$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  16 of 335

There was a bit of a slowdown as the next level came into play with only five more players sent to the rail.

With the average stack at 420,000 (21 big blinds), they are being very patient at this stage.

17th: Jonmikel MacNichols – $1,214
18th: Jeremy Becker – $1,214
19th: Czeslaw Szerszen – $1,131
20th: Kevin Rodriguez – $1,131
21st: Judes Chenet – $1,131

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  20 of 335

Another break has come and gone and we have another set of big stacks. Gone is a lot of former leader Vaughn Wagner’s stack, down to 490,000 while Mario De La Puente seems to have been on the receiving end of some of those chips and returned from break to a stack worth 615,000.

But that was only good enough for the second spot with David Dibernardi stacking 635,000 on another table for the lead.

After hearing this news, De La Puente quickly won the first hand after the break to take the blinds.

“There!” De La Puente laughed. “Now I’m the leader.”

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining:  21 of 335

Event 1 is down to its last three tables of the day with six more players hitting the payout desk including former big stacks Christina Read and Karl Manouchakian.

The average stack sits at 319,000 (27 big blinds) with blinds at 6,000/12,000 and a 12,000. We expect the bust outs to continue at a regular interval until the final table bubble nears.

22nd: Christina Read – $1,047
23rd: Tracy Allen – $1,047
24th: Karl Manouchakian – $1,047
25th: Derrick Cutler – $984
26th: Julie McCrary – $984
27th: Jerome Hall Jr – $984

Remaining payouts:

1st: $18,063 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: $11,390
3rd: $7,349
4th: $5,025
5th: $3,936
6th: $3,059
7th: $2,596
8th: $2,178
9th: $1,851
10th-12th: $1,591
13th-15th: $1,382
16th-18th: $1,214
19th-21st: – $1,131

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining:  27 of 335

Event 1 picked the fast action back up after the money bubble burst and lost a table of players in a snap including former chip leader David McElroy. Those seven players earned $888 and the rest of the players made a pay jump.

28th: Alexander Chiang – $888
29th: David Edwards – $888
30th: Ryan Luker – $888
31st: Thomas Koscak – $888
32nd: David McElroy – $888
33rd: Wilfor Marentes Pinto – $888
34th: Jason Javino – $888

Remaining payouts:

1st: $18,063 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: $11,390
3rd: $7,349
4th: $5,025
5th: $3,936
6th: $3,059
7th: $2,596
8th: $2,178
9th: $1,851
10th-12th: $1,591
13th-15th: $1,382
16th-18th: $1,214
19th-21st: $1,131
22nd-24th: $1,047
25th-27th: $984

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Players Remaining:  34 of 335

It looked like the bubble might burst on the first hand but a race went to short stack.

Then they settled in for a little grind.

It took 15 hands, exactly one full level on the bubble, to get the field into the money.

There was a button shove for 24,000 and Jonmikel MacNichols quickly called her shove from the big blind. The rest of the tables finished their action and the hands were tabled.

MacNichols:
Button:

“Classic race,” someone quipped from the table.

MacNichols was ahead and stayed that way on the flop but now had to dodge hearts as well as the over cards. The turn added a gutshot for the button but the river finished the board to send the pot to MacNichols while putting the field in the money.

Payouts:

1st: $18,063 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: $11,390
3rd: $7,349
4th: $5,025
5th: $3,936
6th: $3,059
7th: $2,596
8th: $2,178
9th: $1,851
10th-12th: $1,591
13th-15th: $1,382
16th-18th: $1,214
19th-21st: $1,131
22nd-24th: $1,047
25th-27th: $984
28th-34th: $888

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 17:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  35 of 335

The players came back from dinner with a little pep in their step and dropped four players in 10 minutes. Tournament staff paused the clock, broke a table, and put the field into hand-for-hand mode.

The clock will remain paused with two minutes coming off for each hand dealt until one player is eliminated to put Event 1 in the money.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 17:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  39 of 335

While a few others were building stacks near 400K, Vaughn Wagner quietly built a castle. Wagner returned from dinner break with a massive 720,000 in his stack and the clear leader with no one in his neighborhood.

The next step will be the field getting to the money bubble with 35 remaining and into the money with 34.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 16:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  39 of 335

Level 16 came to an end and Event 1 players were sent on a 30-minute dinner break. The field is down to 39 players and they will begin bubble play when the field reaches 35.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 16:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  41 of 335

There are still 20 minutes remaining before the dinner break and the field is only seven eliminations away from making some money. It will be a close one.

Karl Manouchakian is making a bid for another Tampa win as the regular moved his stack up to 290,000 and looks like the leader heading towards the bubble.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 14:  2,000/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining:  56 of 335

The bust outs continue at a brisk pace and the tournament is down to the last eight tables. It’s still a race between the bubble and dinner break and it will be close.

Mark “Bud” Wiser is another regular running deep into the day and he’s looking for another big Tampa score. On a nearby table, the recently mention Josias Santos is spinning up his stack and sits with 195,000 to compete with the leaders.