$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1A Entries:  773

The player on the button raised to 3,000, Matthew Zarcadoolas reraised from the small blind to 13,000, and the player on the button four-bet it to 28,000. Zarcadoolas thinks for a while before he called.

Both players checked to the river on a board of , and Zarcadoolas bet 46,000. The player on the button tanked for a very long time before he folded, and Zarcadoolas took the pot.

Matthew Zarcadoolas  –  135,000  (113 bb)

The tournament clock shows 773 entries so far here on Day 1A, which means the prizepool is already worth more than $2.47 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 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  743

After a flop of with about 25K already in the pot, the player in the big blind bet 15,000, and 2021 SHRPO Champion Dimitri Vorbe moved all in under the gun for 50,000.

The big blind tanked for a long time before he called all in for 45,000 with for an overpair.

But Vorbe turned over , and the big blind needed to improve to stay alive.

The turn card was the , giving the big blind a gutshot straight draw, but the river card was the . Vorbe won the pot with his pocket queens to eliminate his opponent.

Dimitri Vorbe  –  120,000  (120 bb)

The tournament clock shows 743 entries so far here on Day 1A, which means the prizepool is already worth more than $2.37 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 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  740

Min Zhang  –  253,000
Jake Ferro  –  178,000
Frank Funaro  –  155,000
Fabian Gumz  –  145,000
Rodney Turvin  –  140,000
James Calderaro  –  138,000
James Romero  –  135,000
Eric Baldwin  –  135,000
Andrew Moreno  –  130,000
Mke Chiappetta  –  123,000
A.J. Kelsall  –  116,000
Kathy Liebert  –  114,000
Christopher Frank  –  108,000
Gal Yifrach  –  104,000
Darren Rabinowitz  –  97,000
Michael Newman  –  97,000
Sam Panzica  –  93,000
Upeshka De Silva  –  77,000
Ken Aldridge  –  76,000
Brock Wilson  –  73,000
Valerie Novak  –  73,000
Leon Sturm  –  70,000
Yuval Bronshtein  –  63,000
Phil Souki  –  49,000
Francis Anderson  –  49,000
Adam Hendrix  –  45,000
Michael Wang  –  44,000
Landon Tice  –  41,000
Daniel Lazrus  –  27,000
Jesse Cohen  –  26,000
Stephen Song  –  23,000
Ryan Riess  –  17,000
David Jackson  –  14,000

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  733

After a flop of with about 7,500 already in the pot, Kitty Kuo bet 3,000 from UTG+1, and Jake Ferro called from middle position.

The turn card was the , Kuo bet 8,000, and Ferro called.

The river card was the , putting four hearts on the board, and Kuo bet 24,500. Ferro thought for a bit before he called, and Kuo turned over for a flopped pair of aces that rivered an ace-high flush.

Ferro mucked, and Kuo won the pot.

Kitty Kuo  –  130,000  (130 bb)
Jake Ferro  –  129,000  (129 bb)

The tournament clock shows 733 entries so far here on Day 1A, which means the prizepool is already worth more than $2.34 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 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  722

Following a flop of , a flurry of action between Robin Jofre in middle position and Aram Zobian on the button culminated with Jofre all in for 221,200 with for a set of sixes, trailing Zobian’s for a set of jacks.

The turn was the , giving Jofre quad sixes to take the lead, and he held through the river to win the hefty pot.

Down to 200, Zobian busted shortly thereafter.

Robin Jofre  –  290,000  (290 bb)
Aram Zobian  –  Eliminated

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  722

Gytis Lazauninkas  –  235,000
Tony Joyce  –  186,000
Jonathan Jaffe  –  182,000
Fred Goldberg  –  167,000
Haim Toorgeman  –  153,000
Zhen Cai  –  117,000
Mukul Pahuja  –  112,000
Justin Zaki  –  107,000
Mike Graffeo  –  99,000
Aaron Massey  –  95,000
Nashaat Antonious  –  90,000
Frank Stepuchin  –  90,000
Joey Couden  –  88,000
Stan Jablonski  –  87,000
Tony Cousineau  –  79,000
Darren Rabinowitz  –  70,000
Cherish Andrews  –  70,000
Matthew Wantman  –  68,000
Paul Domb  –  63,000
Dimitri Vorbe  –  62,000
Kristen Foxen  –  61,000
Jake Schwartz  –  61,000
Nick Yunis  –  58,000
Jeff Madsen  –  57,000
Darren Elias  –  57,000
Matt Berkey  –  54,000
Natasha Mercier  –  53,000
Solange Lucas  –  49,000
David DiBernardi  –  48,000
Nadya Magnus  –  43,000
Faraz Jaka  –  33,000
Alex Foxen  –  32,000
Jeremy Ausmus  –  32,000
Pavel Plesuv  –  30,000
Loni Hui  –  13,000
Stanley Lee  –  13,000
Chris Tryba  –  11,000

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries:  700

The players return from dinner to begin Level 7, with increased blinds of 500-1,000 with a 1,000 ante.

A scan of the field during the break turned up three players with at least 250K in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Min Zhang  –  283,700  (284 bb)
2.  Richard Whitebrook  –  258,600  (259 bb)
3.  Mitchell Halverson  –  252,200  (252 bb)

The tournament clock shows 700 entries so far here on Day 1A, which means the prizepool is already worth more than $2.24 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 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1A Entries:  683

Level 6 has ended and tournament staff sent the Championship players on a 90-minute dinner break. They will return at 7 pm and play two more levels, plus a break before registration closes at 9:15 pm.

There are currently 683 entries in the LHPO Championship to put the prize pool at $2,185,600.

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1A Entries:  672

Min Zhang raised under the gun to 2,500, James Calderaro called UTG+1, another player called from middle position, and the big blind called.

The flop came , the big blind checked, and Zhang bet 6,000. Calderaro called, and the other two players folded.

The turn card was the , Zhang bet 20,000, and Calderaro folded. Zhang showed for a pair of aces with an ace-high flush draw as she took the pot.

Calderaro smiled and said, “Of course she had the ace of spades. Honestly, I expected her to have a set of aces.”

Min Zhang  –  235,000  (294 bb)
James Calderaro  –  43,500  (54 bb)

There will be a 90-minute dinner break after this level (5:30 pm until 7:00 pm), and registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until 9:15 pm.

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 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1A Entries:  625

The guarantee made it less than five full levels today before it was a thing of the past. With 625 entries in Day 1A, the LHPO Championship prize pool officially hit $2,000,000 and will continue to climb until registration closes tomorrow evening.

Thank you for a great start to the Championship!