$1,700 TPC Championship
$250,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 14:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  18 of 139

Flight A: 53 Entries; 7 Advanced
Flight B: 86 Entries; 11 Advanced
Flight C: Saturday at 11 am
Day 2: Sunday at 11 am

$1,700 TPC Championship
$250,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 14:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining:  11 of 86

Surrounded by the bustling live action and satellite tables, Flight B of the Championship reached the money bubble and made it through when Tampa legend Ken O’Donnell went out in 12th with 11 advancing.

Heather Kimel ran out late in the day and bagged the overall chip with one flight to go.

Flight B counts:

Heather Kimel – 711,000 (142 bb)
Hassan El Hakim – 521,000 (104 bb)
Justin Green – 427,000 (85 bb)
David Meagher – 342,000 (68 bb)
Cheri Ivan – 299,000 (60 bb)
Edwards Muniz – 295,000 (59 bb)
Bradley Williams – 227,000 (45 bb)
Wayne Leonard – 226,000 (45 bb)
Mitch Garshofsky – 202,000 (40 bb)
Mark Cahill – 140,000 (28 bb)
Tyler Green – 51,000 (10 bb)

$1,700 TPC Championship
$250,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 12:  1,500/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining:  15 of 86

Flight B of the TPC Championship will soon take it’s last break with 15 remaining and 11 advancing to Day 2. It shouldn’t go another two hours further to reach another break.

While we are focusing on the tournament area, a local celebrity is sitting at a front table of the Draper Room. Not Daniel Lobato, though his poker accomplishments are noteworthy, but rather his companion, Cocoa.

Cocoa is popular among our regular grinders and receives multiple massages from our therapists working in the Draper Room. A cheery, happy sight at the tables.

$1,700 TPC Championship
$250,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 11:  1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining:  20 of 86

We had a nice surprise near the end of registration, when poker/internet/YouTube star Masato “World Wide” Yokosawa walked to the cage to join the TPC Championship.

Masato has more than $4 million in career earnings, over one million subscribers to his YouTube Channel, and more than a dozen six-figure cashes, including a fifth-place finish in this summer’s WSOP $25K High Roller.

He took a max late-reg seat next to our chip leader, Justin Green, but could not run up his 40K starting stack.

Masato will be back tomorrow for the final flight of the Championship and looking for a trophy to match the one he won with our friends down in Hollywood.

$1,700 TPC Championship
$250,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining:  25 of 86

Cards are back in the air after the third break and Justin Green is next to top the counts. He was in second after the first two but now the biggest with just shy of 300,000.

Here are some counts from around the room at break:

Justin Green – 297,500 (149 bb)
Ken O’Donnell – 250,000 (125 bb)
Brent Ballentine – 247,500 (124 bb)
Edwards Muniz – 206,000 (103 bb)
Andrew Whitaker – 137,000 (69 bb)
Cheri Ivan – 111,000 (56 bb)
Hassan Hakim – 106,500 (53 bb)
Roy Young – 105,500 (53 bb)
Jeff Trudeau Jr – 99,500 (50 bb)
David Meagher – 84,500 (42 bb)
Mitch Garshofsky – 75,500 (38 bb)
Juan Catala – 60,500 (30 bb)
John Dobson – 46,000 (23 bb)
Wayne Leonard – 43,500 (22 bb)

$1,700 TPC Championship
$250,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1B Entries:  86

Registration closed for Flight B of the 2026 TPC Championship with 86 entries, putting the total to 139 and we only need 28 tomorrow on a busy Saturday to reach the $250,000 guarantee.

Play will continue until only 11 remain and survivors will return on Sunday at 11 am for Day 2. Players must bag chips to cash in the tournament.

$1,700 TPC Championship
$250,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 9:  800/1,600 with a 1,600 ante
Day 1B Entries:  82

We are counting down the minutes until we close registration for the second of two flights of the TPC Championship.

They will work through this level, take a 15-minute break, and registration will close at 5:45 pm when they return.

$1,700 TPC Championship
$250,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1B Entries:  72

Players returned from their second break and they have a new leader, who has the chips of our former leader. Brent Ballentine is the big stack in the room with 217,300 and a lot of those chips came from David Meagher, round about via a third-party at the other end of the table.

Justin Green remained the second-biggest, with Sandro Vianna lurking not far behind.

Here’s another look at some other counts during the break:

Brent Ballentine – 217,300 (217 bb)
Justin Green – 172,700 (173 bb)
Sandro Vianna – 171,000 (171 bb)
John Dobson – 116,700 (117 bb)
Jeff Trudeau Jr – 113,200 (113 bb)
Roy Young – 96,300 (96 bb)
Cheri Ivan – 91,200 (91 bb)
Andrew Whitaker – 81,700 (82 bb)
Hassan Hakim – 81,000 (81 bb)
Wayne Leonard – 69,900 (70 bb)
Diego Uez – 68,800 (69 bb)
Liz McKay – 59,100 (59 bb)
Ken O’Donnell – 53,700 (54 bb)
Mitch Garshofsky – 44,800 (45 bb)
Juan Catala – 41,400 (41 bb)
Curtis King – 40,000 (40 bb)
David Meagher – 19,200 (19 bb)
Jennifer Frankenstein – 18,100 (18 bb)

$1,700 TPC Championship
$250,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1B Entries:  70

We have another break on deck, time for players to recoup and maybe grab a refreshment from the Poker Snack Bar. We have 70 entries so far with over two hours to run it up.

We will take another look at the stacks while they were gone and see if anyone caught the leaders.

$1,700 TPC Championship
$250,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1B Entries:  65

Flight B is moving right along and we have 65 entries in today’s field, getting them nearly $180K toward the $250,000 guarantee.

It won’t hit today but will get there pretty early Saturday afternoon.