$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  300 of 802

Andrew Esposito raised all in blind for 28,000 from under the gun, Josh Garber calls in middle position, the player in the cutoff four-bets to 53,000, and Garber folds.

The cutoff shows , while Esposito reveals .

The board runs out , giving Esposito trip fours on the river to double up.

Andrew Esposito  –  89,000  (45 bb)

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  300 of 802

Joseph Cheong was all in from middle position for roughly 65,000 against Colby Covington in the small blind.

Cheong: 
Covington: 

The board ran out , giving Covington a pair of aces to eliminate Cheong.

Colby Covington  –  203,500  (102 bb)
Joseph Cheong  –  Eliminated

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  300 of 802

With the final board showing , the small blind checked, Ryan Van Sanford bet 65,000 from the button, and his opponent thought for a while before he called.

Van Sanford showed to win the pot with trip kings, and his opponent mucked.

Ryan Van Sanford  –  370,000  (185 bb)

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm. Day 1B begins tomorrow (Saturday) at 11:00 am.

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  300 of 802

With the board showing on the river and more than 40,000 already in the pot, Kharlin Sued bet 21,500 from the hijack, and Aram Oganyan moved all in from the button.

Sued went into the tank for a very long time with 64,000 left in his stack, and he eventually folded to forfeit the pot.

Oganyan showed for a pair of jacks as he took the pot.

“I easily could have had ace-ten there,” said Oganyan.

Aram Oganyan  –  335,000  (168 bb)
Kharlin Sued  –  64,000  (32 bb)

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm. Day 1B begins tomorrow (Saturday) at 11:00 am.

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  315 of 802

The player in the cutoff opened to 4,500, Scott Bohlman three-bet to 13,000 from the button, the cutoff four-bet to 35,000, Bohlman five-bet all in for 87,000, and the cutoff called with . Bohlman was ahead with .

The board ran out , giving Bohlman a set of kings to double up.

Scott Bohlman  –  179,000  (80 bb)

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  360 of 802

Nick Verderamo raised to 4,500 from the hijack, Adam Hendrix three-bet to 20,000 from the big blind, Verderamo four-bet all in for 90,000, and Hendrix called.

Verderamo: 
Hendrix: 

The flop came , keeping Verderamo in the lead with pair of tens.

The turn was the , giving Hendrix a pair of aces to pull ahead.

The river was the , giving Verderamo a set of tens to win the pot and double up.

Nick Verderamo  –  183,000  (92 bb)
Adam Hendrix  –  130,000  (65 bb)

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1A Entries:  802

The players return from break to begin Level 9, with increased blinds of 1,000-1,500 with a 1,500 ante.

Registration is now closed, and the tournament clock shows an unofficial field size of 802. That would put the prizepool at $2,566,400 with another starting flight tomorrow. So yeah, the $2 million guarantee has been smashed.

A scan of the field during the break turned up four players with at least 300K in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Arthur Peacock  –  326,500  (218 bb)
2.  Sam Laskowitz  –  320,000  (213 bb)
3.  Min Zhang  –  303,500  (202 bb)
4.  Dave Eldridge  –  301,000  (201 bb)

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1A Entries:  791

The player in the cutoff moved all in for 15,400, and Mihail Karasoulis calls from the big blind with .

The cutoff turned over , and needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came — Karasoulis paired his nine on the flop, the cutoff paired his ace on the turn, and Karasoulis rivered a jack-high straight. Karasoulis won the pot to eliminate his opponent.

Mihail Karasoulis  –  80,000  (67 bb)

The tournament clock shows 791 entries so far here on Day 1A, which means the prizepool is already worth more than $2.53 million, easily surpassing the $2 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, and action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm.

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1A Entries:  777

With the board showing on the turn, Aram Oganyan checked from UTG+1, Mihail Karasoulis moved all in from middle position, and Oganyan called all in for 48,100 with for a set of jacks.

Karasoulis turned over for two pair, kings and deuces, and Oganyan needed to avoid a king on the river to stay alive.

The river card was the , and Oganyan won the pot with his set of jacks to double up in chips.

Aram Oganyan  –  155,000  (129 bb)
Mihail Karasoulis  –  65,000  (54 bb)

The tournament clock shows 777 entries so far here on Day 1A, which means the prizepool is already worth more than $2.48 million, easily surpassing the $2 million guarantee.

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm, and action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 10, around 11:15 pm.

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1A Entries:  776

Sheddy Siddiqui  –  213,000
Chris Lewis  –  203,000
Arian Stolt  –  174,000
Giuseppe Iadisernia  –  170,000
Jeff Trudeau  –  150,000
Brandon Navarrete  –  145,000
Joseph Cheong  –  137,000
Matt Zarcadoolas  –  135,000
Ren Lin  –  125,000
Thomas Boivin  –  123,000
Asher Conniff  –  112,000
Nick Verderamo  –  108,000
Christopher Logue  –  108,000
Jon Borenstein  –  90,000
Joe Serock  –  88,000
Philip Shing  –  84,000
Jim Gilbert  –  83,000
Aram Oganyan  –  76,000
Josh Kay  –  70,000
Bin Weng  –  65,000
Eoghan O’Dea  –  65,000
Chad Eveslage  –  63,000
Corel Theuma  –  54,000
Brian Hastings  –  54,000
Justin Saliba  –  54,000
Alex Rocha  –  50,000
Matt Waxman  –  48,000
Ryan Eriquezzo  –  47,000
Esther Taylor  –  45,000
Taylor von Kriegenbergh  –  43,000
Jim Collopy  –  43,000
Scott Bohlman  –  43,000
Brian Altman  –  37,000
Shannon Shorr  –  27,000
Joey Weissman  –  26,000