2020 PokerStars Blowout Series

Day 1 of the PokerStars Blowout Series: $215 NLHE [8-Max, The Big Blowout!] has come to an end after a bit of a tumultuous start. After 17 levels of 20 minutes each, 29,463 entries were collected for a total prize pool of $5,892,600 which easily surpassed the $5,000,000 guarantee that was placed on it. Out of all those entries, 6,256 players have made it through to Day 2.

"Magdebob1993" claimed the chip lead in the final hand of the night when they doubled through "TANE44KA31" with the turned straight while the latter had rivered two pair. "Magdebob1993" will coming back for Day 2 on Monday, January 4, at 6:05 p.m. GMT with 763,112 in chips. They are followed by "Pstars0517" (651,280), "etxnl01" (620,038), "Schmitzen" (584,048), and "tadeaus" (582,513) in the top five of the counts.

Out of the seven Team PokerStars members who participated today, five have made Day 2. Fintan "EasyWithAces" Hand leads the pack with 277,076 while Ramon "RamonColillas" Colillas made it through with 231,181. Ben "Spraggy" Spragg, Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis, and Arlie "Prince Pablo" Shaban bagged an below-average stack so have some work to do once play resumes for Day 2.

Due to a technical issue, the tournament was paused for just over 50 minutes and this has had an effect on the late registration period. It was originally slated to close at 6:05 p.m. GMT, just before the Day 2 start of 6:10 p.m. on Monday, but according to the tournament lobby, the registration period will now close at 6:52 p.m. GMT. It remains to be seen if this will change in any way.

When play resumes, the level duration will be reduced to 12 minutes each until there are 90 players left. The level duration will then increase to 15 minutes. Play will continue until there are 24 players before they will pause for Day 3 on Tuesday, January 5 which will resume play at 6:05 p.m. GMT. Once there are 16 players, the level duration will increase again, this time back to the original 20 minutes each.

PokerNews will be back from the start of Day 2 to bring you all the live updates so make sure to return.

Play has ended for Day 1 with 29,463 entries and 6,256 players making it through to Day 2. Late registration will remain open for over 17 hours.

A selection of chip counts and a recap of today's action is to follow.

"Magdebob1993" raised to 3,200 from the hijack and "TANE44KA31" three-bet to 4,800 from the button. The blinds folded and "Magdebob1993" called.

The flop came , "Magdebob1993" checked and "TANE44KA31" continued with a bet of 6,7000 which was called.

The turn was the and "Magdebob1993" checked again. This time, "TANE44KA31" bet 26,800 and "Magdebob1993" raised to 79,864 which was called.

The river completed the board with the and "Magdebob1993" shoved for 288,392 and "TANE44KA31" called with the bigger stack in the last hand of the night. "Magdebob1993" tabled the for the turned straight to double up to the chip lead as "TANE44KA31" held the for two pair.

"MagicMike796" raised to 3,200 from the early position and was called by Alberto "polloymedio" Cartin in the hijack and "LoveRooster" in the small blind. "jmslee21" three-bet to 18,400 from the big blind which only Cartin called.

The flop came , "jmslee21" continued with a bet of 13,440 which Cartin called.

The turn was the and "jmslee21" check-folded to the 26,400 bet of Cartin.

"Pstars0517" raised to 7,200 from the cutoff and Markku "markovitsus" Koplimaa called for the 5,803 he had left in the big blind.

Markku "markovitsus" Koplimaa:
"Pstars0517":

The board ran out for "Pstars0517" to hold with the higher kicker and the two pair on the board to bust Koplimaa before the end of Day 1.

"JRA68" raised to 3,280 from the hijack and "tadeaus" three-bet to 9,600 from the button. "zulumation42" called in the small blind while the rest folded.

The flop came , "tadeaus" continued with a bet of 12,800 which "zulumation42" check-called.

The turn was the , "tadeaus" fired 32,000 over the line which "zulumation42" check-called again.

The river completed the board with the and "zulumation42" checked for the last time. "tadeaus" bet 38,400 and was called by "zulumation42" who mucked when "tadeaus" tabled the for two pair.

With over 29,100 entries in the field, the remaining players have been sent for the final 5-minute break of the day before playing the remainder of Level 17 before the tournament will be paused for Day 2.