$1,650 Tampa Poker Classic Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 12: 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining: 30 of 99

Level 12 is over and the 30 remaining players will enjoy their last break of the day. They will come back in 15 minutes and we expect to lose about half of them before they bag after Level 15.

$1,650 Tampa Poker Classic Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 12: 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining: 31 of 99

Flight B cruised right through four tables and they are now on the verge of dropping to three before they hit the final break of the night. Another fast pace and everyone is trying to run up a Day 2 stack.

Jeffrey Trudeau Jr is one getting there. The Florida pro has 250,000 in the late stages and he knows how to use his chips. Trudeau has 18 tournament wins to his credit, most of them before he was old enough to play poker outside the Sunshine State. He has five WSOP rings and a SHR Hollywood Showdown title from 2015.

$1,650 Tampa Poker Classic Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 11: 500/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1B Players Remaining: 39 of 99

The Flight B crowd is not messing around, getting their chips in the middle and that is resulting in some big stacks and unfortunate bust outs. We have 39 players remaining with more than three hours remaining in the day. If Flight A was an indication, we only expect to bag around 14 players from today’s action.

But there’s still plenty of talent in the game including Vitor Coelho, Justin Zaki, Erik Christensen, Steve Karp, Hunter Cichy, and Ryan Van Sanford.

$1,650 Tampa Poker Classic Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10: 500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1B Entries: 99 (Total Entries: 173)

The dinner break is complete and Flight B players are back in their seats. Registration is closed and we had 99 entries added to the field bringing the combined total up to 173. That means we only need 27 entries tomorrow to match the $100,000 guaranteed prize pool and they might be there before cards go in the air.

Flight C kicks off tomorrow at 11am with late registration and re-entries available until 6:30pm.

Chip counts from Flight A

$1,650 Tampa Poker Classic Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
End Level 9: 400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1B Entries: 92 (Total Entries: 166)

Level 9 is expired and players in Day 1B of the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Poker Classic Main Event are on a 60-minute dinner break. The clock currently shows 91 entries good for 165 total and putting the prize pool at unofficial $249,000.

Cards go back in the air at about 6:30pm and registration closes at that time. There’s loads of notables in the game still including Steve Trizis, Herbert Woobery, Chris Tryba, John Dolan, Justin Zaki, Peter Vitantonio, Quentin Jones, Jegg Trudeau, Bryce McVay, Matthew Leecy and Erik Christensen.

$1,650 Tampa Poker Classic Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9: 400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1B Entries: 91 (Total Entries: 165)

Tampa’s Jeff Trudeau has been building a stack throughout the first nine levels of Day 1B. Now, will dinner break just around the corner, he owns one of the largest in the room with about 120,000.

Trudeau has been crushing Florida tournaments dating back to 2011 marking his first recorded cash in the state. In the years since, he’s amassed more than $1,300,000 in total earnings and 18 tournament wins. He’s trophy-less here in Tampa, though, and hopes to change that in the Poker Classic Main Event.

$1,650 Tampa Poker Classic Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7: 300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1B Entries: 86 (Total Entries: 160)

The Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Poker Classic is in its infancy as a poker series. The 2019 installment marks its introduction onto the Florida poker calendar, but already its gaining some recognition from some some well-versed players.  John Dolan, Steve Karp, Ryan Van Sanford and Austin Buchanan are all among some of the notable faces in the field late in Level 7.

$1,650 Tampa Poker Classic Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7: 300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1B Entries: 86 (Total Entries: 160)

The second break’s a wrap and two new stacks have found their way toward the top of the counts. Shawn Sorgi is best with 116,000 while Sterling Savill is up there with just under 100,000.

There is an even 160 players in the game combined between the two flights at this point. Registration and re-entry is available until about 6:30pm and already the prize pool sits only $60,000 shy of the guarantee.

$1,650 Tampa Poker Classic Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1B Entries: 85 (Total Entries: 159)

Leading up to the Main Event, it’s Daniel Li that’s enjoyed the most recent Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Poker Classic success. It was yesterday that Li returned for Day 2 of the $570 buy-in Deepstack Pot Limit Omaha final table. Only the top five paid, and Li overcame a huge chip disadvantage to pocket an $8,815 score score along with the property’s token guitar trophy.

With momentum on his side, he’s back in a poker chair here on Day 1B of the Main Event.

$1,650 Tampa Poker Classic Main Event
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5: 200/300 with a 300 ante
Day 1B Entries: 82 (Total Entries: 156)

The last two Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Main Event champions have joined the action here on Day 1B of the Poker Classic finale. It was back in June 2018 when Quentin Jones put on a dominating performance winning two events in the property’s WPTDeepStacks series. Most notably, he won the $1,100 Main Event good for $116,000.

From there, it was six months later when Michael McCarthy nabbed the next major — a Winter Poker Open title. That series headliner boasted a $1,650 buy-in and McCarthy was rewarded handsomely with a $135,000 top prize.

Both the champs are here in the Poker Classic Day 1B and look to follow up their huge performances with more big scores.