button in Safari134 Advance From Huge Third Flight in Arizona State Poker Championship
Another massive field was assembled today as a total of 1,114 hopefuls descended upon the Talking Stick Resort for the penultimate starting flight in the 2026 Arizona State Poker Championship.
In fact, all 69 tables in the Arena Poker Room were dedicated exclusively for the tournament for the better part of five hours as players looked to claim their piece of the pie in what is nearly a $3 million prize pool with another flight still to come.
This brings the total number of entries to 2,881, with another strong turnout expected on Sunday for the final flight. However, just 134 players would advance from today's action, bringing the total number of Day 2 bags to 346, with a few double bags.
Another four names were added to the seven-figure list, with Jacob McDonald (1,150,000), Hunter Campbell (1,116,000), Pedro Salomao (1,041,000), and Deepa Shah (1,041,000) accumulating monsterous stacks late in the evening.
End of Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob McDonald | United States | 1,150,000 |
| 2 | Hunter Campbell | United States | 1,116,000 |
| 3 | Deepa Shah | Canada | 1,041,000 |
| 4 | Pedro Salomao | United States | 1,041,000 |
| 5 | Sang Ha | United States | 949,000 |
| 6 | Sean Baker | United States | 888,000 |
| 7 | Casey Sandretto | United States | 777,000 |
| 8 | Michael McKiernan | United States | 750,000 |
| 9 | Matthew Adderly | United States | 748,000 |
| 10 | Jose Montes | United States | 727,000 |
Others to advance from the third flight include Jeremy Becker (681,000), John Ciccarelli (667,000), Travis Egbert (542,000), Mark Babekov (534,000), Ronnie Bardah (415,000), Christina Read (369,000), Carl Oman (355,000), Lam Nguyen (299,000), Bradley Hinson (290,000), Brett Shaffer (284,000), Kristen Deardorff (256,000), Jarod Minghini (220,000), Ryan Hughes (211,000), Aaron Johnson (203,000), Christopher Staats (199,000), Matthew Blagg (190,000), Dustin Lee (189,000), Shawn Daniels (169,000), Hill Kerby (151,000), and Justin Pechie (115,000).
Play concluded in Day 1c with 11:18 remaining in Level 17 with blinds of 5,000/10,000. Day 2 blinds will reset to 5:40 remaining in Level 16 (4,000/8,000), unless the final flight concludes faster.
Cumulative Day 1abc Top Ten 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 | Jacob McDonald | United States | 1,150,000 | 144 |
| 4 | Nicholas Julia | United States | 1,138,000 | 142 |
| 5 | Hunter Campbell | United States | 1,116,000 | 140 |
| 6 | Peter Fox | United States | 1,106,000 | 138 |
| 7 | Vinny Tran | United States | 1,050,000 | 131 |
| 8 | Pedro Salomao | United States | 1,041,000 | 130 |
| 9 | Deepa Shah | Canada | 1,041,000 | 130 |
| 10 | Sahib Purewal | United States | 993,000 | 124 |
For those who were unable to survive through today, there are still a final opportunity to advance on Sunday. The final starting flight will 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 1d coverage will begin at the first shuffle at 10:15 a.m. as we find out who will join the 346 survivors thus far.