button in SafariAndrew Crookston Leads the Pack After Day 1b of the Arizona State Poker Championship
Another strong turnout was assembled today as a total of 951 hopefuls descended upon the Talking Stick Resort for the second of four starting flights in the 2026 Arizona State Poker Championship.
This brings the cumulative entries through two Day 1s to 1,767, contributing $1,767,000 to the growing prize pool, far ahead of last year's pace. However, just the final 114 players today were fortunate enough to bag up their chips at night's end, and they have advanced to Monday's restart, bring the total number of bags to 212 thus far.
Leading the way from Day 1b was Andrew Crookston with 1,278,000, good enough for second place on the overall leaderboard. The Utah native has already accumulated over $500,000 in live tournament earnings, and he will have the chance to reach one million here in Scottsdale.
Only one other player crossed the seven-figure threshold today in Peter Fox (1,106,000), while Sahib Purewal (993,000) and Joseph Osterbauer (915,000) also bagged healthy stacks.
End of Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Crookston | United States | 1,278,000 |
| 2 | Peter Fox | United States | 1,106,000 |
| 3 | Sahib Purewal | United States | 993,000 |
| 4 | Joseph Osterbauer | United States | 915,000 |
| 5 | Eltorna Gant | 849,000 | |
| 6 | Curtis Phelps | United States | 835,000 |
| 7 | George Stojic | 786,000 | |
| 8 | Evan Sandberg | United States | 776,000 |
| 9 | Scott Stewart | United States | 659,000 |
| 10 | Steven Carroll | 645,000 |
Others to find a bag from today's flight include John Riordan (477,000), Tyler Hancock (459,000), Alexis Cruz Martinez (422,000), Viet Van Vo (392,000), Lexy Gavin-Mather (311,000), Dan Matsuzuki (277,000), Matt Salsberg (228,000), Joshua Remitio (218,000), Hayley Hanna (188,000), Adam Walton (185,000), Hunter Cichy (106,000), Christopher Vitch (91,000), and Eric Bunch (50,000).
Play concluded in Day 1a with 5:40 remaining in Level 16 with blinds of 4,000/8,000. This was the earlier finish of the two flights, so play will resume here on Monday unless another flight concludes sooner.
Cumulative Day 1ab Top Five Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gregory Brown | United States | 1,354,000 | 169 |
| 2 | Andrew Crookston | United States | 1,278,000 | 160 |
| 3 | Nicholas Julia | United States | 1,138,000 | 142 |
| 4 | Peter Fox | United States | 1,106,000 | 138 |
| 5 | Vinny Tran | United States | 1,050,000 | 131 |
For those who were unable to survive through today, there are still two additional opportunities to advance on Saturday and Sunday. Both of these flights start at 10:15 a.m. and will follow the same structure as today, with the final 12% (rounded up) making it to Day 2.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for updates from start to finish in the 2026 Arizona State Poker Championship. Day 1c coverage will begin at the first shuffle at 10:15 a.m. as we find out who will join the 212 survivors thus far.