There will be one more break on the session coming up in about 25 minutes. There are still 15 tables in action and a steady stream of entries adding to the prize-pool.
Josh Rogers is at ~400k and holds the lead. Another accurate look at the top of the standings will be available after the break as well as a look at any new additions to the top.
Ritchie has made a nice move since the dinner break and is up to ~250k with chip-leader Alex Khanas on his immediate right. He has ~$151k in live earnings and two Big Stax Final Tables under his belt. He split the 500 Main Event heads-up for $74,202 as well as a 7th in the 1500 Main Event for $26,326. Ritchie will feel right at home going deep in this structure and is well on his way to punching his ticket into Day 2.
Yanchek is up to ~230k and putting himself into a nice position midway through Level 11. He is an experienced tournament player with $224k in live earnings but has never cashed at Parx. Yanchek’s best score, and biggest opportunity, came from an 8th place finish in the Borgata Winter Open WPT in January 2016. That finish earned him $97,458 as well as a ton of experience going deep in a major event.
Wookoh starts in the Top 4 with ~220k. He has Lenny Kushnirsky two seats to his left creating a very deep spot in the event.
Rogers is at ~210k and the last stack over 200k in the field heading into Level 10. Day 1B has remained fairly shallow early in the session with no one pulling away, that will certainly change over the next few levels as there are a ton of chips in play on the 17 open tables.
Cards are back in the air for six more levels of Day 1B action. So far, no one has moved over the 300k mark. Here are the Top 4 stacks heading into the 1200 big blind:
Dinner break will be coming up at the end of Level 9 with play resuming at 6:45 PM. The field will return to a 1200 big blind. Today’s flight is continuing to grow steadily and the field will likely get over 400 runners by the time play concludes at 11:30 PM this evening.
The blog will take a fresh look at the leaders coming back from dinner and then there will be six more levels of Day 1 action. Head to the Big Stax XXV 1100 Hub for links to the schedule, structure, and the Day 1A chip counts.
Ciofalo was just under the 200k mark heading into Level 7 and has since improved his stack to ~240k and is among the leaders. Ciofalo has $104k in live earnings but hasn’t done much here at Parx. He has just one cash, in the 300 Main Event at Big Stax XVI, finishing in 56th place.
Khanas has also moved up to ~220k since the last break after starting Level 7 with ~140k. Khanas is an occasional tournament player with just three cashes totaling $16k in live earnings. He hasn’t posted a score since finishing 3rd in a $1k Turbo in 2016 for $14,700 but could put an end to that drought should he find a bag late this evening and go for a cash on Day 2 tomorrow.
Rubinstein leads the field early in Day 1B with ~250k. He will be going for his second deep run this series after making it all the way to 35th in the 300 Main Event, exiting towards the end of Day 2 play. That finish brought Rubinstein up to ~$80k in live earnings but he is still in search of his first major score which will only be a matter of time for a player of his caliber.
Kushnirsky is the only other player that is clearly over the 200k mark and starts Level 7 with ~220k. He only has one tournament cash on his resume, a 9th place finish in the Par Saturday Daily, which will put him in uncharted waters going forward in this particular event. However, he has the chips to work with at the moment and could easily find himself contending on Day 2 if he keeps heading in the right direction.
Day 1B has already surpassed the opening flight and is looking to be an excellent turnout. Day 1A chip counts are up at the Big Stax XXV 1100 Hub for a look at who everyone will be chasing for the lead heading into Day 2.
The blog will get started with a look at the early leaders heading into Level 7 at ~3:20 PM.
| ROBERT | GOLDBAUM | 489,500 |
| ERIC | VANAUKEN | 417,500 |
| ANTHONY | MERLO JR | 409,000 |
| DAVE | DESCHENES | 407,500 |
| MICHAEL | LINSTER | 401,500 |
| RYAN | MCKNIGHT | 401,500 |
| DEREK | SUDELL | 401,500 |
| RYAN | POCHEDLY | 392,000 |
| RAGAVAN | THIAGARAJAH | 364,500 |
| PETER | BESHAY, | 363,000 |
| KUTAY | KALKAN | 329,000 |
| ANDREA | FINKELSTEIN | 309,000 |
| RAFFAELLO | LOCATELLI | 303,000 |
| SCOTT | BLUMSTEIN | 271,500 |
| GREGORY | WEBER | 255,500 |
| ANTHONY | GAROFALO | 250,500 |
| STEPHEN | SILVERMAN | 193,000 |
| PABLO | DELGADO | 176,500 |
| ANGEL | LOPEZ | 155,000 |
| STEPHANIE | HUBBARD | 154,000 |
| LEONARD | KRISS | 149,000 |
| SHANKAR | PILLAI | 146,500 |
| NAGA | OBILLANENI | 145,500 |
| GREGORY | NERENBERG | 142,000 |
| JIE | SHI | 116,000 |
| JAMES | MCKINNON | 96,500 |
| DAVID | ZEMEL | 75,500 |
| MICHAEL | LAVENBURG | 74,000 |
| MICHAEL | ROSSITTO | 69,000 |
| RYAN | HOHNER | 56,000 |
This will be the last level of Day 1A. The field is now down to five tables and could lose one more over the final 45-minute round. Full chip counts from today’s flight will be posted by 2 AM.
Day 1B gets started at 10 AM tomorrow in the Main Building. Head to the Big Stax XXV 1100 Hub for links to the schedule and structure.
