$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1A Entries:  430

In addition to the prize money and hardware associated with each tournament on the schedule, the WPT is also tracking Players of the Festival standings to see who’s having a really good two weeks.

Aaron Thivyanathan came storming out of the gates at the start of the series and sits with a comfortable lead at the top. He has five cashes so far with four final tables, two third-place finishes, and a runner-up. If he holds on to the top spot, he will earn a $1,100 WPT Passport to go along with the money he banked.

WPT Player of the Festival Standings

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1A Entries:  425

The entry count jumped over 400 after the blinds went up and we are nearing a $1.5 million prize pool with a ton of time to boost it.

A few more familiar faces include Paul Snead, Luz Sanchez, Dr. Valerie Cross, Wagner Wysotchanski, Carlos Rodriguez, James Calderaro, and David Nathaniel.

Snead was the last player to win a Championship here, walking away with the big win to cap the 2022 Tampa Poker Classic a few months ago.

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1A Entries:  393

We have a lot of players from around the country and the world here in town for the WPT Tampa Championship. They are mingled and seated among a huge group of our local regulars, some who have made it big already and some trying to get there for the first time.

Among them, we found Jake Ferro, Jeremy Becker, Karl Manouchakian, Tony March, Terri-Anne Crawford, John Dolan, Marsha Wolak, David DiBernardi, and AJ Kelsall.

Ferro, the reigning WPT Player of the Year, picked up a win last night in the $2,200 Eight-Handed NLH tournament to add to his credit. He took home nearly $100K and the WPT trophy.

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1A Entries:  376

The last time we had a break in a WPT Tampa Championship (more than a year ago) Brian Altman had the lead. Now he has it again.

Altman leads the Day 1A field at the first break with 165,000 up from his 50,000 starting stack. A lot of that seems to have come from WPT Hollywood Poker Showdown Champ Mark Davis who began the table with Altman but no longer there.

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1A Entries:  358

After a short delay for WPT introduction and instructions and thanks, cards are back in the air for Flight A of the WPT Tampa Championship.

They will play two more hour-long levels before getting another respite from the action.

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2:  200/300 with a 300 ante
Day 1A Entries:  333

Championship players were sent on their first break of the day with 333 entries in the game and the $1,000,000 guarantee already in the rearview mirror.

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2:  200/300 with a 300 ante
Day 1A Entries:  316

Matt Leecy and Frank Harrington were heads up to a flop and Harrington bet 1,600 from the cutoff. Leecy raised all in for 17,500 and Harrington jumped up from his seat. After talking a bit and thinking some more, Harrington called to put Leecy at risk.

Leecy:
Harrington:

Harrington was ahead with two pair nines and eights and Leecy needed to catch a jack or a spade to double. The turn changed nothing but the river filled Leecy’s flush for the double.

Matt Leecy – 39,700 (132 bb)
Frank Harrington – 50,800 (169 bb)

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2:  200/300 with a 300 ante
Day 1A Entries:  290

In addition to defending champ Brian Altman, we have another handful of former WPT winners in early action trying to put their name on the Champions Cup one more time.

Among the field, we also found Darren Elias, Chance Kornuth, Tony Sinishtaj, Daniel Weinman, and WPT Hollywood Poker Showdown champ Mark Davis.

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/200 with a 200 ante
Day 1A Entries:  252

The early entry lists include the last two players from the last time we ran this tournament. The 2021 WPT Tampa Championship title came down to a heads-up battle before Brian Altman and Gabe Abusada with Altman walking away with his third WPT win.

The two combined to take more than $1,000,000 of the $3.7 million prize pool, and both wouldn’t mind being in the same position next week, going for the win.

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/200 with a 200 ante
Day 1A Entries:  201

At 11 am on the dot, tournament director Charlie Ceresi (along with WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage) put cards in the air for Flight A of the 2022 WPT Tampa Championship.