About 30 minutes remain in Level 12, with another break coming after this level. They are down to 66 players remaining, with the target number at 25 tonight. It’s still a bit too early to tell when the night is likely to end, but it feels like it’ll be a somewhat earlier night than Day 1a.
About 5 minutes remain in Level 10, and the 1b field is down to 87 players left now, and dropping pretty quickly. I expect to see fairly brisk bustouts down to about 50 players remaining, after which it should slow down a bit as they approach the final 25 spots for today’s flight.
The prizes are in, and the winner on Sunday will be $64,555 richer. Seven players are set to pocket five-figure prizes, with 41st place getting $1,840 for the min cash.
The final field number is 329 entries (confirmed) for total prizes of $309,425, with more than $185k of that coming from 1b action. 25 players from Day 1b will join 16 who are already waiting on Sunday.
The full prize list is posted under the payouts tab, with the final table prizes posted below.
Entries are closed for the first Main Event of 2026, and after a short presentation to award the API trophies for Top Senior (Julius Roque), Top Woman (Nu Teliani), and Top Player (Mike Malm, accepted by Weston Pring), as well as the Pure Poker Player of the Year awards from 2025 (Cam Stewart was the winner, and Pav Braich was second), Level 10 is now underway.
The final tally on the board for 1b is 199 entries. That is still an unofficial number, but if it holds, it will mean 25 bags later tonight. The combined field across both starting days looks to be 329 entries for prizes just under $310k, which should easily put $60k or more up top for the win tomorrow.
I’ll confirm all the numbers once I have eyes on the prizes, which should be within an hour or two.
About 5 minutes remain in Level 9, and the players will be on their dinner break following this level. Entries are still open through the dinner break, with the desk set to shut down at 8:15 PM, but the prizes are already over $300k combined.
The current combined field is just shy of 320 entries, but I expect that could climb to 325 or 330 before the end of entries in about 45 minutes.
Level 9 has just begun, and this is the final level to get into this Main Event. The registration desk will be open through the dinner break that follows this level, but the Main Event field will be set in stone when they sit down for Level 10 at about 8:15 PM.
The combined prizes are now over $290k, with $300k still looking like a solid target. They only need 10 more entries in the next 75 minutes to crack $300k, and it seems like that should be an easy number to hit.
90 minutes remain in entries for this first Main Event of 2026, and the combined prizes are just a couple of entries shy of $290k. A final combined pool of $300k is still looking possible, but they’ll need another 13 entries to hit that number.
Just over two hours remain in entries for this opening Main Event of 2026, and the combined field is now over $300k. That puts the total prizes just under $285k, but that number is still likely to push up towards $300k before the end of registration at ~8:15 PM tonight.
The combined prizes are now more than $280k, with the combined field now 2 entries shy of 300. There are 168 entries on the board so far for today, but with more than 2.5 hours left to enter, that number will surely increase, and a final prize pool near $300k still seems like a good bet tonight. Today’s field needs just 22 more entries to hit $300k, and that seems like it should be an easy target.
A bit more than 3 hours remain in entries for the NLH Main Event, and the combined field is now at 290 entries. That means the two-day prizes are closing in on $275k, and a final prize pool of ~$300k is still looking doable.
The 1b players will be on their second break of the day in about 5 minutes, and when they return, there are three levels of poker, plus the dinner break, left in registration.
The 1b field has already capped the 1a total, and there are still 4 hours to get into today’s 1b action. Level 5 is half complete, and 1b is at 139 entries for 269 in total. That puts today’s prizes over $130k, and the combined prize pool over $250k.
Based on the current pace, a combined prize pool of $300k+ is still well within reach.
I was a bit later to the game than I expected today, but it’s been a busy day so far by the looks of it. The 1b field is already at 115 entries for 245 combined, and a total prize pool so far of more than $230k.
It seems like a good bet that today’s field will hit 200 before the end of entries in a bit less than 5 hours. If they get to 200, that would mean prizes of more than $300k.
Event #15: $1,100 NLH Main Event Day 1B ($990 + $110)
Date:
Mar 7, 1 PM
Blinds:
40 Minutes (60 Minutes on Day 2)
Starting Stack:
40k
Late Entry:
9 Levels (~8:15 PM)
Day 1 Ends:
12.5% of the Field
Enries:
16/130
Prizes:
$122,265
There are already 16 players waiting for Day 2 action, as Day 1a played down from 130 entries to 16 in about 13 hours today. Josh Wallace, who was sniffing at the lead all night, ended the day with the most chips at 788k. The only other player to bag more than 700k was Cam Stewart, with 742k. Full stacks will be posted below.
Saturday is the final chance to bag a stack for this Main Event. The cards for Day 1b go in the air at 1 PM, and players will sit down with 40k in chips. Blinds are 40 minutes long throughout Day 1 action, and players will have 9 levels, plus breaks, to enter or rebuy. That should mean the last chance to enter this Main will be at about 8:15 PM on Saturday.
After that, they play down to 12.5% of the field. Day 1a played until well into Level 17, after an hour with the game at 18 players. It’s likely that Day 1b finishes earlier, but that remains to be seen. Day 2 action will begin at the lowest blinds from either Day 1 — right now, it looks like Day 2 is starting at 4k/8k/8k, but that could roll back tomorrow.
I might be a bit late for this one, but I should be in well before the first break, and I’ll be watching it until the end.