$600 Deep Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry Per Flight)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 14:  1,500/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining:  104 of 625

Flight A players are preparing for what should be their last break of the day. There are 104 remaining with the money bubble process starting when they hit 80. From there they will play hand-for-hand until one player is eliminated sending the rest to Day 2.

It looks like we have a new leader in the room with Hassan El-Hakim sitting on three towers for 230,000. Ashley Hine is still in the hunt for the end-of-day lead with more than 200,000 herself so the race is on.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry Per Flight)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 12:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining:  152 of 625

Flight A is back underway after the third break of the day with approximately 150 players remaining and 79 advancing to Day 2. Players are dropping at a quick rate, trying to build a castle or hit Flight B at 6 pm.

“Action Ashley” Hine looks like the biggest stack in the room in the late stages with 159,000 and the Texas native is in great position to bag the Flight A lead in a couple of hours.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry Per Flight)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Flight A Entries:  625

Registration closed for the first flight of the first event of the 2021 Poker Showdown series and it was a big one. Flight A put 625 entries in Event 1, up from 400 for the same session in January, and the field will hit its $500,000 guarantee before too long in Flight B.

Flight A will continue to play until 79 players remain and they will advance to Day 2 in the money.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry Per Flight)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Flight A Entries:  617

As Level 8 is coming to an end, tournament staff sent a third of the room on their second break of the day. They will continue like this until everyone returns at 2:30 pm for the start of Level 9 and the close of registration.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry Per Flight)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Flight A Entries:  597

Flight A is nearing 600 entries, a 50% increase from January with time to climb, and the 480 unique player cap is nearing with less than an hour to go before registration closes.

A tremendous start to the series.

Matt Stout is back in South Florida after taking a forced poker break like the rest of the world. He has $4.3 million in career earnings and made his third WPT final table here during the WPT Poker Showdown Championship in 2018, finishing fifth for a nice $190K payday.

$400 Limit Omaha 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure
Level 2:  100/200 Limits
Entries:  108

The Omaha 8 tournament is playing out across the hall from the Seminole Ballroom and the Salon West already has more than 100 players in the freeze-out with registration open for more than three hours.

Yuval Bronshtein is back in action and always a favorite to take home the title in these tough fields. The WSOP bracelet winner came storming out of the gates in January when he crushed the first two Lucky Hearts Poker Open tournaments. He is the defending champion of this tournament with an LHPO win and came back the next day to finish second in the $400 H.O.R.S.E. freeze-out.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry Per Flight)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Flight A Entries:  520

The staggered break is complete and all players rolled into Level 5 at the same time. The entry count climbed over 500 while they were gone and the field continues to grow.

Jeff Kessler and Jennifer David are two of regulars in the field today looking for more success. David booked her biggest score two years ago when she finished third out of more than 1,500 entries in the Turnpike Series.

Kessler picked up a SHRP trophy when he won the RRPO Seniors Event in 2013. His biggest cash came in this tournament during the 2019 Poker Showdown, taking home $108,780 for third place out of nearly 3,000 entries.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry Per Flight)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  200/300 with a 300 ante
Flight A Entries:  481

To help keep our players safe, tournament staff are implementing a staggered break system for the huge Flight A field. They will be broken into thirds with everyone back in action at the same time to start Level 5.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry Per Flight)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3:  100/200 with a 200 ante
Flight A Entries:  454

Flight A is quickly filling with most tables in the Seminole Ballroom in action as we head to the afternoon hours. The re-entries are helping to pile up the numbers as the unique player number plateaus.

We found defending champion Fernando Rodriguez in the game early and trying to go back-to-back. We had more than 3,000 entries in Event 1 of the Lucky Hearts Poker Open and Rodriguez walked away with $205,000 after a three-way deal at the final table.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry Per Flight)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2:  100/100 with a 100 ante
Flight A Entries:  412

Flight A put another 100 entries into the field over the first level with more to come. The field will likely hit the 480 unique player cap before registration closes but players who make it into Flight A will still have a single re-entry available to them until 2:30 pm.

Thomas Gari was here early and representing the local regulars. He went deep in this tournament in January and adding another four-figure score during our February Big Slick tournament.