$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 50 of 721

Justin Maddox raised to 20,000 from middle position only to see Seminole Hard Rock Tampa regular Steve Trizis jam from his direct left for about 140,000. It folded around to Maddox who called putting the Tampa-area business owner at risk.

Maddox:
Trizis:

Runout:

Trizis improved to a pair on the flop, but Maddox hit his set on the turn. Trizis was eliminated while Maddox took a nice pot.

Justin Maddox – 670,000 (83 bb)
Steve Trizis – Eliminated

$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 62 of 721

Brandon Byars has had quite the table draw through the first few levels of Day 2. He found himself sitting across from the start-of-day leader early, and now is on the direct left of current chip leader Max Goodarzi. Despite the tough competition, Byars has accumulated a stack worth 590,000, it just happens to be in the shadow of Goodarzi’s 895,000 chips.

Most recently, Goodarzi picked up and got all-in preflop versus the of Andy Ly. The runout came giving Goodarzi an unlikely straight. He earned the pot, eliminated Ly and continued to build his stack.

Max Goodarzi – 895,000 (111 bb)
Brandon Byars – 590,000 (73 bb)
Andy Ly – Eliminated

$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 18: 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 62 of 721

63rd: Daniel Lobato – $708
64th: Jeff Essink – $622
65th: Vicki Holmes – $622
66th: Jeremy Zides – $622
67th: Dillon Burns – $622
68th: Cary Alter – $622
69th: Lana Nester – $622
70th: Robert Gill – $622
71st: Ahmad Hamoush – $622
72nd: Mallik Begur – $622

$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 18: 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 72 of 721

It took just 10 minutes of play in Level 18 for Tom Nguyen to pick up pocket jacks and scoop the last 183,000 chips of his opponent’s ace-king all-in preflop. The hand left 73 players remaining and sent the tournament into hand-for-hand play.

Lana Nester took care of business on the bubble just one hand later spiking an ace on the river holding against the of her opponent.

Still on the bubble but at an adjacent table, Len Nhoung — who we mentioned earlier in the day — was shortstacked and all-in as well. She held ace-rag versus kings and hit an ace on the river to stay alive. With that, the remaining 72 players, including Nhoung who started the day near last in the counts, were in the money.

Here’s a look at some of the notables counts in the money:

Tom Nguyen – 820,000 (136 bb)
Brandon Byars – 600,000 (100 bb)
Lana Nester – 105,000 (17 bb)
Len Nhoung – 100,000 (16 b)

$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 16: 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 106 of 721

Karl Manouchakian is among the notables who’ve hit the rail, but Seminole Hard Rock Tampa team member Wally Maddah, David Tuthill and others are still in.

$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 16: 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 106 of 721

Reigning Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year David Prociak got about 65,000 in preflop holding . Andy Le had the headliner at risk with . The flop had Prociak drawing live. The turn and river were a different story, though. They improved Ly to quads and left Prociak bust.

Andy Ly – 325,000 (81 bb)
David Prociak – Eliminated

$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 16: 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 113 of 721

With about 25 players having hit the rail in the first level, there’s plenty of chips finding new owners early. Just when it seemed a handful of players were taking control of the event, a new leader emerged — Tom Nguyen.

Nguyen is a two-time Seminole Hard Rock Tampa tournament winner, 46-time casher and owns nearly $275,000 in career earnings. With a stack of 425,000, he’s all but guaranteed to steamroll his way into the money today and pad his accolades.

Tom Nguyen – 425,000 (106 bb)

$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 15: 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 129 of 721

Start-of-day chip leader John Alegria has grown his stack a touch, but it’s Quyen Hoang and Kevin Blewitt who are making the biggest waves early on Day 2. Blewitt began play 24th in the counts while Hoang was way down to 56th.

According to the table, Hoang went on a hot streak busting multiple players including four in a two-hand stretch. Hyperbole or not, Hoang now owns a stack of 360,000 and appears to lead the way late in the first level of the day.

Like Hoang, Blewitt is experiencing some early success and sits on 350,000.

Quyen Hoang – 360,000 (120 bb)
Kevin Blewitt – 350,000 (116 bb)

$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 15: 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 129 of 721

An early mass exodus is typical of super-sized restarts like that in Event 1. One player not a part of the throngs heading to the rail is short stack Len Nhoung.

Nhoung began the day with 27,500 chips — 130th of 135 returners —  and surrendered a few blinds and antes before she got her last 18,500 in the middle holding against an opponent’s .

The dealer made her sweat, burning and turning a flop and turn. Nhoung headed to the river looking for a heart or a nine, and got just that when the fell improving to her a flush. Nhoung’s face broke out in a smile and he doubled up early on Day 2.

Len Nhoung – 43,500 (14 bb)

$350 Deep Stack NL Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 15: 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante
Players Remaining: 135 of 721

Headlining the Winter Poker Open Day 4 schedule at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa is the restart of the $350 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed opener. It drew 721 entries smashing its six-figure target to the tune of a $214,6500 prize pool. The field is down to the final 135 players, but only 72 of them will go home with a payday.

Chip Counts | Table Draws | Payouts

Leading all advancers is John Alegria who sits on a stack of 264,000. Alegria is one of just two players over the 260,000 mark. The other, Enzo Romano, is basically level with Alegria owning 263,000 chips.

Others still in the hunt on Day 2 include Brandon Byars (215,500), Staffon Lind (209,500), David Tuthill (199,500) and Seminole Hard Rock Tampa team member Wally Maddah (55,000).

Play restarted just moments ago and we’ll keep an eye on the event all the way through its conclusion.