All of the chips went into the middle preflop during a recent hand between Derek McMaster and Michael Kinzer, with Kinzer finding a double for his stack of 136,000 thanks to his pocket aces holding against McMaster's ace-king. Updated counts from the entire table have been provided below, with 20 players now remaining.
Level: 14
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Krzysztof Stybaniewicz opened the action with a raise to 7,000 in the cutoff and received a call from Derek McMaster, who defended his big blind along with a claim that he was going to crack Stybaniewicz's pocket aces. Both players checked the flop 
, bringing the turn 
.
"I'm gonna bet 7,000," said McMaster, throwing a matching amount onto the felt. Stybaniewicz called and the river came 
. McMaster fired out another 11,000 and Stybaniewicz wasted no time calling and showing 
.
"Those aren't aces!" said McMaster. He mucked nonetheless.
Minnesota's Derek McMaster opened under the gun and saw action fold around to the small blind, where Tim West re-jammed for around 55,000. McMaster Called.
Tim West: 
Derek McMaster: 
An ace on the flop came to give McMaster top pair and send West to the showers, bringing the field down to 21 just past the midway point in Level 13.
Zach Gutierrez opened in the hijack and received a call from Jason Welch, who defended his big blind. Welch check-called a continuation-bet from Gutierrez on a flop of 
, and followed it up with two more check-calls of 11,000 on 
and 25,000 on 
.
Upon Welch calling on the end, Gutierrez flipped over 
for trips and earned the pot as Welch sent his cards to the muck.
Meanwhile, play has otherwise been fairly slow since returning from the final break, with the only elimination occurring being that of Jason Vanstrom shortly after trying to find a last-minute bag for the night.
Jason Vanstrom was the sole person to max-late register, receiving a fresh 25,000 and bringing the official Day 1a total up to 133 entries.
Play will continue for three more levels or until 15 players remain as the 12%-figure needed to reach the hard stop for the night.
Level: 13
Blinds: 2,000/3,000
Ante: 3,000
The final 10-minute break of the evening has arrived, bringing with it the last chance for players to enter or re-enter on Day 1a.
A total of 132 entries have been logged so far, with 22 players remaining.
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