$500 Double Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 18:  4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 ante
Flight D Players Remaining:  88 of 702

When the field reached 89 players, hand-for-hand play began on the Money Bubble. But it went on for a while without anyone busting out.

Chipleader Phil Hernz continued to build his stack even higher, and he was up over 600,000 as the bubble continued.

Eventually, player in the small blind open-shoved all in for more than 150K, and Tonia Williams called all in from the big blind for 79,000. At that point, they had to wait for the action to complete at the other nine tables before they could turn over their cards.

After a couple of minutes of waiting, they finally got to reveal their hole cards — Williams turned over , and the player in the small blind turned over .

The board came , and there was little drama as Williams was well ahead the entire way, clinching the victory on the turn to double up in chips.

Tonia Williams  –  166,000  (21 bb)

Shortly after that, somebody busted at another table, and Williams was in the money along with 87 of her fellow players, guaranteed at least $800 each, but hoping for a larger chunk of the prizepool that is already worth more than $1.1 million (with two more starting flights running tomorrow).

Action will continue this evening until there are 50 players remaining (7% of this field), and they will bag up their chips as they advance to Day 2, which begins Sunday at 2:00 pm.

$500 Double Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Flight E Entries:  578

Flight E has returned from its first break with 578 entries, which brings the total field size up to 2,660, and the total prizepool up to nearly $1.15 million.

Registration remains open with a single re-entry per starting flight until the end of the second break, around 9:30 pm.

$500 Double Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 17:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Flight D Players Remaining:  103 of 702

The players return from break to begin Level 17, with increased blinds of 3,000-6,000 with a 6,000 ante. With 103 players remaining, the average chip stack is about 136,000 (23 big blinds).

A scan of the field during the break turned up three players with at least 400K in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Phil Hernz  –  533,000  (89 bb)
2.  Mihaly “Lumi” Lukacs  –  467,000  (78 bb)
3.  Shahab Mazaheri  –  434,000  (72 bb)

The final 88 players (12.5% of this field) will finish in the money, guaranteed at least $800 each, while the final 50 (7% of this field) will advance to Day 2.

$500 Double Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2:  100/100 with a 100 ante
Flight E Entries:  352  (Total:  2,434)

Flight E hit another milestone for WPT Tampa Event 1 not long after it started. The entry count hit 352 to put the combined total at 2,434 and that is good enough to make Event 1 the biggest field in our history. The previous record was 2,433 for our WSOP Circuit opening event that had five flights of the $600 tournament to make that number.

And we still have two more huge flights to go along with late registration for Flight E until 9:30 pm.

This is going to be huge.

$500 Double Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/100
Flight E Entries:  254  (Total:  2,336)

Cards are in the air for Flight E of WPT Tampa Event 1 and the $1,000,000 guarantee was reached the moment they were underway. The 254 entries at the start put the combined total at 2,336 for a $1,004,480 prize pool.

But it won’t stop there. Registration will remain open for Flight E until 9:30 pm and we have two more flights tomorrow.

$500 Double Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 13:  1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 ante
Players Remaining:  180 of 702

Flight D players enjoyed another break from the tables and returned with 180 players remaining. That leaves them less than 100 eliminations from the money bubble and putting some cash in their pockets.

Rod Johns is the latest player to top the counts and came back to a stack worth 239,000. That’s a good distant away from the overall lead but a fine place to sit this late.

$500 Double Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/100

Flight E of WPT Tampa Event 1 is set to hit a milestone shortly after it kicks off at 5 pm. The tournament is only 244 entries away from pushing the prize pool over the $1,000,000 guarantee and it might get there before cards go in the air.

The first four flights combined to put 2,082 entries in the game with three big weekend flights to go.

Players will start with 20K double stacks and levels last 30 minutes on Day 1. Late registration is available until the start of Level 9 at 9:30 pm with a single re-entry option should a player lose their stack.

The last 12.% of the starting field will make the money, guaranteed at least $800, and the last 7% will bag up their chips for Day 2 on Sunday at 2 pm.

• $1,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 20,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry until the start of Level 9 (9:30pm)
• Single re-entry per flight
• Tournament will pay top 12.5% of starting field
• Day 1 will end at 7% of the field or Tournament Director discretion
• Event 1 Structure Sheet

Chip counts through Flight C

$500 Double Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 11:  800/1,600 with a 1,600 ante
Players Remaining:  252 of 702

Flight D is down to 252 players with only 88 of them guaranteed some cash. They have a bit of a time left to before thinking about the bubble but it’s a good time to start building a stack.

Eric Rivera and 2017 Fall Little Slick winner Troy Bercot are two of the movers since registration closed. Bercot is up to 166,000 and Rivera is not far behind with 164,500.

$500 Double Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Flight D Entries:  702  (Total:  2,082)

Registration on Flight D of WPT Tampa Event 1 with a big 702-entry turnout. They combined to put the total number at 2,082 and left the prize pool only $100K short of the $1,000,000 guarantee with three flights to go.

The last 88 players (12.5%) will make the money tonight, guaranteed $800 for a min-cash, and the last 50 players (7%) will advance to Day 2 on Sunday at 2 pm.

Flight E gets underway at 5 pm with the last two running on Saturday.

Chip counts through Flight C

$500 Double Stack NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Flight D Entries:  702  (Total:  2,082)

The second break came to an end and tournament staff locked the doors on Flight D with over 700 entries. They will do their math and we will report the official numbers as soon as they are available.

Micha Korber wasn’t at the top of the counts until the last hand of Level 8. His (already) big stack knocked another big stack out and put together a nice castle worth 182,300. That’s still a long way away from the 1,000,000+ Day 2 bag of Simeon Knafo but it’s a good start.