Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 13: 1,000/2,000/300 | Structure
Players Remaining: 64/164

Rafael Fernandes sits on about 180,000 chips to start Level 12. That puts him near the top of the counts and in a good spot to bag up a stack here in the first of three starting flights.

Cards are in the air following the final break of the night and the clock shows 63 still in the action. They’ll log two more levels of play before those hanging around bag, tag and return for Day 2 Sunday at 12pm.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 12: 800/1,600/200 | Structure
Players Remaining: 70/164

The board was complete and read . The 2016 WPTDeepStacks-Tampa Main Event champion Anthony Astarita was heads up and out of position. Astarita lead for 23,000 into a pot that already had a decent amount of gray 5,000 chips in it. After some time in the tank, the opponent shoved for about 40,000. Astarita snapped and flipped over for quad aces. The opponent flung his cards into the muck, but the dealer exposed the afterward.

Astarita took a nice pot that helped grow his stack to about 150,000.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 11: 600/1,200/200 | Structure
Players Remaining: 75/164

Joe De Lucia, a regular in the Tampa room, has enjoyed a nice Flight A so far owning a stack of about 105,000 at this point. He was in position to add another pile to his stack, too, when he opened to 1,200 and the opponent to his direct left jammed for about 10,000. De Lucia called and saw some good news.

Joe De Lucia:
All-in opponent:

Flop: — The all-in opponent got outs to a gutshot straight, but De Lucia added a flush draw to go with his ace-high

Turn: — The opponent hit the straight and De Lucia needed to improve.

River: — Straight on the board. No blood, the pot was chopped and De Lucia remained at just over 100,000.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 11: 600/1,200/200 | Structure
Players Remaining: 79/164

James Salmon is one of a number of players that made the trek northwest from South Florida. With more than $600,000 in reported earnings to go along with three wins in Hollywood alone, Salmon is a tournament regular and hopes to notch a Tampa cash onto his resume.

So far so good for the Davie resident as he has a stack of about 132,000.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 10: 500/1,000/75 | Structure
Players Remaining: 84/164

The Flight A field is final with 164 entries. That marks a year-over-year increase of more than 15 percent and puts the tournament in position for a huge field. If that trend continues, the final tally could top out at more than 550 with a prize pool in excess of $800,000.

Here’s the event at a glance:

Unofficial prize pool: $246,000

Players still in today’s game are set to lot about six more levels before those still in bag, tab and return for Day 2 Sunday.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Heading to Level 10: 500/1,000/75 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 163

Players are in the midst of their one-hour dinner break. The clock shows 163 in the game to this point with registration and re-entry available until cards go back in the air at about 7:15pm.

Garth Fudens has had a decent go of Flight A to this point, sitting on about 125,000. While he’s in good shape, he trails the likes of defending champion David Bradshaw (220,000) and John Racener (180,000).

With a big opener, tickets in the Winter Poker Open Main Event will be in high demand. The tournament boasts a $1,650 buy-in, but those looking to get in for a discount have two more opportunities for a more affordable entry.

Here’s a look at the satellites still to come:

Tonight at 7pm: $200 Main Event Satellite (1-in-10)

• $200 buy-in and five seats guaranteed
• 10,000 chips and 20-minute levels
• Registration and unlimited re-entry available until the start of Level 9 (~10:10pm)
• Structure sheet

Friday at 4pm: $200 Main Event Satellite (1-in-10)

• $200 buy-in and five seats guaranteed
• 10,000 chips and 20-minute levels
• Registration and unlimited re-entry available until the start of Level 9 (~7:10pm)
• Structure sheet

Flight B of the Main Event goes tomorrow at 11am while the third and final Flight C goes Saturday at 11am.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 8: 300/600/57 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 158

John Racener was a bit tardy to the Main Event kickoff, registering right around the first break. Despite spotting the field a few levels of play, he’s passed up much of the competition now claiming a stack of about 160,000. Racener, best known for his runner-up finish in the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up finish, is local to the Tampa area and has tournament earnings of better than $9,600,000.

It’s still early, but he leads the field here in Flight A of the Winter Poker Open Main Event.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 7: 250/500/57 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 156

Primarily a cash game player, Joey Alegria burst on the Tampa tournament scene back in August of 2016. From there, he laid low for a few months before recording two big cashes during this series last year. First, he final tabled the $570, finishing sixth for $23,000. From there, he ran deep in the Main Event gracing the final table before bowing out eighth for just over $12,000.

Alegria’s early tournament career was littered with success, but he’s had a more difficult go of it as of late. He’s in the Flight A action here in the Main Event and hopes to earn himself a couple off days between now and Sunday’s Day 2.

Winter Poker Open Main Event
$1,650 Buy-In, $500,000 Guaranteed
Level 7: 250/500/57 | Structure
Flight A Entries: 151

The second break of the day has expired and players are again in their seats, now to blinds of 250/500 and a 75 ante. We caught up with the aforementioned David Bradshaw, reigning Winter Poker Open Main Event champion, and found him mixing it up in a big pot just before the break.

It was three-bet pre with Bradshaw in position against the under-the-gun player. The flop was . The UTG player checked and Bradshaw bet 4,500. The UTG player promptly raised to 13,500 and Bradshaw perked up. He raised his arms trying to get a look at his opponent’s stack, then shoved. Both opponents were deep — Bradshaw had 46,000 behind and appeared to be covered. After a couple minutes, Bradshaw called clock. The UTG player ran it all the way to his five-second countdown before he found a fold. He folded pocket kings face up. With that, Bradshaw has joined the double-up club early on Day 2 with about 65,000 chips.

Last year, Bradshaw defeated 488 entries in this event pocketing $154,000 in the process.