Scarsdale Leads 11 Survivors from Day 1a of the Oklahoma State Championship

Day 1a of the 2025 Oklahoma State Championship of Poker $800 Main Event is in the books. A total of 156 hopefuls made their way to Hard Rock Casino Tulsa for the first of two opening flights.

It was a successful return of the series, the first one since 2019, with another large crowd expected for Saturday’s Day 1b. The previous edition drew a total of 293 entries, with that number likely to be surpassed.

Just 20 players would be in the money and guaranteed a minimum cash of $1,529. However, at the end of the night nearly 14 hours removed from the first shuffle, just 11 players remained and put their chips in a bag for Sunday’s Day 2.

Leading the way from today’s action was William Scarsdale with 914,000, who won a massive all-in on the final hand of the night to overtake Michael Perrone, the only WSOP bracelet winner in the field, who finished with 782,000.

Rounding out the podium in third place is Eric Salazar with 638,000.

End of Day 1a Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Chip Count
1	William Scarsdale	914,000
2	Michael Perrone	782,000
3	Eric Salazar	638,000
4	Todd Tucker	570,000
5	Kami Hudson	342,000
6	Brent Gregory	340,000
7	Jack Wofford	319,000
8	William Berry	253,000
9	Noah Nodine	243,000
10	Sarah Renko	169,000
11	Brian Garner	126,000

The day began with just 54 players seated but that number quickly rose as players from around the area were eager to get into the action.

After nine levels of play and a dinner break, registration closed with only a third of the field remaining.

The soft bubble was an extended one but the hand-for-hand portion lasted just one hand as Steven Glasscock got the rest of his short stack into the middle multi-way with king-queen. He failed to improve against the flopped pair of jacks and rivered trips of Noah Nodine as Glasscock earned the unfortunate title of bubble boy.

The action was set to continue until 11 players remained. Some of those who cashed but did not find a bag for Day 2 include Lauren Bunch, Forrest Kollar, and William McCracken.

Other notables who will return for Day 2 and will enjoy a free Saturday include Todd Tucker (570,000), Brent Gregory (340,000), and William Berry (253,000).

Play concluded with 2:26 remaining in Level 17 with blinds of 5,000/10,000.

There is an additional starting flight at 11 a.m. on Saturday as there is another opportunity for players to get their piece of the pie in what promises to be a massive prize pool.