$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 9: 500/1,000/100 Ante

Registration has closed for Event 1 and we have an unofficial 156 entrants for the final flight. That brings the total to 741 entrants for Event 1 to create a prizepool of nearly $225,000. We will have official numbers and payout information when it is released.

In a first for this event, the top two stacks at the first break were also the top two at the second. Kevin Butler and Anthony Dianati led the field early and they both remain up top, though their positions have changed.

Kevin Butler was the only player over 100K at the first break and he moved his stack up to 131,300 over the next four levels. Dianati did the most work over that time to put his stack in the lead at 195,000. Mike Poeltler is moving himself in contention with more than half the day complete. His 109,000 is good enough for the third spot.

$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 8: 400/800/100 Ante

It’s time to close the books Event 1 with just this 15 minute break for players to jump. There are 155 entrants showing on the clock and we might pick up a few others before the restart.

We’ll return with another look at the leaders and see who is making moves.

$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 8: 400/800/100 Ante

Event 1 has reached the last level for registration in the tournament with nearly 150 entrants in at the moment.

They have this level and the 15-minute break to buy-in or dust off their stack and re-enter.

$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

Flight E of Event 1 of the 2015 Winter Poker Open at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa drew a field of 202 entries. Following 14 levels of play, just 30 remain and Jeremy Costa leads the way as the only non-Floridian to advance from his respective flight.

Day 2 resumes Sunday at noon ET. At that time, remaining players from all six starting flights will join to battle it out for the top prize.

Flight E chip counts:

The last of the starting flights — Flight F — is underway now with registration open until about 10:30pm.

Complete combined chip counts will be posted in the morning before the restart.

$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 5: 150/300/25 Ante

The final flight returned from the first break with 125 showing on the tournament clock and four more levels of late registration.

Kevin Butler is your current front runner as the only player over 100,000 in early going. He came back to 102,200 which is good enough for the lead and Tampa’s Anthony Dianaty is his closest competitor with 74,475.

They both have a long way to go but they’ve set themselves up nicely at the start.

$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 4: 100/200

Players are on their first break of the evening flight with 110 entrants in the game. This will be our first glimpse into who’s running good in the early action.

$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 3: 75/150

With three more hours to register, 1F gave us the third straight starting flight over 100 entrants and should come close to beating the 202 from 1E.

Registration closes at the start of Level 9 at 10:30pm, then we’ll know exactly how far Event 1 cruised past the $150,000.

$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 2: 50/10

The final flight is filling in nicely and we found Sarah McLean back in the poker room for some action. She’s among the 90 entrants in 1F as they close out the first hour and McLean would like to duplicate her efforts from yesterday’s Ladies Event.

McLean was part of an entertaining final table in Event 2 with everyone laughing and having a great time. One difference with this tournament, she made the Event 2 final table but busted on the money bubble with five getting paid.

If she makes this Event 1 final table, she’ll already be deep into the money.

$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

Level 14 expired and Flight E of Event 1 is in the books with 30 players remaining and Jeremy Costa leading the action with over 300,000. Costa holds 315,000 and his pace-setting stack is made sweeter by the fact he was down to 2,150 during the early stages of the event.

Another player fortunate to bag was Sam Medina. During one of the last hands of the night, Medina got all in holding against the of his opponent. Medina was at risk, but spiked a king on the river to stay alive. He bagged 123,000.

Others to advance to Day 2 include Danny Lobato (271,500), Chris De Guzman (212,000), Sean Shah (202,000) and Christy Pham (158,000).

Full chip counts for the flight will be posted as soon as they’re made available.

$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 14: 1,500/3,000/400 Ante

Jeremy Costa’s stack tops 340,000 after his bested the pocket nines of his opponent on an board. The pair got it in on the turn, but Costa held and now claims 443,000.

While Costa sets the pace, he’s positioned with fellow big stack Sean Shah on his right with 212,000 and Rick Porter on his left with 130,000.