$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  16 of 529

In the biggest hand of the tournament so far, Ken O’Donnell was a shocking early exit after the break, going from second in chips to an 18th place payout. Mo Alhalwani found a nut flush over the second nut flush against O’Donnell to move way in front of the field with 4,125,000.

Soon after O’Donnell was eliminated, Jason Klapman was sent out in 17th place to leave the tournament suddenly at two tables.

17th: Jason Klapman – $6,500
18th: Ken O’Donnell – $6,500
19th: Stephen Dees – $6,500
20th: Joseph Mattuci – $6,500
21st: Tarun Gulati – $5,500

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  21 of 529

Table 11
Seat 1: Gabriel Fuller – 550,000 (18 bb)
Seat 2: Joseph Mattucci – 350,000 (12 bb)
Seat 3: Teresa Ramsey – 965,000 (32 bb)
Seat 4: Mark Milburn – 160,000 (5 bb)
Seat 5: Ross Corless – 790,000 (26 bb)
Seat 6: — Empty —
Seat 7: Jake Ferro – 1,355,000 (45 bb)
Seat 8: Chad Kitchen – 955,000 (32 bb)

Table 21
Seat 1: Oscar Lindo – 1,435,000 (48 bb)
Seat 2: — Empty —
Seat 3: Chad Lipton – 540,000 (18 bb)
Seat 4: Julio Alvarez – 850,000 (28 bb)
Seat 5: Arman Navazi – 2,895,000 (97 bb)
Seat 6: Ryan Hogan – 1,755,000 (59 bb)
Seat 7: Diego Uez – 1,350,000 (45 bb)
Seat 8: Gal Yifrach – 355,000 (12 bb)

Table 22
Seat 1: — Empty —
Seat 2: James Calderaro – 1,200,000 (40 bb)
Seat 3: Jared Ingles – 975,000 (33 bb)
Seat 4: Jason Klapman – 260,000 (9 bb)
Seat 5: Mo Alhalwani – 1,605,000 (54 bb)
Seat 6: Stephen Dees – 185,000 (6 bb)
Seat 7: Ken O’Donnell – 2,250,000 (75 bb)
Seat 8: Tarun Gulati – 360,000 (12 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $152,630 + WPO Trophy
2nd: $101,600
3rd: $74,890
4th: $55,750
5th: $41,920
6th: $31,840
7th: $24,420
8th: $18,910
9th-10th: $14,790
11th-12th: $11,680
13th-14th: $9,480
15th-16th: $7,790
17th-20th: $6,500
21st: $5,500

22nd: David Gaskin – $5,500
23rd: Max Kingstone – $5,500
24th: Eddy Mroczkowski – $5,500

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  24 of 529

Three-time WPT champ Eric Afriat was eliminated in 25th place and tournament staff paused the clock to run a three-table redraw with 24 players remaining.

They will take a break in ten minutes and we will round up a seating chart.

25th: Eric Afriat – $4,720
26th: Ricardo Alves – $4,720
27th: Sanjib Acharya – $4,720
28th: Aaron Mederos – $4,720
29th: William Criego – $4,720
30th: John O’Neal – $4,720
31st: A.J. Kelsall – $4,720
32nd: James Brown – $4,720

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  27 of 529

Action folded to Aaron Mederos on the button and he moved all in for 240,000. Max Kingstone folded his small blind and Jake Ferro called in the big.

Ferro:
Mederos:

It was a flip and Mederos needed to improve to double up. The dealer spread the board, Ferro’s sevens held, and Mederos was eliminated in 28th place.

Jake Ferro – 530,000 (21 bb)
Aaron Mederos – Eliminated in 28th Place ($4,720)

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  32 of 529

Antonio Fernandez was fighting with his short(er) stack but dropped out in 33rd place to put the field down to the last four tables.

33rd: Antonio Fernandez – $4,120
34th: Ronald Lane – $4,120
35th: Edwards Muniz – $4,120
36th: Ian Siegel – $4,120
37th: Samuel Ronalds – $4,120
38th: Donald Mathews – $4,120
39th: Brian Ray – $4,120
40th: Rob Garcia – $4,120

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  33 of 529

We were bound to hit a slowdown after the fast pace at the start of the day and it hit when the field is on the cusp of getting to four tables. With 33 remaining, one more to hit the payout desk will get them there.

Chips are being pushed around the table and three-time Tampa champ Ryan Hogan is making the most of it, up to 1,050,000 and looking good as we move forward.

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  35 of 529

The first break ended, and the Championship resumed with 35 players remaining; we had 30 people pick up a payout in the first two hours (and three minutes).

Ken O’Donnell is the current chip leader with Diego Uez his closest competitor. James Calderaro, Julio Alveraz, and David Gaskin round out the top five at this stage of the day.

Blinds are up to 10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante and the average stack is about 605,000 (40 bb).

Ken O’Donnell – 1,690,000 (113 bb)
Diego Uez – 1,465,000 (98 bb)
James Calderaro – 1,090,000 (73 bb)
Julio Alvarez – 1,090,000 (73 bb)
David Gaskin – 1,040,000 (69 bb)

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining:  38 of 529

Catching up the results before the first break, here’s another round including Tampa legend Karl Manouchakian, who drew a seat in Day 2 with three-time WPT champ Eric Afriat on his right and WPT champ/WSOP bracelet winner James Calderaro on his left and WSOP bracelet winner A.J. Kesall in the seat directly across from him.

41st: Erickson Zschunke – $3,650
42nd: Karl Manouchakian – $3,650
43rd: Khanh Truong – $3,650
44th: Michael Rossi – $3,650
45th: Jeffrey Russel – $3,650
46th: Sihao Zhang – $3,650
47th: Brian Crawley – $3,650
48th: Joseph Mole – $3,650

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining:  38 of 529

David Gaskin opened the action, Brian Ray moved all in for 175,000 and Gaskin called.

Gaskin:
Ray:

It was a flop and Ray needed to improve to double up. The board ran out and Ray was eliminated in 39th place while Gaskin stacked over one million.

“He hasn’t lost a hand,” Gal Yifrach said of Gaskin’s run today.

David Gaskin – 1,115,000 (93 bb)
Brian Ray – Eliminated in 39th Place ($4,120)

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining:  48 of 529

Another table down and eight more players picked up a Championship cash:

49th: David Aheimer – $3,290
50th: Peter Mancini – $3,290
51st: Anthony Bertuccio – $3,290
52nd: Nick Costa – $3,290
53rd: Nick Scholz – $3,290
54th: Christopher Stanton – $3,290
55th: Michael Wilklow – $3,290
56th: Christopher Cochran – $3,290