Final table reached

With the elimination of Chris Hyle, the final table has been reached. The final nine players will return tomorrow at 3pm to play down to a winner. Play will resume with 22:52 left on the clock at 5,000/15,000 blinds with a 15,000 ante.

All nine players are guaranteed a $5,250 payout, but the winner will take home $52,470. Here are the seating assignments and chip counts for the final table:

Seat 1: Jasthi Kumar - 310,000 (20 bb)
Seat 2: Dustin Wood - 625,000 (41 bb)
Seat 3: Andrew Moreno - 345,000 (23 bb)
Seat 4: "Cnote" - 160,000 (10 bb)
Seat 5: Danny Qutami - 670,000 (44 bb)
Seat 6: Nicky Vu - 530,000 (35 bb)
Seat 7: Salas Alam - 285,000 (19 bb)
Seat 8: Hieu Le - 190,000 (12 bb)
Seat 9: Wilson Chan - 1,210,000 (80 bb)

10th Place: Chris Hyle ($4,540)

11th Place: Daniel Chang ($4,540)

At 5,000/15,000 blinds with a 15,000 big blind ante, the button opened to 35,000 before Daniel Chang moved all in for 65,000 in the small blind. Andrew Moreno moved all in over the top and the button folded.

Daniel [Js][Td]
Andrew [Ah][5s]

The board ran out [Ad][Qc][4d][9s][7d] to knock out Daniel in 11th place, good for $4,540.

12th Place: Terry Byrnes ($4,540)

Recent eliminations: 13th-15th Place ($3,890)

15th Place: Adam Duong

The following players have recently been eliminated, each earning $3,890 for their efforts:

13th Place: Wisal Ameen
14th Place: Danny Bui
15th Place: Adam Duong

Recent eliminations: 16th-18th ($3,240)

The following players have recently been eliminated, each earning $3,240 for their efforts:

16th Place: Ken Bidinger
17th Place: Matt Kasper
18th Place: Auguste Shastry

Andrew Moreno doubles up

At 5,000/10,000 blinds with a 10,000 big blind ante, Salas Alam opened to 20,000 under the gun. Action folded around to Andrew Moreno in the small blind who moved all in for 120,000. The big blind thought for a bit and released his hand, and Salas elected to make the call.

Andrew [As][Qc]
Salas [Ks][Qh]

The [3s][4d][2s] flop kept Andrew's ace high in front, and the [7s] turn and [6h] river changed nothing. Andrew will double up to 255,000, while Salas is still left with over 200,000.

Recent eliminations: 19th-27th Place

With the elimination of Henry Phan in 19th place, only 18 players remain. The field is now on break, and when they return, the blinds will be 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante. Here are the recent eliminations and their payouts:

19th Place: Henry Phan ($2,590)
20th Place: Mirsad Arap ($2,590)
21th Place: Eben Kurtzman ($2,590)
22th Place: Jeffrey Davis ($2,000)
23th Place: Victor Nava ($2,000)
24th Place: Thien Tran ($2,000)
25th Place: Jairo Aguirre ($1,610)
26th Place: Bobby Deshpande ($1,610)
27th Place: Anshul Kulshrestha ($1,610)

$1k event is in the money!

Hand for hand in the $1k event took a bit of time, but the remaining 27 players are finally in the money. The bubble saw at least 5 or 6 short stacks doubling up to survive. Eventually, a player's [Ac][8c] fell to another's [Qs][Jh] when the board ran out [2c][Jd][4s][Qh][4h]. The remaining players are now re-drawing for seats at the final 3 tables, and play will continue at 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 big blind ante.

Players on break

The 31 remaining players in today's $1,100 event are now on a 10 minute break. The 500 denomination chips are being colored up and raced off, and play will resume at 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante. The top 27 players will be in the money, so the bubble is looming.

Loni Harwood has been eliminated

Loni Harwood was grinding a short stack when she got her last 43,500 in the middle preflop from late position. The button moved all in over the top for roughly 60,000 and the remaining players folded.

Loni [Ks][Qc]
Button [8h][8c]

The [Jd][Th][2c] flop gave Loni an open ended straight draw to go with her two overcards, but the [3d] turn and [5s] river failed to improve her hand. Loni will exit this tournament in 43rd place, just 16 spots shy of making the money.

43 players remain

Play continues at level 13, and just 43 players remain from the 216 players that started the day. David Forster was recently eliminated, but in the seat next to him Loni Harwood is still hanging in with 44,000 (~15 bb). The top 27 will be in the money.

"Cnote" is the current chip leader

A player that calls himself "Cnote" is the current chip leader in the tournament with over 200,000 chips. We recently saw him increase to his stack when he raised with ace jack and got two streets of value on a jack high board against his opponent's pocket nines.

Loni Harwood loses one

We arrived at Loni Harwood's table to see her raise under the gun to 2,700. Both the button and the small blind called to see the [6d][9h][5d] flop. Action checked to Loni who bet out 4,500, only to see the button fold. But the small blind elected for a check-raise to 13,000 which Loni called. The [6s] saw the small blind lead for a smaller 11,500 which Loni again called. The river fell the [Ks] and the small blind moved all in for 30,100. Loni thought about her decision for a bit before letting it go, leaving her with a still above-average 86,000.

69 players now remain, and Kristy Arnett was seen exiting the tournament area as this hand was completing.

Familiar Faces

Kristy Arnett (left), Loni Harwood (middle), and David Forster (right) are still alive

As play continues, only 120 players remain from the original 216. We found a few familiar faces in the field. Both Kristy Arnett and Loni Harwood are above average with stacks of 50,000 and 42,000 respectively, while David Forster trails the average stack with 17,000.

$1k Prize Pool & Payouts

A total of 216 players have entered today's $1,100 buyin, creating a prize pool of $216,000. The top 27 players will be in the money, with a mincash worth $1,610. All eyes are on the top prize of $52,470 for the winner. Here are full payouts:

1st Place: $52,470
2nd Place: $36,420
3rd Place: $22,140
4th Place: $13,470
5th Place: $10,400
6th Place: $8,620
7th Place: $7,340
8th Place: $6,280
9th Place: $5,250
10th-12th Place: $4,540
13th-15th Place: $3,890
16th-18th Place: $3,240
19th-21st Place: $2,590
22nd-24th Place: $2,000
25th-27th Place: $1,610

$1k is Under Way

Cards are in the air for the first event of the 2020 Shooting Star. Today's event is a $1,100 buyin and will play until the final table, resuming tomorrow at 3pm.