$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

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining:  48 of 529

Ken O’Donnell opened to 20,000 from early position and Sanjib Acharya raised to 100,000 from the button. David Aheimer was in the big blind, checked his stack worth 82,000 and called at risk before O’Donnell folded.

Acharya:
Aheimer:

Aheimer was in a lot of trouble against the aces and it got worse when Acharya made a set on the flop. Then it was overkill quads on the turn to lock up Aheimer’s exit in 49th place.

Sanjib Acharya – 420,000 (42 bb)
David Aheimer – Eliminated in 49th Place ($3,290)

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining:  55 of 529

On the money bubble of the last flight of the Championship, Tarun Gulati found himself sweating the money. He was sitting with 49,000 (less than five big blinds at the end of Flight C) when there was a double knockout at other tables to slide him into the money.

Not content with a min-cash, Gulati returned this afternoon and quickly ran his stack up to 372,000 for an average stack with 55 players remaining.

Good start.

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Players Remaining:  56 of 529

We are quickly down to seven tables in the WPO Championship after some short stacks made moves that fell a little short but they made the cash. There’s a lot of talent on the payout list already including two-time major Tampa champ Matthew Leecy and former WPTDeepStacks Tampa champ Anthony Astarita.

57th: Alexander Ziskin – $3,020
58th: Winston Owen – $3,020
59th: Stephen Song – $3,020
60th: Matthew Leecy – $3,020
61st: Anthony Astarita – $3,020
62nd: David Tuthill – $3,020
63rd: Elanit Hasas – $3,020
64th: Stephen Ibrahim – $3,020

65th: Forrest Raleigh – $2,830
66th: Jason Klapman – $2,830

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16:  4,000/8,000 with a 8,000 ante
Players Remaining:  58 of 529

With the flop reading , Stephen Song bet 18,000 and David Gaskin min-clicked to 36,000. Song moved all in for 225,000 and Gaskin called with the bigger stack.

Gaskin:
Song:

Gaskin was ahead top pair of jacks while Song had a diamond draw and gutshot draw to double up. The turn was no help for the GPI Player of the Year and Song was eliminated after the river.

David Gaskin – 805,000 (101 bb)
Stephen Song – Eliminated in 59th Place ($3,020)

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 15:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  65 of 529

Cards are in the air for Day 2 of the WPO Championship with 65 players remaining and more than $150K up top.

They will play the last 3:37 of Level 15 before blinds go up and their first break will come after Level 18. The 30-minute dinner break is scheduled after Level 26 around 8 pm.