$5,300 The Return ($3,000,000 Guaranteed)
Day 1a Completed
The Return - A Borgata Championship Event
$5,300 The Return ($3,000,000 Guaranteed)
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
The Return - A Borgata Championship Event
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$5,538,700
Entries
1,142
Level
34
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
400,000
Entries
562
Players Left
156
Adler, Smith & Song Among Big Stacks at End of Day 1a in $5,300 The Return
Level 10
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
Day 1a of the $5,300 The Return as part of The Return - A Borgata Championship Event in Atlantic City has wrapped up after ten levels of play and saw South Carolina's Adam Adler bagging the chip lead with a stack of 366,500, followed closely by Texan Dusti Smith with 355,500.
Not far behind is Stephen Song, who as the tournament played out was officially named both the overall and Mid-Major 2022 Player of the Year.
And Song, who ended the day with 323,000, isn't the only 2022 POY who bagged on Day 1a. GPI Female POY Cherish Andrews will bring a stack of 135,500 into Day 2.
The first of two starting flights of the $3 million guaranteed event attracted 562 runners and only about a quarter of those players made it to the end of the day. Adler is looking to continue his run-good into the new year after finishing fourth in the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship in Las Vegas in December for $1.6 million. The fifth-place finisher of that event, Frank Funaro, also found a bag and will enter the second day of play with 249,500.
Those are hardly the only notables who survived the day. Other big names include 2021 GPI POY Chance Kornuth, Jesse Lonis, Adam Hendrix, Alex Foxen, Kristen Foxen, Chris Brewer, Nick Palma, Blake Bohn, Dan Zack and Ryan Dodd, who less than 24 hours prior pulled the single $250,000 bounty in $2,200 Mystery Bounty Event.
There were plenty of highlights throughout the ten levels of play on Day 1, including during the first level when Michael Wang made quads against the trips of Martin Zamani to leave the Floridian with crumbs. But Zamani climbed back and managed to bag a decent stack ahead of Day 2.
Another highlight was a serendipitous moment when World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champs Joe McKeehen and Ryan Riess were seated side-by-side, undoubtedly bad news for the player seated to their right. McKeehen fell about halfway through the day while the 2013 champ bagged a stack of 72,500.
One more starting flight remains and it will play out on Jan. 5 at 11 a.m. local time and will follow the same structure as Day 1a. The survivors of both starting flights will combine for Day 2 on Jan. 6 as the four-day event gets closer to naming a winner.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is here in Atlantic City and will continue covering the $5,300 The Return and other events at The Return - A Borgata Championship Event.
Assorted Chip Counts
Level 10
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
366,500 | |
|
355,500 | |
|
323,000 | 13,000 |
|
305,500 | 25,500 |
|
281,000 | 81,000 |
|
266,600 | 186,600 |
|
249,500 | |
|
222,500 | |
|
211,000 | 119,000 |
|
171,000 | 101,000 |
|
161,000 | 6,000 |
|
158,500 | -6,500 |
|
153,000 | -57,000 |
|
139,000 | 14,000 |
|
135,500 | -14,500 |
|
134,500 | -185,500 |
|
132,500 | -2,500 |
|
132,000 | 92,000 |
|
115,000 | -115,000 |
|
72,500 | -37,500 |
Day 1a Ends
Level 10
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
Day 1a has ended after ten levels of play with the clock showing 564 total entrants and 153 players remaining.
Stay tuned for a full recap of the day's events.
Three More Hands
Level 10
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
The tournament director has instructed dealers to deal three more hands before bag and tag time.
Bohn Climbs Back
Level 10
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
The cutoff opened to 3,500 and Dan Zack and Blake Bohn both called out of the blinds.
Zack and Bohn both checked on the flop of 
and the cutoff checked back. Zack checked again on the 
turn and Bohn bet 11,000. Both opponents laid it down to earn Bohn the pot.
Bohn was down to just a few chips earlier in the day but now is close to bagging a stack of around 125,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
280,000 | -50,000 |
|
|
125,000 | 85,000 |
Foxen Wins Flip
Level 10
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
Kristen Foxen opened to 3,200 in middle position and the hijack three-bet jammed a stack of 15,100. Foxen called with a bigger stack when the action got around.
Hijack: 
Kristen Foxen: 
The flop landed 
to give Foxen a big lead and nothing changed on the 
runout to mark the opponent's elimination.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
230,000 |
Zack on Top of Latest Counts
Level 10
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
330,000 | 70,000 |
|
|
320,000 | 304,000 |
|
|
310,000 | 130,000 |
|
215,000 | 40,000 |
|
|
210,000 | 90,000 |
|
|
200,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
155,000 | 155,000 |
|
|
135,000 | -95,000 |
|
|
110,000 | 80,000 |
|
60,000 | 60,000 |
|
50,000 | 50,000 |
|
|
40,000 | 35,000 |
Last Level of Day 1a Underway
Level 10
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
The last level of Day 1a is now underway and will last for 75 minutes before the remaining players bag and tag for Day 2.
Level: 10
Blinds: 800/1,600
Ante: 1,600