$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining:  27 of 335

Event 1 picked the fast action back up after the money bubble burst and lost a table of players in a snap including former chip leader David McElroy. Those seven players earned $888 and the rest of the players made a pay jump.

28th: Alexander Chiang – $888
29th: David Edwards – $888
30th: Ryan Luker – $888
31st: Thomas Koscak – $888
32nd: David McElroy – $888
33rd: Wilfor Marentes Pinto – $888
34th: Jason Javino – $888

Remaining payouts:

1st: $18,063 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: $11,390
3rd: $7,349
4th: $5,025
5th: $3,936
6th: $3,059
7th: $2,596
8th: $2,178
9th: $1,851
10th-12th: $1,591
13th-15th: $1,382
16th-18th: $1,214
19th-21st: $1,131
22nd-24th: $1,047
25th-27th: $984

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Players Remaining:  34 of 335

It looked like the bubble might burst on the first hand but a race went to short stack.

Then they settled in for a little grind.

It took 15 hands, exactly one full level on the bubble, to get the field into the money.

There was a button shove for 24,000 and Jonmikel MacNichols quickly called her shove from the big blind. The rest of the tables finished their action and the hands were tabled.

MacNichols:
Button:

“Classic race,” someone quipped from the table.

MacNichols was ahead and stayed that way on the flop but now had to dodge hearts as well as the over cards. The turn added a gutshot for the button but the river finished the board to send the pot to MacNichols while putting the field in the money.

Payouts:

1st: $18,063 + Guitar Trophy
2nd: $11,390
3rd: $7,349
4th: $5,025
5th: $3,936
6th: $3,059
7th: $2,596
8th: $2,178
9th: $1,851
10th-12th: $1,591
13th-15th: $1,382
16th-18th: $1,214
19th-21st: $1,131
22nd-24th: $1,047
25th-27th: $984
28th-34th: $888

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 17:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  35 of 335

The players came back from dinner with a little pep in their step and dropped four players in 10 minutes. Tournament staff paused the clock, broke a table, and put the field into hand-for-hand mode.

The clock will remain paused with two minutes coming off for each hand dealt until one player is eliminated to put Event 1 in the money.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 17:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  39 of 335

While a few others were building stacks near 400K, Vaughn Wagner quietly built a castle. Wagner returned from dinner break with a massive 720,000 in his stack and the clear leader with no one in his neighborhood.

The next step will be the field getting to the money bubble with 35 remaining and into the money with 34.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 16:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  39 of 335

Level 16 came to an end and Event 1 players were sent on a 30-minute dinner break. The field is down to 39 players and they will begin bubble play when the field reaches 35.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 16:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  41 of 335

There are still 20 minutes remaining before the dinner break and the field is only seven eliminations away from making some money. It will be a close one.

Karl Manouchakian is making a bid for another Tampa win as the regular moved his stack up to 290,000 and looks like the leader heading towards the bubble.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 14:  2,000/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining:  56 of 335

The bust outs continue at a brisk pace and the tournament is down to the last eight tables. It’s still a race between the bubble and dinner break and it will be close.

Mark “Bud” Wiser is another regular running deep into the day and he’s looking for another big Tampa score. On a nearby table, the recently mention Josias Santos is spinning up his stack and sits with 195,000 to compete with the leaders.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Prize Pool
Level 13:  1,000/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining:  77 of 335

The second break is over and players are back in action chasing two new big stacks. Carlos Aranda quietly pushed his stack up to 207,000 over 12 levels to sit with the chip lead while Justin Howard is a half dozen 1K chips behind in with 201,000.

Event 1 players will work through four more levels before taking a 30-minute dinner and the money bubble should be very close at that point.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 12:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining:  84 of 335

The 84 remaining players are heading on their third break of the day and will return with an eye towards the money bubble.

With the mask requirements, it is sometimes a little tough to recognize familiar faces. We ran across a popular regular as the day moved along with Josias Santos trying to pick up his fourth Tampa win. Santos won his first Tampa title in 2015 and his third this past February in the $160 Big Stack Special.

$300 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 11:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Players Remaining:  98 of 335

The field shrank under triple digits since before the tournament started and the next break is not far away. Tampa regular David Dibernardi is making a move in the middle of the day and recently picked up another nice pot.

He was in a four-way pot to a flop and checked. The player to his left bet 5,000 to get a fold followed by a raise to 10,000. Dibernardi was the only player to come along and both checked the turn. Dibernardi moved all in after the river and his opponent mucked before getting a count. The good-sized pot moved him up to 83,500 and in good position for a late run.

Dibernardi has a unique spot in Seminole Poker history. He is one of very few players who have won titles at all of the Seminole properties. Dibernardi has two titles in Hollywood, two in Coconut Creek, and three right here in Tampa including his second career WSOP Circuit ring in February.