$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 17: 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining:  42 of 471

Bud Waggoner opened to 35,000 and Anthony Bertuccio moved all in for 274,000. The rest of the table folded and Waggoner called.

Waggoner:
Bertuccio:

Bertuccio ran into a monster that got bigger on the flop. The turn and river finished the board and Bertuccio was eliminated.

Bud Waggoner – 813,000 (81 bb)
Anthony Bertuccio – Eliminated in 43rd Place ($3,600)

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 17: 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining:  46 of 471

Cards are back in the air after the break and we have two of the 46 remaining players sitting with more than one million in their stack.

Defending champ T.K. Miles leads the way with 1,165,000 but Diego Uez is right on his heels with 1,143,000. Blinds are up and everyone has locked up at least $3,600.

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 17: 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining:  46 of 471

They are breaking again in the Championship, this time with 46 still in the game and a lot of chips in play. The pace will continue to grind along until we see some stacks tighten up.

They will return to blinds at 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante and the average stack is about 410,000 (41 bb).

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16: 4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Players Remaining:  48 of 471

The Championship is down to six tables with 48 players remaining and the next break on the horizon. Everyone is now guaranteed at least $3,600 with some big money coming up.

49th: Dana Caruso – $3,300
50th: Alan Thomas – $3,300
51st: Andrew Johnson – $3,300
52nd: Joel Deutsch – $3,300
53rd: Salvatore Devito – $3,300

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  53 of 471

The Championship quickly dropped to 53 players after the bubble burst, deepening the stacks and players are beginning to settle into the long grind with the hour-long levels.

54th: Nick Scholz – $3,200
55th: Manny Minaya – $3,200
56th: Vincent Nicastro – $3,200
57th: David Nathaniel – $3,200
58th: Pavel Milanov – $3,200
59th: Bo Gray – $3,200

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  59 of 471

It took a long time to get there, no one wanting to be the bubble in the Championship, and we had several small doubles. We had another all-in called on Table 19 after one player moved all in for 78,000 and Clayton Mullinax reshipped from the cutoff to isolate.

Once all the other action was complete, it was a race between the shorter stack’s and Mullinax’s . Mullinax took the early lead when he paired his king on the flop and held after the turn and river to burst the bubble.

Clayton Mullinax – 335,000 (56 bb)

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  60 of 471

Halfway through Level 15, the Championship reached 60 players to put the field on the money bubble. Tournament staff paused the clock to play hand-for-hand until one player is eliminated with two minutes coming off the clock for each hand.

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  67 of 471

Filipp Khavin moved all in for 122,000 after a 13K open and Diego Uez cold four-bet all in for 133,000. The OG raiser folded and they were heads up.

Uez:
Khavin:

Khavin needed to catch to double but could not find a save on the runout to exit the Championship.

Diego Uez – 283,000 (47 bb)
Filipp Khavin – Eliminated

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  72 of 471

Players are taking a quick 10-minute break after finishing up Level 14, keeping the Championship on schedule for future color-ups and breaks.

They return to blinds at 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante and the average stack is about 262,000 (44 bb) with 72 players remaining.

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 14: 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  80 of 471

While other players were dropping out, at least three in the early hands of the day to get the field to ten tables, Clyde Maliauka found a way to stick around.

He was all in early for 69,000 from the cutoff and Joseph Skarzynski looked him up from the button.

Maliauka:
Skarzynski:

Maliauka had two live cards to double up and paired both of them on the flop. The board finished with the turn and river and Maliauka caught an early double.

Clyde Maliauka – 134,000 (27 bb)
Joseph Skarzynski – 142,000 (28 bb)