David Israelite won this event back in 2017 for $175,500 by defeating An Hwang heads-up in a 234-strong field and is looking for another win.
He shoved from the button for around 77,000 and was called by Haofeng Xu in the small blind for around 33,000. Stephani Czap folded her big blind so the cards could go on their backs.
Haofeng Xu:
David Israelite:
The flop came for Israelite to hit top pair.
The turn was the for Xu to hit the lower pair for a glimmer of hope but the river completed the board with the to not help Xu as he was eliminated before the end of the day.
The tournament clock has been paused and six more hands need to be played before play will end with the remaining players making it through to Day 2 on Sunday, February 16.
Day 1a of the 2020 Potomac Winter Poker Open $3,000 Main Event has come to an end after 13 45-minute levels which attracted 80 entries during the first nine levels of the day. Out of all those entries, 15 players have made it through to Day 2 to take a stab at winning their share of the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Claiming the Day 1a chip lead is Jeromy Bittan with 478,500 in chips. He is followed by another familiar name for the people who have been following the PokerNews coverage over the past week, Justin Arnwine will be coming back on Day 2 with 406,500. Completing the Day 1a chip lead podium is Sam Panzica with 384,500 in chips. Daniel Lim, Austin Morin, David Yoon, Carlos Chadha-Villamarin, Stephen Stokes, and Stephani Czap will all be back with a stack of over the 200,000-mark.
Jeromy Bittan claims Day 1a chip lead
The first of three starting flights attracted a bunch of players who have been here all week playing the other events this jam-packed festival had to offer. Amongst the local players, some players who hadn’t been spotted before made their way to the pretty MGM National Harbor for the Main Event like Panzica. 2017 Potomac Poker Open Champion David Israelite finished the day with 140,500 chips to try and win once more.
Two WSOP Main Event Champions turned up at the start of the day, Joe McKeehen (2015) and Greg Raymer (2004) both decided to come in for Day 1a but only McKeehen managed to make it to Day 2 with 377,000 in chips. But Raymer fell to Lauren Monosson when he shoved his ace-king into her queens.
He wasn’t the only one who busted today, players like Justin Liberto, Adam Hendrix, Elia Ahmadian, Nicholas Salimbene, and Ryan Tamanini will need to try again on Day 1b or 1c. Day 1b will take place on Saturday, February 15 at 11 a.m. with Day 1c scheduled to start at 6 p.m. but that flight will only play nine levels. The survivors of Day 1c will return at noon on Sunday, February 16 to play the last four levels of their day. Players can late reg or do their single reentry per flight up until the moment the cards go back in the air at noon on that day.
Day 2 will take place at 3 p.m. local time on Sunday, February 16 with play continuing until 2 a.m. or until the final six players have been reached. The level duration will be increased to 45 minutes each on Day 2 until the final table of nine as the levels will then go up to 75 minutes. And on Monday, February 17, a first-ever Potomac Winter Poker Open Main Event Champion will be crowned!
PokerNews will be back at for all the Day 1b action and pick up the Day 1c coverage after Day 1b has concluded. So, stick around to see who else will be coming back on Sunday for Day 2.
The 2020 Potomac Winter Poker Open $3,000 Main Event Schedule
for Israelite to hit top pair.
for Xu to hit the lower pair for a glimmer of hope but the river completed the board with the 
to not help Xu as he was eliminated before the end of the day.
