Carson Nennstiel Leads 12 Surviving Players from Day 1a in the Opening Event of the bestbet Summer Heater Poker Series
Day 1a of Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold’em has come to an end after 84 players turned out for the opening day of the bestbet Jacksonville Summer Heater Poker Series, and Carson Nennstiel leads the returning 12 players into Sunday’s Day 2. The opening flight generated a prize pool of $28,140.
Nennstiel leads after a late charge left him as the only player with over 200,000 chips when the players bagged up for the evening. Nennstiel is followed by Michele Lawson in second place with 191,500 and John Goyette in third place with 187,500. Mac Johnson and Charles O’Neal round out the top five.
$400 NLH Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carson Nennstiel | 224,500 | 56 |
| 2 | Michele Lawson | 191,500 | 48 |
| 3 | John Goyette | 187,500 | 47 |
| 4 | Mac Johnson | 149,500 | 37 |
| 5 | Charles O’Neal | 143,500 | 36 |
| 6 | Michael Robilotto | 129,000 | 32 |
| 7 | Steve Idels | 111,500 | 28 |
| 8 | Anthony Infantini | 111,500 | 28 |
| 9 | Tammer Ilcaffas | 98,000 | 25 |
| 10 | Eric Chastain | 88,000 | 22 |
Day 1a Action
Johnson got off to an early start when he chipped up in the opening levels after his two pairs were good against Nathan Campbell. Johnson fell back near the starting stack in the subsequent levels after surrendering a pot to Harold Pompey, but he went to work and steadily built his stack throughout the evening to finish among the leaders.
Lawson went on a late charge after she picked up some momentum with a double through Juan Llamas. She chipped over the remaining few levels to finish near the top of the leaderboard, and she will return for Day 2 with nearly 200,000 chips.
Anthony Infantini bagged for Day 2 after he survived several clashes throughout the evening, most notably with David "Moose" Hughes. Hughes got it all in with ace-king and outlasted the ace-nine of Infantini, who chipped back up almost immediately after surrendering the large pot.
Other returning players include Michael Robilotto, Steve Idels, Chris Halkitis, and Tracy Hodson. Hodson returns as the short stack with 63,500 and the opportunity to spin it up on Day 2.
Day 1b will kick off on Friday at 12 p.m. local time and players will once again start with 20,000 chips and play 30-minute levels. Day 1c kicks off later on Friday evening at 6 p.m. local time under the same format. Players surviving the five opening flights will return on Sunday for Day 2.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team all weekend long for updates from the floor of the Summer Heater Series at bestbet Jacksonville.
on the board when the blinds checked to a player in early position, who bet 8,000. Action folded back to Michelle Lawson, who shoved from the big blind. The early position player called with less and was at risk in heads-up action for around 30,000. 
and the river 
to secure the pot for her and send her opponent to the rail.
and Hughes held on to secure the double with kings and fives.
.
for queens full of threes before he tossed it in the muck.
to Hodson's shove on the previous hand, and he had another close call. 
and Hodson held on with the pocket rockets to pick up the double.
and Perez flashed the losing hand before she tossed it in the muck and made her way to the rail.
on the board when Nathan Campbell slid out a stack with T-1,000 chips to put Joseph Frizzi all in. Frizzi called for less than 10,000 and the cards were turned up. 
and the river was 
fell on the river. 
