

Jon Borenstein is sitting in the second flight of the day after skipping the earlier run. He can be excused if he’s a little tired today. Borenstein played two long days in a row on his way to a third place finish in Event 1 last night.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 2: 50/100
Flight 1E Entries: 150

The Flight E entrant count is quickly climbing and we’re on pace to top the morning session. If that happens, we’ll start piling money on top of the $150,000 Guarantee.

We found David Inselberg grinding away in the middle of the room and a nice run here in Event 5 can put him over $1 million in career tournament earnings. He picked up a trophy during the 2012 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown and his biggest cash came when he finished one spot short of winning a WPT title in the 2010 World Poker Finals.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 1: 25/50

Registration closed on Flight D at 2:15pm and Flight E kicked off 45 minutes later. There’s still plenty of time to get a piece of the $150,000 guaranteed prize pool and the $150 buy-in is a good value.

The first four flights drew a combined 965 entrants to leave the tournament 285 shy of hitting that guarantee. The 3pm field will race against that number but it will be hit early in the 7pm flight if they don’t get there this afternoon.

Entrants sit down to 10,000 starting stacks and play 30 minute levels throughout the day. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 7 at 6:15pm. Play will conclude at the end of Level 14 and survivors will move on to Day 2 tomorrow.

Combined Chip Counts Through Flight C

• $150,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 10,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
• Day 1 will end after Level 14 or Tournament Director discretion
• Event 5 Structure Sheet

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 7: 250/500 with a 75 Ante
Flight 1D Entries: 283
Players Remaining: 117

Registration closed for Flight D and the fourth run drew 283 entrants. There are 117 of them still around with a chance to bag later tonight and we expect it to drop into the 30s before then.

That entrant count gets us very close to hitting the $150,000 guaranteed prize pool and we only need 285 over the next two flights to get there.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 6: 200/400 with a 50 Ante
Flight 1D Entries: 270

Flight D is midway through Level 6 which only leaves 15 minutes for players to enter. But have no fear, Flight E is set to kick off at 3pm for the next chance.

Johannsy Joseph is cruising along and trying to add a Florida-based title to his credit. He’s taken home trophies from Massachusetts and New Jersey tournaments but still looking for a shiny Seminole Hard Rock Poker trophy. Joseph came close to earning one last night but fell short at the $350 Black Chip Bounty final table.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 5: 150/300 with a 50 Ante
Flight 1D Entries: 246

Players continue to mash the virtual re-entry button often and we’re getting close to this becoming the biggest flight of the event so far. Yesterday’s 3pm run drew 257 entrants and we should click over that before registration closes at 2:15pm.

Robert Valentine is the early leader in Flight C after he ran his 10,000 starting stack up to a very nice 66,500 in two hours. That is no guarantee of success but it’s a very nice start.

Top stacks and notable names:

Robert Valentine – 66,500 (222 bb)
Will O’Connor – 65,025 (217 bb)
Andrew Touchette – 43,100 (144 bb)
Ryan Anderson – 35,550 (119 bb)
Thomas Dujmovich – 32,950 (110 bb)
Julien Durity – 26,125 (87 bb)
Steven Bennett – 25,475 (85 bb)
Michael Newman – 16,150 (54 bb)
Paul Balzano – 15,825 (53 bb)
James Salmon – 13,525 (45 bb)
Abbey Daniels – 11,000 (37 bb)
Timothy Kegel – 10,875 (36 bb)
Nigel Murray – 7,125 (24 bb)
David Jackson – 6,000 (20 bb)
Eli Levy – 5,950 (20 bb)

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 4: 100/200 with a 25 Ante
Flight 1D Entries: 230

Players in Flight D are taking their first break of the day with 230 entrants so far. They play two more levels when they return before registration closes.

We’ll return with the first round of big stacks and notable names.