Thursday, August 24th: "August $100,000" Continues On, Shafran And Bronstein Bag Chip Leads

ICYMI: Wednesday was the opening day of the "August $100,000," a $150 buy-in No Limit Hold'em event with eight starting flights, and a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool.  The first opening flight of the tournament saw registration close with (84) total entries, and after the scheduled sixteen levels were played, (13) players remained to bag chips for Sunday (Day 2).  Vitaly Shafran would bag the flight's chip lead, which also stood as the chip lead for the day (271,000).  Shafran bagged over 100,000 more than his nearest competitor in Flight 1A, which was Alexander Bastidas (149,500).  The flight ended just after 6:00pm, moments after the cards got in the air for Flight 1B.

Flight 1B become the first of eight flights to eclipse the century mark in terms of entries, with (101) entries posted on the clock at registration's end.  Even though the flight had seventeen more entries than the one that come before it, only (14) players reached the bagging process.  Marc Bronstein (Delray Beach, FL) bagged the flight's chip lead (254,500), and is looking up at only Vitaly Shafran in the combined counts.  Two other players bagged over 200,000 from the flight, with Jeffrey Nahom putting 236,500 in the bag, and Jay Feierstadt heading to Sunday with 223,500.

That brings the total after two flights to (185) entries, with (27) players headed to Day 2.

Tournaments: The second pair of "August $100,000" flights are on today's schedule, with Flight 1C getting underway at 11:00am, followed by Flight 1D 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.

Promotions: The Full House Early Bird promotion is in it's regularly scheduled spot this morning, but it's no longer just for limit hold'em players.  Every table in the poker room (excluding time raked games) is eligible for the promotion, which pays out the first (50) full houses (payout depends on which stakes are being played).  Similar to what is run on Friday's, there will also be $300 awarded to qualifying high hands every (15) minutes (from 12:00pm-4:00pm).

11:00am - "August $100k GTD" (Flight 1C): $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 1D): $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)