$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining:  390 of 890

After a flop of , David Miscikowski checked the small blind, Igor Hot checked from UTG+1, and the player in the hijack bet 11,000.

Mack Khan moved all in from the cutoff for 41,500, and the player on the button three-bet it to about 100,000. Miscikowski and Hot both folded, as did the player in the hijack.

Khan turned over for an open-ended straight draw, and he needed to improve to stay alive against the button’s for a pair of tens.

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Khan rivered a queen-high straight to win the pot and double up in chips.

Mack Khan  –  120,000  (80 bb)

With about 390 players remaining from a Day 1B field of 890, the average chip stack is around 114,000 (76 big blinds).

The prizepool should be worth about $5.4 million, and the official payouts should be released later tonight.

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 9:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1B Entries:  890

Joel Gola raised all in for about 12,000 from the hijack, and Landon Tice called in the big blind with , leading Gola’s .

The board came , safe for Tice to score the elimination.

Landon Tice  –  215,000  (143 bb)

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1B Entries:  890

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

Registration is now closed, and the tournament clock shows an unofficial field size of 890. The prizepool should be worth about $5.41 million, and as soon as the official information is released, we will post it here.

A scan of the field during the break turned up four players with at least 350K in chips, plus one more knocking on the door to create an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Ryan Remington  –  456,000  (304 bb)
2.  Igor Hot  –  391,000  (261 bb)
3.  Chris Csik  –  371,500  (248 bb)
4.  Michael Elbilia  –  355,500  (237 bb)
5.  Rudy Mamo  –  349,000  (233 bb)

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 1B Entries:  858

A player raised from middle position to 2,500, the player in the small blind moved all in for 21,200, and Kathy Liebert called from the big blind.

The middle-position player moved all in over the top for 38,700, and Liebert thought for a bit before she called.

These were their cards in descending order of chip counts:

Kathy Liebert:
Middle Position:
Small Blind:

The board came , and Liebert flopped a pair of aces with the higher kicker, while the small blind turned a heart flush draw.

The river card was a blank, and Liebert won the entire pot with a pair of aces and a jack kicker to eliminate both of her opponents.

Kathy Liebert  –  113,000  (94 bb)

The tournament clock shows 858 entries so far today, for a tournament total of 1,660, which means the prizepool will be worth more than $5.31 million, absolutely smashing the $2 million guarantee. 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 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1B Entries:  813

A player in middle position opens to 3,000, Chris Csik three-bets to 8,500 from the hijack, and the middle-position player calls.

The flop is , middle position checks, Csik continues for 5,000, and his opponent calls.

The turn is the , and both check.

The river is the , middle position bets 7,000, and Csik calls.

The middle-position player shows , while Csik tables for kings and sevens to win the pot.

Chris Csik  –  360,000  (300 bb)

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1B Entries:  829

The player in the cutoff moved all in for roughly 20,000, and Eric Lea called from the big blind with .

The cutoff turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and the cutoff flopped a gutshot straight draw, but improved no further. Lea won the pot with his pocket kings to eliminate his opponent.

Eric Lea  –  79,000  (66 bb)

The tournament clock shows 829 entries so far today, for a tournament total of 1,631, which means the prizepool will be worth more than $5.21 million, absolutely smashing the $2 million guarantee. 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 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1B Entries:  812

After a flop of , the UTG player bet 6,100, Willie Wiggins min-raised UTG+1 to 12,200, and the player in the hijack moved all in for 43,800.

The UTG player folded, and Wiggins called with for a pair of aces. But the hijack turned over , and needed it to hold to stay alive.

Wiggins asked the dealer to “find the ten,” but the turn card was the , and the river card was — the .

With a pair on the board, both players finished with two pair, aces and fives, with the queen on the board as their kicker. It was a chopped pot.

The player next to Wiggins said, “The dealer couldn’t find the ten, but she found the five.”

Wiggins said, “I’ll take it.”

Willie Wiggins  –  103,000  (86 bb)

The tournament clock shows 812 entries so far today, for a tournament total of 1,614, which means the prizepool will be worth more than $5.16 million, absolutely smashing the $2 million guarantee. 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 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1B Entries:  778

Imari Love  –  293,000
Erik Cajelais  –  230,000
Landon Tice  –  191,000
Steven McKoy  –  165,000
Joe McKeehen  –  150,000
Aaron Steury  –  141,000
Alessio Isaia  –  130,000
Caleb Piderit  –  126,000
Nancy Birnbaum  –  123,000
Mike Liang  –  120,000
Dominique Mosley  –  108,000
David Miscikowski  –  106,000
Francis Margaglione  –  93,000
Ryan Eriquezzo  –  87,000
Blake Whittington  –  75,000
Solange Lucas  –  70,000
Anthony Spinella  –  62,000
Stephen Song  –  60,000
Brett Bader  –  57,000
Athanasios Polychronopoulos  –  50,000
Gabriel Abusada  –  45,000
Luke Brereton  –  35,000
Jean Gaspard  –  31,000
Jonathan Jaffe  –  20,000

$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1B Entries:  776

Aaron Mermelstein got it all in preflop for 12,500 with , and needed it to hold to stay alive against his opponent’s .

The board came , and Mermelstein flopped a set of aces and turned quads to win the pot and double up in chips.

Aaron Mermelstein  –  28,000  (28 bb)

The tournament clock shows 776 entries so far today, for a tournament total of 1,578, which means the prizepool will be worth more than $5.04 million, more than doubling the $2 million guarantee. 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 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1B Entries:  768

Denys Shafikov got it all in under the gun for 101,200 with , and needed it to hold to stay alive against the of John Holley, who was UTG+1.

The board came , and the aces held up for Shafikov to win the pot and double up in chips.

Denys Shafikov  –  204,900  (205 bb)
John Holley  –  25,000  (25 bb)

The tournament clock shows 768 entries so far today, for a tournament total of 1,570, which means the prizepool will be worth more than $5.02 million, more than doubling the $2 million guarantee. 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.