Friday, August 25th: Four Down...Four To Go, At The Halfway Point Of "August $100,000" Opening Flights

ICYMI: The second pair of opening flights for the "August $100,000" were played yesterday, beginning with Flight 1C at 11:00am.  Numerous notable players would choose the third starting flight to try and bag chips, including Joseph Couden, Marsha Wolak, Joseph Ritzie, David Gelley, and Thomas Gari.  Registration would close for the afternoon flight with a total of (97) entries, and after the full sixteen levels were played, (14) players would remain to bag chips for Sunday (Day 2).  Alberto Niebla (Miami, FL) bagged the flights chip lead with 281,000, close to 50,000 more than his nearest competitor (Tracy Scala - 234,500).

Flight 1D would follow at 6:00pm, and would end up being the largest flight of the four to have been played to that point (134 entries).  Matthew Ehrlich (Garden City, NY) would bag the flight's chip lead (296,000), heading a group of (17) players that are now returning for Day 2.  The field would reach the thirteen percent mark, with action for the night stopping late in Level 15 (with 10:30 minutes remaining).  While Ehrlich topped the leaderboard, the story from the flight was Paulius Bikus (Ft. Lauderdale, FL).  Bikus was cruising earlier in the day during Flight 1C, and was one of the top three stacks heading into the final pair of levels for the afternoon.  Paulius then went began to spiral downward, losing massive all-in pots, many in pretty rough fashion.  He'd go from over 200,000 to exiting the field in a matter of forty minutes, but would recover in Flight 1D to bag 248,500 (which is the sixth largest stack of the combined flights).

Tournaments: The second pair of "August $100,000" flights are on today's schedule, with Flight 1E getting underway at 11:00am, followed by Flight 1F at 6:00pm.  Both flights have the same structure, with players sitting down to starting stacks of 18,000 units, and playing levels that are (25) minutes in length.  To this point in the tournament, there has been a total of (416) entries, with (58) players having bagged chip from said starting flights.

Promotions: From the moment the doors to the poker room open, the "bonus" high hands are in effect.  Things start with the "Turbo High Hands," with $100 awarded to the qualifying high hand every (10) minutes.  With less tables in the morning hours, we usually see rollovers on a consistent basis, some of which get as high as $600-$700.  The ten minute high hands run from 9:00am-12:00pm, and then transition to a different promotion. 

Things are still "turbo-ish," with $250 high hands awarded every (20) minutes, from the hours of 12:00pm-4:00pm.  The promotion only gets richer after that, as one last transition sees $500 awarded every (20) minutes, from the hours of 4:00pm-12:00am.

11:00am - "August $100k GTD" (Flight 1E): $150 No Limit Hold'em ($100,000 GTD) 

- Players start with 18,000 in tournament chips

- Late and re-entries for the first (8) levels

- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack

- Level will last (25) minutes during Day 1 flights, transitioning to (30) minutes on Day 2

- All Day 1's will play (16) complete levels or until 13% of the field remains (whichever comes first)

6:00pm - "August $100k GTD" (Flight 1F): $150 No Limit Hold'em ($100,000 GTD)

- Players start with 18,000 in tournament chips

- Late and re-entries for the first (8) levels

- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack

- Level will last (25) minutes during Day 1 flights, transitioning to (30) minutes on Day 2

- All Day 1's will play (16) complete levels or until 13% of the field remains (whichever comes first)