$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9: 500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Flight C Entries: 132

Level 9 is coming to an end and players will take a 40-minute dinner break when it is complete. Event 4 is on the verge of creating a $500,000 prize pool after another dozen or so hit the field.

We will resume coverage after the dinner break as they near the end of their evening.

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8: 400/800 with a 800 ante
Flight C Entries: 120

Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler took his seat earlier in the day and Rex Clinkscales showed up a few levels later. He was happy to see his table draw.

“I get Allen’s table,” he laughed.

Since then, the two friends have been exchanging friendly needles with an innocent bystander in the middle. It’s mostly going in one direction.

Clinkscales has tournament wins all around the world including Canada, Bahamas, and Belgium along with right here in the States. His biggest cash came last summer when he won the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa WPTDeepStack Main Event.

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7: 300/600 with a 600 ante
Flight C Entries: 116

The second break is complete and we have a new leader. Brian Powell blasted his stack north right before the break but he’s still a few chips behind Raveesh Asnani. He returned to 168,000 out front to put him in the lead.

They will grind out three more levels before taking a 40-minute dinner break.

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 300/500 with a 500 ante
Flight C Entries: 110

We caught the action on Table 33 with the flop already out. One player was all in, another was contemplating, and Brian Powell had them both covered once all the chips were committed.

Powell:
Big Blind:
Middle Position:

Powell was ahead with bottom set and needed to fade a club draw and top/top from the big blind. The lonely paired ace turned into two pair on the but no one could top Powell after the river. Two players were sent out and Powell pushed his stack up to 148,000 shortly before the second break.

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 300/500 with a 500 ante
Flight C Entries: 106

The Flight C entry counted jumped over 100 during the previous level and we’re climbing towards that next milestone to put $500,000 in the prize pool. That should happen before the end of the day plus a few others max late regging tomorrow before Day 2.

Bryce McVay is trying to bag today and not sweat it. He’s doing well this afternoon and aiming to add to an already impressive list of credits. McVay has wins here as well as our sister rooms in Tampa and Coconut Creek. He ran well in the Coconut Creek WSOP Circuit series earlier in the year with three cashes at three final tables where he posted a second, fourth, and fifth place finishes.

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5: 200/400 with a 400 ante
Flight C Entries: 97

Most of our Deep Stack Poker Series grinders are from in-state or they are transient from one place to another. But a couple pros hopped down to Florida to warm up for the WSOP starting next week.

Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler made his way to South Florida for the super deep, super slow Main Event structure and grabbed his seat this afternoon. He has a nice record heading into the summer series with 54 WSOP cashes and over $1 million of his career $3.6 million earned coming during the series alone.

Calling an audible and heading to @shrpo with @RexClinkscales for 1 final tourney before @WSOP #wholovesitmore

— Allen Kessler (@AllenKessler) May 24, 2018

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4: 200/300 with a 300 ante
Flight C Entries: 86

Players returned to the poker room and action is back underway with another ten jumping in. The prize pool is now over $400,000 and heading towards $500,000.

The Main Event structure is so fine that it seems no one felt the need to get too frisky over the first three levels. There were no huge stacks to track down but SHRP regular Max Romano had the biggest. His 104,000 is just over a double starting stack and things will ramp up as the afternoon wears on.

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3: 100/200 with a 200 ante
Flight C Entries: 76

The first break is upon us with 76 entries pushing the prize pool near $400,000. We’ll take a walk around the room and check for early big stacks while they are away from the tables.

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3: 100/200 with a 200 ante
Flight C Entries: 65

Tables are opening one after another and the cash games are catching the tournament tables. It’s a good day to make your way down to the poker room.

Manny Minaya made a long drive to get here today. He’s a regular in the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa poker room but will make the trek across the state for our big tournaments. Minaya has a lot of wins on the resume but still looking for his first here. He has two Tampa Winter Poker Open titles plus a deep run in the Joe Hachem 2005 WSOP Main Event.

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 100/100
Flight C Entries: 22

As expected, the $300,000 Guarantee Main Event hit the magic number before cards were in the air. And then they added a few.

The prize pool is now over $300,000 and it will continue to climb until registration closes at noon tomorrow when Day 2 kicks off.