Macella Takes Big Chip Lead to bestbet Winter Open Main Event Final Table
After making the most of a wacky Day 1b flight to take the second-largest stack into Day 2, Justin Macella thrived on Sunday to take a huge chip lead to Monday’s final table of the $2,000 bestbet Winter Open Main Event.
With the help of some big hands and a bit of day 1b-esque fortune, Macella will take 2,635,000 chips onto the bestbetLIVE stage Monday, almost 800,000 more than his next closest competitor, Russell Quick (1,800,000). Michael Frierson is the only other player to take a seven-figure bag to the final table with 1,425,000.
bestbet Winter Open Main Event Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Name | Hometown | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Frierson | Jacksonville, FL | 1,425,000 | 71 |
| 2 | Bryce McVay | Tampa, FL | 365,000 | 18 |
| 3 | Russell Quick | Jacksonville, FL | 1,800,000 | 90 |
| 4 | Toby Boas | Sylva, NC | 630,000 | 31 |
| 5 | Thomas Carroll | N. Augusta, SC | 690,000 | 34 |
| 6 | Aftab Patni | Orlando, FL | 700,000 | 35 |
| 7 | Justin Macella | McRae, GA | 2,635,000 | 131 |
| 8 | Maxwell Young | Portland, OR | 920,000 | 46 |
| 9 | David Tuthill | St. Petersburg, FL | 620,000 | 31 |
The Day’s Action
It took just eight hours to thin the 48 remaining players down to the final nine. It was an even quicker sprint into the money, as in less than an hour, seven players were eliminated, with a dramatic double elimination of Hunter Cichy and Dane Cass bursting the bubble with no hand-for-hand play needed.
From there the final 41 players did their best to climb the ladders toward that final table, but only that final nine will return, with the likes of Jacob Ferro (28th - $4,081), the chip leader entering the day, Brett Feder (24th - $4,725), and a pair of 2022 Winter Open final tablists, David Dibernardi (34th - $3,577) and Adam Wells (13th - $8,002) falling by the wayside.
Macella’s Road to the Chip Lead
Macella was in the upper portion of the chip counts most of the day, but it was an “uh oh” moment similar to much of what happened Saturday that vaulted him over a million chips and really got him going.
Macella three-bet all-in for 36 big blinds with a dominated ace, then needed not one, but two of his kicker to hit to avoid elimination and score a massive double-up. From there, he built his stack further by taking chunks from the other big stacks around him to solidify his spot atop the counts by night’s end.
The Final Table Awaits
The final nine players will return to bestbet Jacksonville at 2 p.m. Monday to play under the lights of the bestbetLIVE streaming stage. Play will resume with 30:21 remaining in level 21 with blinds of 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 big blind ante.
PokerNews will cover the action on the same 30-minute delay as the stream so as to avoid spoilers. Keep your browsers locked here for all the excitement Monday when the champion will be crowned.
, bringing no help to Turvin, sending him to the rail short of the final table and ending the night.
, pairing Tuthill's eight on the turn to lock up the hand and send Khomutetsky home short of the final table.
giving Carroll backdoor opportunities, and those grew significantly with the 
turn.
to give him the winning flush and a needed double-up, leaving Campos very short.
to eliminate Campos.
flop, then paired up with the 
turn and 
river changed nothing though and Quick scored a massive double elimination to vault over two million chips.
runout changing nothing and sending Patel home with 16th place money of $6,618.
fell on the river clinching the massive pot for Patni, while eliminating Smith.
rolled off to give Macella one of his remaining two outs.
