$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 11:  1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  44 of 125

Registration closed for Day 1A of the WPO Championship with 125 entries putting $187,500 toward the $300,000 guarantee with two huge weekend flights to go. Day 1B starts tomorrow at 11 am, followed by Day 1C on Saturday at the same time.

Day 1B will continue until 16 players remain and they will advance to Day 2 on Sunday at noon in the money. Players must bag chips to cash in the Championship.

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1A Entries: 125

The third break ended and players returned to their seats with registration closed for Day 1A of the WPO Championship. The clock shows an unofficial 125 entries and we will report the numbers once the math is complete.

Like the two previous breaks, Ian Siegel returned to the biggest stack in the room with 298,000. Tyler Kennedy moved up to second with 267,000 followed by Michael Wang, Chad Lipton, and AJ Kelsall.

Ian Siegel – 298,000 (149 bb)
Tyler Kennedy – 267,000 (134 bb)
Michael Wang – 256,500 (128 bb)
Chad Lipton – 232,000 (116 bb)
AJ Kelsall – 184,500 (92 bb)

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  800/1,600 with a 1,600 ante
Day 1A Entries: 117

Day 1A of the WPO Championship moved into the ninth level of the day with 117 entries easily topping the opening numbers from this tournament’s last run. They will take a 15-minute break after this level and registration will close when they return.

Some recent additions include Matthew Leecy and GPI Player of the Year Stephen Song. Leecy has two championship titles with us; the 2019 Tampa Poker Classic and 2022 Pinktober Poker Open Championship trophies are going to his home.

Leecy has a tough table with former Jake Ferro to his left, former TPC champ James Kerr one seat over, and two-time WSOP bracelet Michael Wang to his right.

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1A Entries: 110

Bud Waggoner and Michael Wang were heads up with the flop reading . Waggoner moved all in, Wang called, and we saw two big hands.

Wang:
Waggoner:

Both players flopped a set but Wang was best with his set of tens. The board finished with the turn and river and the dealer began counting down the similar stacks.

Waggoner was the player at risk for 79,600 with Wang had a covering stacks worth 80,200 to send him out.

Michael Wang – 170,000 (142 bb)

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Entries: 107

Players returned to their seats with triple digit entries and more expected with two more hours of late registration and re-entries. A great start to the Championship.

Ian Siegel led at the first break and increased his advantage three levels later. He is up to 250,600 with AJ Kelsall still sits in second with 139,4000 but the stacks are tightening up after that.

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1A Entries: 99

Another break is coming around and the field is one entry short of triple digits. It will get there before the break is over and we’ll officially be halfway to the $300,000 guarantee.

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1A Entries: 82

More Tampa friends are joining the field plus a few travelers from across the state and country. We should hit the halfway mark to the $300,000 before registration closes with two big weekend flights to go.

Other early friends include former TPC Champion James Kerr, WSOPC Tampa ring winner David DiBernardi, and farther/son combo James and Anthony Calderaro.

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Day 1A Entries: 78

Players returned to their seats with another eight entries and one big stack in the room. Ian Siegel built his 40K stack up to 181,200 over the first three levels for a huge lead at the start of the day. AJ Kelsall is his nearest competitor with 111,100 plus a few more reaching towards 100K.

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1A Entries: 70

Players are now on their first break with 70 entries and many more expected with registration available until 5:45 pm. We will take this opportunity to walk the tables and find our early big stacks.

$1,700 WPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3:  200/400 with a 400 ante
Day 1A Entries: 60

Another ten entries in the game and another $15K toward the $300,000 guarantee and it looks like predictions are accurate of hitting the magic number during the Friday flight.

More friends in the field include AJ Kelsall, Ken O’Donnell, Phillip Krnyaich, and Frank Spaulding.