The 2024 Pure Poker Tour ambassador is more than just a pretty face - Haven Taylor just bagged the chip lead from Day 1a of the Main Event. She bagged up 476k at the end of a marathon day.

Her closest competitor, Julius Roque, only managed to bag 247k with Karim Chatur close behind at 245k. The full qualifying stacks are below.

The marathon Day 1a is finally over, and Keith Schultz was the unfortunate player to bubble Day 2 tonight. In the final hand he flopped an ace for the lead against Haven Taylor's . Taylor flopped a four and a backdoor club draw, and when the board ran out she sent Schultz to the rail as the final elimination of Day 1a.

They are up to Level 18 now and still on the bubble to the end of the day with nine players left. Short stacks keep doubling to survive and stay alive with Eric Wasylenko still leading. Tyler Panas just got his final 35k in with queen-jack for a race against the sevens of Wasy. Panas flopped a jack and held to take the double, and they play on.

It was a huge hand that saw Tyler Panas open the middle, and Karim Chatur call before short stack Shane Brotherwood shoved the big blind for 35.5k. Panas reshoved, sending Chatur into the tank. He rolled over his ace-queen as he was deciding as he was the last to act.

He finally opted for the muck, sending Panas and Brotherwood off to the races with Panas on ace-king against pocket sevens for Brotherwood. The sevens held for the double, and Panas now looks to be the short stack at the table.

Haven Taylor just put her tournament life on the line. She opened early only have Julius Roque three-bet from the button. It folded back to her and she shoved, sending Roque into the tank. Both players looked to have a very similar stack, but Roque elected to muck his hand and send the pot to Taylor uncontested.

Eric Wasyenko opened the action from the middle with a raise to 12k. Tyler Panas came over the top to 29k from the button before Karim Chatur clicked the four-bet button for 46k.

Wasy got out of the way quickly, but Panas looked visibly pained as he considered his decision on the Day 2 bubble. He eventually mucked his hand and confirmed to me after the hand that he folded queens, putting Chatur on kings or aces. He may never know if it was the right fold, but regardless, he's still sitting at the table with a shot at Day 2.

They are down to 9 players left now in the Main, which is the bubble to the end of the day. Frank Shi busted out in 10th and they are now breaking down to the final table of nine.

Level 15 will be underway in a few minutes and Eric Wasylenko is the leader at the moment with 358k. He is the only player over 300k, but Julius Roque is second with 246k. Keith Schultz and Haven Taylor also have more than 200k in front of them now.

They are down to 10 players left in 1a of the Main Event now with just over 10 minutes to play in Level 14. They'll head out for a break at the end of this level, assuming they make it that far, but it looks likely the night will end shortly after the break, if now before.

It looks like Julius Roque is the chip leader at the moment with about 280k in front of him, but tablemate and PPT ambassador Haven Taylor is pretty close behind with about 270k while Keith Schultz is down to about 230k now,

Level 13 has about 5 minutes left to play with the field now down to 12 and the planned stop tonight at 8. They have another break at the end of Level 14, but it's possible they'll push that back a level if they are still playing at the end of the next level.

After a quick look around at the break it looks like Keith Schultz is the chip leader with just over 300k, while Zeyu "Skytrain" Huang looks to be second with about 275k.

The players are just heading out for what is almost certainly their last break of Day 1a. There are 13 players left alive with 8 players advancing tonight, so it seems likely they'll finish up sometime in the couple of levels after the break, though it's worth noting they are about 50 big blinds deep on average right now, so there's still a fair bit of play in the game.

The field is down to 14 players left now in Day 1a of the Main Event with just under 15 minutes to play in Level 12. They'll head out for a break following this level, and that will likely be the final break for today's flight given that they are only six eliminations away from the bags coming out.

There are 18 players left alive now with about 25 minutes left in Level 11. They are just breaking down to two tables at the moment and this puts them 10 players off the end of Day 1a.

Level 11 has just begun and they are now down to 20 players left in action. Pete Fylyma, "Cowboy" Ron Giles, Keith Schultz, Julius Roque, Karim Chatur, Francis Fan, Haven Taylor, Hasan Al Ghunaim, Frank Shi, Shane Brotherwood, and Zeyu "Skytrain" Huang are among the players still alive in today's flight.

The numbers are now official and there will be 8 players bagging chips from Day 1a later tonight. There are currently still 23 players at the felt, and there is no hard stop for tonight's flight. They'll keep playing until there are just 8 players left with chips and Day 1b will follow the same process, playing until 12.5% of the field is reached.

Level 10 is now underway and entries for the opening flight of the Main Event are now closed. The final (unofficial) number of entries looks to be 59 and if that holds, it should mean $55,490 will be in the prize pool from today's flight, and they'll play down to either 9 or 10 players left before they bag tonight.

As Level 10 begins, there are 23 players left in their seats.

There are just over 10 minutes left to get into Day 1a of the Main Event today as the dinner break is ticking down to the end. I had a look around at the break for a few of the bigger stacks, and it looks like Frank Shi is the chip leader now with 210k. He looks to be the only one with more than 200k in front of him, but Keith Schultz isn't far away with 186.5k while Tyler Panas and Zeyu "Skytrain" Huang are both playing stacks in the 140k range.

There are about 10 minutes left in Level 9, and that means the entry desk will be shut down in less than an hour for Day 1a. There are still 56 entries on the board with 22 players left alive.

Today's flight is scheduled to end when they hit 12.5% of the field, which should be 8 or 9 players depending on rounding and new entries.

Level 9 is just beginning now and this is the final level of poker to get into today's flight. Players who miss out on today still have a full 1b to play tomorrow if they wish, but it's likely we'll still see another few entries before thing shut down in a bit more than an hour from now.

There are about 20 minutes remaining in Level 8 now, which means the end of entries for today's flight is less than 2 hours away. There is about an hour left of poker before the dinner break following Level 9, and once they return from that for Level 10, the 1a field will be set.

Tonight's flight will play down to the money spots before they bag, which at this point looks like 8 players.

There ar just over 20 minutes left in Level 7 and the prize pool just clicked over $50k with 54 entries on the board. There are still 30 players in action with about 2.5 hours left to enter today's flight.

Level 7 is about to begin and they are now into the final three levels of entry for Day 1. The field is up to 52 entries with 34 players in the game still.

After a quick look around the room on the break for some big stacks, it looks like Eric Wasylenko and Karim Chatur are sharing the lead right now, both with just over 100k. Meanwhile, Kyle Dery is flirting with the century at about 95k and Hasan Al Ghunaim, Joon Oark, and Frank Shi are playing 70-80k stacks.

Level 6 has just begun and there are 50 entries on the clock now. 37 players are still active on five tables and there are still a bit more than 3.5 hours left to get into today's flight. Current prizes are sitting at $47,025 and will crack $50k with the next four entries.

As part of this PPT event, the Casino has been throwing in some extra juice in the form of tickets and swag, Earlier today, Eric Wasylenko picked up another PPT hoody and hat, as well as $50 for a gift card, to add to his growing collection while last night PPT ambassador Haven Taylor drew for a free $230 Turbo entry.

Congratulations to Keith Mather and good luck in the Turbo tonight! Check out Taylor's announcement at the Live Poker Updates Facebook Group.

Level 5 has just begun and the field is now up to 43 entries with 38 players at the felt. There is now a fifth table open and immediate seating is available for new entries now. Shane Brotherwood, 3rd place in the Turbo last night, and Ryan Comely were among the more recent entries for the new table.

As a thank you to players for coming out to the series, Pure Poker Tour has been putting on a few random draws for tickets and swag this week. PPT ambassador Haven Taylor just did one for today's event with a PPT hat, hoody, and gift card up for grabs.

After a table and seat number were drawn, it ended up that Eric Wasylenko, winner of last year's Player of the Year and the Feb Main Event, was in the winning seat. At this point, he may have a PPT cap and hoody for every day of the week!

I had a quick look around the room on the break and it looks like Zeyu "Skytrain" Huang is the chip leader right now with about 73k in front of him. Nicholas Andreas looks to be second with about 63k, while the 2024 PPT ambassador, Haven Taylor, is sitting with about 50k to start Level 4.

There are just under 15 minutes left to play in Level 3 with the field up to 35 entries now. That puts the prizes at $32,918 and climbing.

Entries will be open for about 5.5 hours from now for today, so it's likely these numbers will at least double before then, and they'll do it all over again tomorrow for Day 1b before the qualifiers reconvene for Day 2 on Sunday.

Adam Lamers, Pete Fylyma, February's Main Event winner Eric Wasylenko, Ron Lauzon, Frank Shi, Joon Park, and Dino Rajabi are among the more recent entries to the game.

Level 2 still has about 10 minutes to play and the field is now at 27 players with three full tables of action. It's likely they'll open a new table soon to ensure seating for new entries.

Thet are up to 25 entries with about 25 minutes to play in Level 2 now. Among the recent entries I saw were Karim Chatur, who looks to be in for his first event of the series, as well as Julius Roque, the face of the PPT this year, Haven Taylor, Qingwei Meng, Glenn Tarasoff, Stephen Dauphinais, and a rare appearance of late from "Cowboy" Ron Giles.

They are up to 22 entries now to start Level 2 of the opening flight of the Main Event. That puts the current prizes at just over $20k and climbing.

Day 1a of the Main Event is now underway with 14 players in their seats to start. The clock was a bit more than five minutes late getting started today, but this still looks to be the best start of any early game so far this series. Zeyu Huang, Curtis Singleton, and Ali Khani are among the players in their seats early today.

The opening flight of the Main Event is just moments away from cards going in the air. There are 10 entries on the board before the game even starts which may well be the best start of any game so far this week.

Event #8: $1,100 Main Event ($990 + $110)
Day 1a: Apr 12 - 1 PM
Day 1b: Apr 13 - 1 PM
Day 2: Apr 14 - 12 Noon
Day 3: Apr 15 - 12 Noon (if Required)
Starting Stack: 30k
Blinds: 40/60 Min
Late Entry: 9 Levels (~8:30 PM)

With the arrival of Friday, it's now time for the big show. Day 1a of the Main Event kicks off at 1 PM on Fri, Apr 12. Players have nine levels to enter the game on Day 1, which should put the last chance to enter at around 830 PM on both starting days.

Blinds on Day 1 are 40 minutes long with that moving to 60 minutes for Day 2. Day 1 will play into the money and stop when the field hits 12.5% which means all players coming back for Day 2 will be guaranteed some sort of payday. That also means it is highly unlikely that the third day will be required - with everyone in the money on Day 2, it's likely that will play fairly quickly and they'll be able to finish it out Sunday night, but the Day 3 is still scheduled for Monday if required.

This will be my Main Focus for the day Friday, but I'll move over to the late Turbo game when Day 1a bags for the night.