Cosmic Medrano Finishes on Top of Day 1e Flight in Event #4 $500K GTD
The penultimate flight of Event #4: $400 NLH $500,000 Guaranteed has just been completed after eight hours of play here at The Lodge Poker Club in Round Rock, Texas. This was the biggest field thus far, having 377 registration slips sold, and just 46 of those scooped their chips into a bag by night's end.
Cosmic Medrano caught wind under his sails around halfway through the day and never looked back, finishing on top of the Day 1e field with 487,000 in chips. Medrano has already secured his biggest live cash to date just by making Day 2 and is in a prime position to make a deep run here in the Lodge Championship Series.
Right on his tail is Sean Byars who secured 450,000 chips for his Day 2 bag. Rounding out the top five are Alexander Connolly (383,000), Nick Dao (355,000), and Benjamin Perez (343,000).
Top 10 Stacks from Day 1e
| Rank | Player | Hometown | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cosmic Medrano | Grapevine, TX | 487,000 | 81 |
| 2 | Sean Byars | Arlington, VA | 450,000 | 75 |
| 3 | Alexander Connolly | Painesville, OH | 382,000 | 64 |
| 4 | Nick Dao | Harvey, LA | 355,000 | 59 |
| 5 | Benjamin Perez | Plainview, TX | 343,000 | 57 |
| 6 | Alexander Allegranza | Las Vegas, NV | 307,000 | 51 |
| 7 | Jacob Min | Parker, CO | 273,000 | 46 |
| 8 | Julio Cruz | Humble, TX | 247,000 | 41 |
| 9 | Anne Sidari | Austin, TX | 227,000 | 38 |
| 10 | Joseph Caliendo | Phoenix, AZ | 226,000 | 38 |
The 46 that bagged up will combine with the other five flights tomorrow May 8, at 2 p.m. where blinds will start at 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 big blind ante. Level length will increase to 40-minutes per and will remain that duration until the end of this event.
Over the first five flights there has been a total of 1,196 registration slips sold, with 146 runners already booking a ticket for the final day. The final Day 1 flight is currently in progress and all numbers will be posted upon completion. Anyone who manages to secure more than one bag will collect a $600 bag bonus, surrendering their smallest stack and will begin Day 2 with their highest-value bag.
That is a wrap for the Day 1e coverage, but tune into the final flight updates here at Pokernews for all of the live action.
on the flop and Nirekshtein was still ahead with his pair of dimes. A lead that shifted to Connolly after a 
peeled off on the turn, hitting his cowboy.
, locking the pot in for Connolly who eliminated Nirenshtein in the process. The final 46 have now all made Day 2 and will bag up for the night.
and there were around 35,000 chips in the pot when Jared Eberly pushed. Eberly had around 62,000 and action folded to Alexander Connolly who decided to call, putting Eberly at risk.
turn slapped Connolly with a flush, leaving Eberly in need of a fortuitous river. The 
was not what he had in mind and he was eliminated just shy of making Day 2, sending his stack to Connolly who now sits near the top of the field.
on the flop and Salem was in trouble. An 
river. Medrano scooped another pot, adding to his already impressive stack late on Day 1e.
