Three-hundred and fifteen entries were logged on Day 1b of the 2021 bestbet Jacksonville Winter Open $2,000 Main Event Saturday to bring the two-day total to 510. Fifty-one of those players found their way through 14 levels of play, and Tyler Payne (507,000) led the field by a large margin when chips went into bags at the end of the night.
Payne's stack was more than enough to earn him the title of chip leader throughout the whole field going into Sunday's Day 2, doing the lion's share of his work shortly before the final break of the night and simply building a bit from there. At a time when it seemed like players were reaching stacks of 200,000 all over the room, Payne accomplished that feat and proceeded to double his stack within another level of play, vaulting himself to the top of the counts where he would stay for the remainder of the night.
Nick Raio finished second in chips on the day with a stack of 417,000, largely staying ahead of the blinds throughout the entirety of play. A trio of notables in James Calderaro (344,000), Timothy Miles (313,000), and Filipp Khavin (262,000) round out the top five.
Matt Bond (165,000), Dapo Ajayi (124,000), Justin Liberto (124,000), and Hamid Izadi (86,000) also found bags, while others such as Nick Pupillo, Darren Elias, Hal Rotholz, and "Captain" Tom Franklin were less fortunate, finding themselves hitting the rail prior to the completion of play.
Day 2 will resume Sunday at noon local time with 78 players coming together under one roof for the first time in the tournament. Sixty-four of those players will make it into the money. PokerNews will be back at it when the clock strikes twelve, taking you all the way through the homestretch until a winner has been determined. Make sure to come back to see who ends up on top.
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Dapo AjayiDarren EliasFilipp KhavinHal RotholzHamid IzadiJames CalderaroJustin LibertoMatt BondNick PupilloNick RaioTimothy MilesTom FranklinTyler Payne
