Potomac Winter Poker Open

Jared Ward

Flight E of Event #1: $600 No Limit Hold’em Opener wrapped up early Saturday morning, producing the largest starting flight so far and once again reshaping the top of the leaderboard as the field continues to surge.

The fifth flight attracted 250 entries, adding $126,250 to the prize pool. By night’s end, 32 players (12.5%) reached the money, with 25 survivors (10%) bagging chips and locking up seats for Day 2.

At the top of the counts was Jared Ward, who closed the night with a towering 793,000. Not only did Ward lead Flight E, but he also took over as the overall chip leader through five flights, setting a new benchmark for the remaining fields. Ashism Arora finished second in the flight with 639,000, while the one and only Justin Arnwine rounded out the top three after bagging 542,000.

Justin Arnwine

1. Jared Ward – 793,000
2. Ashism Arora – 639,000
3. Justin Arnwine – 542,000
4. Matt Moore – 534,000
5. Jesse Carreno – 437,000
6. Andrew Bart – 433,000
7. Tony Holdaway – 425,000
8. Gerardo Mesia – 372,000
9. Matthew Sherman – 371,000
10. Ezgi Lanning – 340,000
11. Jared Needle – 248,000
12. Sumit Kumar – 245,000
13. Jacob Mears – 245,000
14. Dennis Grizzle – 234,000
15. Christopher Rutowski – 228,000
16. Phil Capron – 219,000
17. Nathan Tuthill – 177,000
18. Yamil Saenz – 167,000
19. Mark Lusk – 165,000
20. Yohan Yi – 158,000
21. Joseph Muldoon – 142,000
22. Robert Brown – 108,000
23. Daniel Shapiro – 106,000
24. Venkata Korupolu – 103,000
25. Dennis McGlynn – 69,000

$600 Opener Totals Through Five Flights

• Total Entries: 1,065
• Total Prize Pool: $537,825
• Total Players Advancing to Day 2: 108

With the $500,000 guarantee officially smashed, the $600 Opener now heads into its final two starting flights with nothing but upside remaining. Flight F kicks off at 9 AM and Flight G follows at 2 PM, both offering early start times and one last chance to chase a bag before the field combines for Day 2 on Sunday at 11 AM.

The guarantee is already in the rearview mirror. Now the only question left is: How big can this thing get?

Jared Ward

Blinds: 3,000/6,000(6,000) -  33/250 remain

Jared Ward was sitting on big stack at his table to start hand-for-hand play and had raised to 12,000 the first three rounds. On that third raise, he was met with a three-bet from the big blind to 42,000. 

Ward thought it over for a moment before he called, and the flop landed. The action slowed down and checked through to a turn before the big blind put his foot back on the gas with a wager of 40,000.

Ward gave it a little thought before he put in the chips and the river landed. The big blind wasted no time before leading all in for about 120,000. Ward snap-called.

The big blind tabled for a flopped set, and Ward quickly revealed for a rivered flush. The bubble was officially burst, and the rest of the field was in the money.

The field in Flight E of the $600 Opener has been narrowed down to the final 33 players. Only 32 players will make the Day 1 cash set at $1,000. The floor has paused the clock and called for hand-for-hand play. 

It's bubble time!

The 38 remaining players in the $600 Opener are now on their next 15-minute break of the day. The field will need to eliminate six more players before they are in the money and another 13 before they bag for the night.