Event 1 (Flight 1A): Francis Out In Front

2017 "Battles At The Beach"

Event 1 ($175 No Limit Hold'em $125,000 GTD)

Level 9 (Blinds 400/800/100)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 107

Francis Margaglione (Davie, FL) currently sits atop the leaderboard, but there is still a long way to go until the bagging process begins.

The first time Francis Margaglione (Davie, FL) was introduced to followers of the blog, it was during Event 5 (Isle Poker Open) coverage.  The tournament was special in the sense that players were allowed to buy-in up until the cards were in the air for Day 2.  Francis was one of a group of players to shell out the $570 buy-in, starting the day with a stack of only (15) big blinds.  It didn't take long before Margaglione spun that stack into something more playable, eventually riding it all the way to the final two tables.  Francis would eventually bow out in 13th place, but earned himself $2,332 for his "Day 2 entry."

Margaglione is looking to reach Day 2 the traditional way this time around, and is sitting with the largest stack in the field (150,000).  The stack sizes across the remaining field seem pretty flat, with the chip average currently at 38,000.