$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 ante
Day 1B Entries:  141

The players were away from the tables at dinner break and we noticed Adam Jaffe and Zachary Eichenbaum’s seats were empty while seat 8 was stacked over 350K. Turns out Charles Johnson won a four-way all-in to send three players out, they he went to dinner with the chip lead.

We are back underway after the dinner break and registration is closed for Flight B. The last flight of the Championship starts tomorrow at 11 am and they should easily surpass the $500,000 guarantee.

Here’s a look at some big stacks and randoms during dinner:

Charles Johnson – 352,500 (176 bb)
Patrick Murphy – 298,599 (149 bb)
Tom Nguyen – 256,500 (128 bb)
Bobby Kennedy – 252,000 (126 bb)
Joey Zahn – 224,000 (112 bb)
Jerry Silva – 213,500 (107 bb)
Raminder Singh – 174,500 (87 bb)
Shane Melert – 164,000 (82 bb)
David DiBernardi – 158,500 (79 bb)
Tony March – 153,500 (77 bb)
Chris Tryba – 145,000 (73 bb)
Dimitri Agrachov – 142,000 (71 bb)
Nick Scholz – 129,500 (65 bb)
Chongyou Chen – 121,500 (61 bb)
Bryce McVay – 101,000 (51 bb)
Karl Manouchakian – 88,500 (44 bb)
Kevin Ragusa – 88,000 (44 bb)
John Bellotte – 76,000 (38 bb)
Manny Minaya – 68,500 (34 bb)
Pasquale Caiazza – 67,000 (34 bb)
Frank Weigel – 61,500 (31 bb)
Brian Arbaugh – 32,500 (16 bb)

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  800/1,600 with a 1,600 ante
Day 1B Entries:  140

Flight B players are now on their 60-minute dinner break with 140 entries in the game and registration will close when they return at 6:30 pm.

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  800/1,600 with a 1,600 ante
Day 1B Entries:  136

Flight B has reached Level 9 and you are running out of time if you want to join us this afternoon. They will play out the next 40 minutes before taking off for their one-hour dinner break and registration will close when they return at 6:30 pm.

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1B Entries:  133

David DiBernardi opened the action from the hijack and Matt Lea three-bet to 12,000 from the cutoff. The button and blinds folded and DiBernardi moved all in for 48,800. Lea thought for a minute and called.

DiBernardi:
Lea:

It was a big race and DiBernardi needed his tens to hold to double up. The board ran out and he faded the suited over cards to stick around.

David DiBernardi – 103,100 (86 bb)
Matt Lea – 46,000 (38 bb)

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1B Entries:  132

Adam Jaffe is coming off a nice run over the last few days leading up to the Championship and having a nice day so far. He is up to 148,000 and among the leader with the dinner break on the horizon.

We bumped up the buy-ins on the last three days before the Championship, running one-day Deep Stacks with $600 and $1,100 and $2,200 buy-ins. Jaffe made the final table of all three with a runner-up in the $600 and seventh place finish in the $1,100 before he just went ahead and won the $2,200.

Not too shabby.

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1B Entries:  125

Cards are back in the air after the second break and Patrick Murphy is way out in front of the crowd. He is stacked up to 317,000 after six levels and that would be enough for a top-five stack coming to Day 2 if he never lost or gained another chip.

Other big stacks include Chongyou Chen (171,800), Raminder Singh (163,000), Joey Zahn (158,000), and Tom Nguyen (153,400).

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1B Entries:  120

The second break of the day is here and players can take a 15-minute breather before returning to action.

Once they are back, they will play three more levels before the 60-minute dinner break.

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Day 1B Entries:  113

As the new entry number increased, we had more hit the rail to shrink the number remaining. Patrick Murphy extended his lead when he caught a club flush against Amie Martini’s aces to send her out then David Meagher won a race with against for another knockout.

Flight B players will finish out Level 6 before taking another break from the action.

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1B Entries:  107

We hit 100 entries in Flight B and the combined total crossed over 200 for the Championship with registration open till 6:30 pm plus tomorrow’s big Saturday flight.

Some more familiar faces in today’s field include David Tuthill, last year’s runner-up Kevin Ragusa, Joey Zahn, Manny Minaya, Ryan Hogan, David DiBernardi, Doug Decker, and Dimitri Agrachov.

$1,700 Winter Poker Open Championship
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Day 1B Entries:  98

Flight B is on the verge of putting 100 entries in the Championship and it’s turning into a very nice day.

It’s already a good one for Chris Tryba. The WSOP bracelet winner is up to 102,900 and among the early leaders.