Dustin Nelson Bags Big to Lead the Final Two Flights of Event #1: $400 NLH at the bestbet Summer Heater Poker Series
The final flight of Event #1: $400 NLH at the bestbet Jacksonville Summer Heater Poker Series has come to an end and a total of 33 players will move on from Day 1e. They will join the 47 surviving players from Day 1d for Sunday’s Day 2 finale at 12 p.m. local time.
The tournament attracted a total of 750 entries with 391 unique runners to generate a prize pool of $251,250.
Dustin Nelson is the overall chip leader from the day after he bagged 385,000 in Day 1e. He is joined near the top of the tournament’s leaderboard by Chase Macey, who bagged the top stack of 254,000 in the other flight of the day. The combined flights sent 80 players to Sunday’s Day 2 finale, where they’ll face a field of 125 players returning for their shot at the top prize of $50,801.
The top 49 players are guaranteed a min-cash of $1,293 in a format that distributes the prize pool based on the number of unique runners, rather than total entries.
Day 1d and Day 1e Combined Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
| 1 | Dustin Nelson | 385,000 | 96 |
| 2 | Chase Macey | 254,000 | 64 |
| 3 | Chater Suphakorn | 253,000 | 63 |
| 4 | Bobby Tieu | 244,000 | 61 |
| 5 | Toni Fiorenza | 226,500 | 57 |
| 6 | James Gavin | 200,000 | 50 |
| 7 | Matthew Head | 198,500 | 50 |
| 8 | Mark Manesh | 182,000 | 46 |
| 9 | Grady Griffin | 165,000 | 41 |
| 10 | Tony "Big Tank" Workman | 165,000 | 41 |
Macey came out with the chip lead from a tight race at the top of the leaderboard throughout Day 1d. He is followed closely by Bobby Tieu in second and Toni Fiorenza in third. Fiorenza was red-hot all day, and she turned it up in the late levels to bag a top stack. James Gavin and Matthew Head round out the top five chip counts from Day 1d.
Nelson emerged from Day 1e with a commanding chip lead after he picked up a few big pots in the closing levels of the night. Nelson had just 65,000 in Level 10 after surrendering a double to Mark Edwards, but he chipped up to 154,000 in Level 12 after a big bet on the river forced his opponent to fold. He would get all the way to 385,000 in just the final level.
Nelson is followed by Chater Suphakorn, who bagged for the very first time in a big way with 253,000. Grady Griffin finished in third with 165,000 while Armir Tonoz and Chris Long round out the top five chip counts from the second flight of the evening.
Event #1: $400 NLH Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
| 1 | $50,801 | 11-12 | $4,079 |
| 2 | $33,864 | 13-14 | $3,320 |
| 3 | $24,871 | 15-16 | $2,739 |
| 4 | $18,493 | 17-20 | $2,292 |
| 5 | $13,922 | 21-24 | $1,944 |
| 6 | $10,613 | 25-32 | $1,673 |
| 7 | $8,195 | 33-40 | $1,460 |
| 8 | $6,410 | 41-49 | $1,293 |
| 9-10 | $5,080 |
The remaining 125 players will return at 12 p.m. tomorrow to play for it all in the Day 2 finale and the final table will be broadcast on bestbetLIVE. Action will continue in Level 14 with blinds at 2,000/4,000/4,000 and they will increase every 30 minutes until a winner is crowned.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team on Sunday for all of the action live from the floor of the bestbet Jacksonville Summer Heater Poker Series.