Guarantee Smashed as Lingkun Lu Leads Final Flight of $1,100 Main Event
The final flight of the 2026 PokerStars Open Philadelphia $1,100 Main Event needed just under 40 entries to reach the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool, and the day began with more than 100 players already in their seats.
In the end, the frenetic day saw 410 entries at Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia, bringing the overall total for the event to 896. That sent the prize pool soaring, finishing at $860,160 to battle for on the final day of the series.
The last 52 players were left standing after the final hand of the night, earning a spot in the money to join the previous 62 who had survived the first three flights of the week.
Leading the way is Lingkun Lu, who collected 862,000 chips to claim a slim advantage after more than 17 levels of play. The New Jersey resident has a long poker resume online but will be looking to make splash on the live felt during the final day.
Next on the leaderboard is Sean Coates (810,000), sitting just a single chip ahead of Greg Himmelbrand (809,000) to round out the top three.
Heading into Day 2, those three all occupy top five spots on the overall chip counts, with everyone trailing Day 1c chip leader Rajath Tangam (1,100,000).
Day 1d Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lingkun Lu | United States | 862,000 | 86 |
| 2 | Sean Coates | United States | 810,000 | 81 |
| 3 | Greg Himmelbrand | United States | 809,000 | 81 |
| 4 | Yunye Lu | China | 744,000 | 74 |
| 5 | Daniel Fisher | United States | 637,000 | 64 |
| 6 | Travis Hartshorn | United States | 617,000 | 62 |
| 7 | Joseph Siracusa | United States | 588,000 | 59 |
| 8 | Ryan Mostafa | United States | 524,000 | 52 |
| 9 | Troy Laypo | United States | 513,000 | 51 |
| 10 | Arnaldo Gordon | United States | 485,000 | 49 |
Massive Day 1d Turnout
The poker room was nearly full to begin the day, and continued to see tables open for the first half of the final flight. By the time late registration closed for the final time this week, the event finished just shy of 900 overall entries.
Among the notable names to take a seat was talk show personality Nick Wright, who got his stack in quickly and was unable to build any momentum.
The day also included some memorable pots, including Daniel Fisher (637,000) getting big river value against John McDonald (190,000). Fisher rode that pot to a top-five stack on the day, while McDonald also found a bag to make the money.
Another big hand saw Christoph Basile get it in good, only to watch Edgar Propst flop quads to secure the knockout. That propelled Propst for the rest of the night, able to bag up 174,000 chips.
The final flight was also the only one to reach Level 18, as play slowed down before hand-for-hand play began. The clock was not paused for long, as Nicholas Johnson got his stack in from the big blind only to see Troy Laypo (513,000) improve on the river to score the final elimination.
The final day will begin at 11:15 a.m. local time, as 114 contenders combine for the first time to battle for the PokerStars trophy. Levels will remain 40 minutes in length, will the clock rolled back to the latter stages of Level 16 at the start of play.
Players will continue to see breaks after every two hours of play, with a possible dinner break to be determined by the tournament staff. Full payout information will be announced at the start of play, including the top prize up for grabs on Sunday, March 22.
Just one last day remains, so don’t miss a moment as the PokerNews team brings you complete coverage of the exciting conclusion in Philadelphia.