$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Flight D Entries:  298

The second break came to an end, players returned to their seats, and registration closed for Flight D of TPC Event 2. Tournament staff are running the numbers and we will report them when we have the official entry count.

Derrick Cutler is the new leader in the room and stacked up to 143,800. Don’t feel too bad for former leader Marsha Wolak, she’s still up there and second with 137,200. Jacob Naumann has the third biggest stack with 128,200 followed by Kyle Rignola’s 124,000.

Cutler has a little history in his books; he made the final table of the 2013 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship, the tournament with a $10,000,000 guarantee and $11,000,000 prize pool.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Flight D Entries:  286

Players are in the midst of Level 8 which means time is running out to join the fourth of five starting flights. The count is creeping up towards 300 and the prize pool continues to climb.

They will take their second break at 2:15 pm and we will close registration when they return.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Flight D Entries:  274

The entry count keeps climbing and adding to the already big prize pool. The prize pool is already over $300,000 and it will continue to grow until registration closes at 2:30 pm.

We found a bunch of former Tampa champions in the field including 2016 WPTDeepStacks Tampa Main Event winner Anthony Astarita, 2021 September Super Stacks Main Event champ Thomas Elder, and Woodrow Pass who owns at least a half dozen guitar trophies.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Flight D Entries:  249

With the board complete and reading , Al Gomez moved all in for 21,100 from the small blind with about 38,000 in the pot already. His opponent on the other end of the table took a few minutes to think it through, determined the price was right, and called with the bigger stack.

Gomez:
Opponent:

Gomez had an overpaid to the board and his queens were good for a full double up to 80,200.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5:  300/500 with a 500 ante
Flight D Entries:  223

Action is back underway for Flight D after the first break and we have a big Friday afternoon group in the Poker Room. There are 223 entries so far to push the prize pool over $285,000 and registration will stay open until 2:30 pm.

We have a friendly, familiar face at the top of the counts early in the day. Marsha Wolak leads the field with 98,900 and the 2011 WSOP Ladies Champion is trying to add a Tampa trophy to her collection.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/100 with a 100 ante

We head into the first weekend of the Tampa Poker Classic with a big tournament on our hands. Event 2 had a $200,000 guarantee but that was already surpassed Thursday evening with a combined 630 entries in the tournament so far.

The two big weekend flights will really spin it up starting with Flight D at 10 am.

Players start with 20,000 stacks and the first 14 levels last 30 minutes with an increase to 40 minutes from Level 15 forward. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 2:30 pm. Flight D will continue to play down until only 10% of the field remains and they will return for Day 2 on Sunday in the money.

Cards go in the air at the top of the hour and we will pick up the action at the first break.

• $200,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 20,000 in chips
• Levels 1-14 last 30 minutes; Levels 15+ last 40 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (2:30pm)
• Day 1 will end when 10% of the field remains
• Event 2 Structure Sheet

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 16:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  65 of 630

Flight A: 175 Entries; 18 Advanced
Flight B:  243 Entries; 25 Advanced
Flight C:  212 Entries; 22 Advanced
Flight D:  Friday at 10 am
Flight E:  Saturday at 10 am
Day 2:  Sunday at 11 am

Primary Event Schedule

10AM: Event 2 Flight D – $400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• $200,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 20,000 in chips
• Levels 1-14 last 30 minutes; Levels 15+ last 40 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (2:30pm)
• Day 1 will end when 10% of the field remains
• Event 2 Structure Sheet

Secondary Event Schedule

4PM: $770 TPC Package Satellite (1-in-8)

• 1-in-8 win TPC package that includes seats in $1,100 Event 10, $2,200 Event 12, and $2,500 Championship
• Players begin with 20,000 in chips
• Levels last 30 minutes each
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 8 (7:50pm)
• This is a one-day tournament and plays to completion
• Event 7 Structure Sheet

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 16:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  25 of 243

With 26 players remaining and 25 getting paid, Flight B went into hand-for-hand mode while still in Level 15. A bunch of hands later and Level 16 now in play, a big hand finally developed on Table 21.

With the flop reading , the big blind player checked and Aaron Thivyanathan bet 10,000 from under the gun. The big blind moved all in for 152,000 and Thivyanathan called with a similar stack.

Thivyanathan:
Big Blind:

Thivyanathan was ahead with top pair kings and the big blind needed to catch a club or a backdoor draw to double. The turn and river finished the board to give Thivyanathan two pair kings and jacks. After counting down the stacks, Thivyanathan was indeed the bigger stack and the remaining 25 players were set to bag their chips for Day 2 on Sunday at 11 am.

Onder Ekinci held on for the Flight B chip lead with 413,000 while Thivyanathan moved up to second with 386,000.

We will post the full chip coun list as soon as it is available.

$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 15:  3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining:  31 of 243

Flight B players returned from (likely) the last break of the day with 31 players remaining and 25 moving on to Day 2. They will go into hand-for-hand mode with 26 players remain and continue that way until we lose one player.

Onder Ekinci continues to lead the field with 457,000 while Gabriel Garcia moved into second with 375,000.