$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 12:  1,500/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  124 of 548

Day 1A comes to an end with 124 players surviving from this field of 548, so the average chip stack should be about 177,000 (59 bb).

The biggest stack in the room appears to belong to Clayton Jiang, who bagged up 542,000 (181 big blinds).

The full list of official chip counts will be posted later tonight, and Day 1B begins tomorrow (Saturday) at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 11:  1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  140 of 548

Blair Hinkle was all in from the small blind for about 85,000 with , but he needed to improve to stay alive against the of Sean Legendre in the big blind.

The board came , and Legendre flopped a set of kings and turned a full house to win the pot and eliminate Hinkle from Day 1A.

Sean Legendre  –  380,000  (152 bb)
Blair Hinkle  –  Eliminated

With about 140 players remaining from a Day 1A field of 548, the average chip stack is about 156,500 (63 big blinds).

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of this level (around 12:30 am).

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 11:  1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  155 of 548

The players return from break to begin Level 11, with increased blinds of 1,500-2,500 and a 2,500 ante. This will be the last level of the night, and action should end around 12:30 am.

With about 155 players remaining from a Day 1A field of 548, the average chip stack is about 141,500 (57 big blinds). A scan of the field during the break turned up at least four players with 400K in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Hasan Hakim  –  443,500  (177 bb)
2.  Matthew Zazaian  –  439,000  (176 bb)
3.  Gabriel Abusada  –  414,500  (166 bb)
4.  Justin Liberto  –  405,500  (162 bb)

Hasan Hakim has only played two events before this one during this WPT Tampa series, finishing fifth in Event #1 to earn $76,080, and winning Event #13 last night to win $75,347 more.

Hakim is having a very good week, and his momentum continues here on Day 1A of the $3,500 Championship.

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  160 of 548

A player raised under the gun to 4,500, another player called from middle position, and T.K. Miles reraised from the cutoff to 16,000. The UTG player folded, and the middle position player moved all in.

Miles quickly called with , and his opponent turned over .

The board came — the short stack flopped a set of sixes, but Miles rivered a set of aces to win the pot and eliminate his opponent from Day 1A.

T.K. Miles  –  180,000  (90 bb)

With about 160 players remaining from a Day 1A field of 548 entries, the average chip stack is about 137,000 (69 big blinds).

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 11 (around 12:30 am).

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  170 of 548

James Carrol raised under the gun to 3,500, Ken Fishman called from the cutoff, Gregory Wilson called from the small blind, and Gabriel Abusada reraised from the big blind to 11,500. All three players called.

The flop came , Wilson checked, and Abusada bet about 70,000. Carroll moved all in for 142,000, and Fishman and Wilson both folded.

Abusada thought for a while before he called with for a set of eights, and Carroll turned over for a set of fives. Carroll would need to catch the last five or a runner-runner straight to stay alive.

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Abusada won the pot with his set of eights to eliminate Carroll from Day 1A.

Gabriel Abusada  –  365,000  (183 bb)
James Carroll  –  Eliminated

That may have catapulted Abusada into the chip lead. Here are a few of the other big stacks we’ve spotted in the field:

Donald “Doc” Graham  –  350,000  (175 bb)
Matthew Zazaian  –  345,000  (173 bb)
Kevin Garosshen  –  325,000  (163 bb)

With about 170 players remaining from a Day 1A field of 548 entries, the average chip stack is about 129,000 (65 big blinds).

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 11 (around 12:30 am).

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  205 of 548

A player was short stacked and all in from UTG+1 with , and needed it to hold to stay alive against the of Andrew Barfield in the small blind.

The board came , and Barfield paired his ace on the flop to win the pot and eliminate his opponent from Day 1A.

Andrew Barfield  –  72,000  (48 bb)

With about 205 players remaining from a Day 1A field of 548 entries, the average chip stack is about 107,000 (71 big blinds).

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 11 (around 12:30 am).

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  210 of 548

The official field size of 548 Day 1A entries has been confirmed, which means the prizepool is already up over $1.75 million with another starting flight coming tomorrow. So the $2 million guarantee should be surpassed before the cards even get in the air tomorrow.

With about 210 players remaining from a field of 548 entries, the average chip stack is about 104,500 (70 big blinds).

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 11 (around 12:30 am).

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  220 of 548

A scan of the field during the break turned up three players with at least 240K in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Ken Fishman  –  291,000  (194 bb)
2.  Tim Capretta  –  285,500  (190 bb)
3.  John Gorsuch  –  247,500  (165 bb)

With about 220 players remaining from an unofficial field of 548 entries, the average chip stack is about 99,500 (66 big blinds).

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 11 (around 12:30 am).

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  230 of 533

The players return from break to begin Level 9, with increased blinds of 1,000-1,500 and a 1,500 ante. The black 100 chips were colored-up during the break.

Registration has now closed, but the 533 entries is still unofficial. As soon as we get confirmation from the casino, we will post the official numbers here.

With about 230 players remaining from an unofficial field of 533 entries, the average chip stack is about 92,500 (62 big blinds).

$3,500 WPT Tampa Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1A Entries:  533

Hasan Hakim has played two tournaments so far this series, finishing fifth in Event #1 to earn $76,080, and winning Event #13 to earn $75,347. That’s a pretty good week, earning a total of $151,427.

Hakim is playing today on Day 1A of the WPT championship event, and he has already built up a big stack of 240K as we near the registration deadline.

Hasan Hakim  –  240,000  (200 bb)

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9, around 9:15 pm, and Day 1B begins tomorrow at 11:00 am.