Joseph Fleming Leads 27 Players From Day 1a of Bar Poker Open Florida Main Event
Day 1a of the Bar Poker Open Main Event at the Florida World Championship has come to an end and Joseph Fleming has a commanding lead over the rest of the field as 27 players move on to Monday’s Day 2 finale at the Palm Beach Kennel Club.
The first of two flights drew 287 entries and generated a prize pool of $82,656. All 27 players will return tomorrow in the money, and they will be competing for the guaranteed $40,000 top prize.
Fleming bagged 925,000 and he is followed in second on the leaderboard by Nick Sims with 635,000. David Edwards bagged 575,000 and James Boynton will return with 545,000. Johnny Kelly rounds out the top five with 475,000.
2022 BPO Florida Main Event Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Fleming | 925,000 | 46 |
| 2 | Nick Sims | 635,000 | 32 |
| 3 | David Edwards | 575,000 | 29 |
| 4 | James Boynton | 545,000 | 27 |
| 5 | Johnny Kelly | 475,000 | 24 |
| 6 | Jim Frost | 420,000 | 21 |
| 7 | Chris Weaver | 395,000 | 20 |
| 8 | Tom Heinlein | 365,000 | 18 |
| 9 | Hadi Rahimi | 360,000 | 18 |
| 10 | Jeffrey Weinberg | 325,000 | 16 |
Day 1a Action
The day’s plan called for the field to play down to 28 players and return on Monday, but a double knockout on the bubble resulted in a final tally of 27 returning players. Janis Norris and Jolanda Tedford were both eliminated on the bubble after trying to stay alive with very small stacks in the closing hands.
Fleming has the chip lead thanks to a consistent run all day long, which culminated in several knockouts in the closing levels that built his stack to nearly 1 million chips. He recently outlasted 260 players to win the No Limit Pub Poker Tour Main Event after he entered that final table with a sizable chip leader. He will return with 46 big blinds on Day 2.
Boynton will return for Day 2 after he made a late charge to finish with a big bag. He jumped out to an early chip lead and fell back to the pack in the middle stages of the day before he closed out the final levels with a healthy stack after he won several late pots. Boynton is joined by several other Eastern Poker Tour players on Day 2, including Jeffrey Weinberg.
Among the others returning for Day 2 are Stephanie Devito, Sam Ho, William Acerra, Tuan Phan, Jan Scotto, Krista French, Kishia Jefferson, and Susanne Spritzer. Jefferson is also one of the many representatives from the No Limit Poker Tour, and they will have a large presence at the Day 2 finale.
Some players that jumped in but couldn’t find a bag for Day 2 include Don Murray, Joseph Cid, James Richter, George Miro, Jennifer Atkinson, Ian Auvil, Albert "Big Al' Harris, and Rocky Hackman. Hackman traveled from Denver, Colorado as a representative of the Over the Top Poker League. His day came to an end when he got it all in with pocket jacks and ran into the pocket kings of second-ranked Sims.
Action concluded with ten minutes remaining in Level 19 with blinds at 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante. Day 1b will kick off tomorrow at 11 a.m. local time, and any player who entered Day 1a will have the opportunity to find a bag for Day 2. Players will be allowed one reentry on Day 1b, and any players that survive both flights will put their best stack forward and receive $1,000.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team all weekend long for live updates from the floor of the Bar Poker Open Main Event of the Florida World Championship at Palm Beach Kennel Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.