Level 5 comes to an end, and Level 6 begins with increased blinds of 200-400 and a 50 ante. Play continues without a break.
The tournament clock shows 363 entries so far here on Day 1F, for a tournament total of 1,961 entries and counting. Registration remains open until the beginning of Level 9 (about 2:30 pm), with unlimited re-entries.
On the board of 
a player moves all in from early position. Lynn Gilmartin tanks for a while in late position before calling with 
for top pair. Her opponent turns over 
for top pair with a worse kicker and was eliminated.
Lynn Gilmartin - 28,000 (93 bb)
Richard King (pictured above) hailing from England is a professional poker player. He plays mostly online but does have some nice live scores, including a 12th place finish in WPT's Dusk Till Dawn.
When asked about his experience here he had this to say,
"It's awesome, good fun, I love being able to play whenever I want and see my friends."
We are very glad he is enjoying his time here, he even managed to very lucky early on today to keep his tournament dream alive.
At one point he was in a preflop reraising war where he five-bet all in with pocket kings only to be up against pocket aces. His future looked dire until he his the miracle king on the river.
He now sits with a comfortable 32,000 (107 bb)
We will continue to track him throughout the day.
Unfortunately, our other partypoker Gylbert Drolet (picture below), did not have the same good fortune as he was eliminated early on this flight.
Gylbert Drolet - Eliminated
The players return from break to begin Level 5, with increased blinds of 150-300 and a 50 ante.
The tournament clock shows 332 entries so far here on Day 1F, for a tournament total of 1,930 entries and counting. Registration remains open until the beginning of Level 9 (about 2:30 pm), with unlimited re-entries.
The final 11% of today's field will finish in the money today with the following payouts:
Final 11%: $950
Final 8%: $1,200
Final 5%: $1,500 + Advance to Day 2 (Tuesday, July 5th)
The first eight levels will be 30 minutes, increasing to 40 minutes after that. There will be a 45-minute dinner break after Level 14 (about 6:45 pm). Action will continue today until 5% of the field is remaining, and those 5% will advance to Day 2 (Tuesday, July 5th).
On a board of 
three players are all in.
Player A:
Lynn Gilmartin: 
Jeff Breslaw (pictured): 
The river brings the 
and Breslaw's straight holds. Gilmartin's two pair holds as she dodges the flush draw to stay alive.
Jeff Breslaw- 21,000 (105 bb)
Lynn Gilmartin - 16,000 (80 bb)
On a board of 
three players are all in on the river.
Russell Campanella: 
(flush)
Player A: 
Player B: 
Campanella wins the main pot with a flush, and as the short stack he triples up. Player A wins the side pot with a set of tens.
Russell Campanella - 45,000 (300 bb)
After a flop of 
, a player checks from middle position, John Ho (pictured) bets 1,100, and his opponent check raises to 3,500. Ho calls.
The comes on the turn, his opponent bets 3,500, and Ho calls.
The river brings the 
, his opponent checks, Ho moves all in, and gets a call. Ho shows 
for a full house to win the pot, and his opponent mucks.
John Ho- 30,000 (200 bb)
Level 2 comes to an end, and Level 3 begins with increased blinds of 75-150 and a 25 ante. Play continues without a break.
The tournament clock shows 288 entries so far here on Day 1F, for a tournament total of 1,886 entries and counting. Registration remains open until the beginning of Level 9 (about 2:30 pm), with unlimited re-entries.
Level 1 comes to an end, and Level 2 begins with increased blinds of 50-100. Play continues without a break.
The tournament clock shows 234 entries so far here on Day 1F, for a tournament total of 1,832 entries and counting. Registration remains open until the beginning of Level 9 (about 2:30 pm), with unlimited re-entries.
The final 11% of today’s field will finish in the money today with the following payouts:
Final 11%: $950
Final 8%: $1,200
Final 5%: $1,500 + Advance to Day 2 (Tuesday, July 5th)
The first eight levels will be 30 minutes, increasing to 40 minutes after that. There will be a 45-minute dinner break after Level 14 (about 6:45 pm). Action will continue today until 5% of the field is remaining, and those 5% will advance to Day 2 (Tuesday, July 5th).
An early scan of the field turned up the following familiar faces here on Day 1F:
Jorie Damiani, Michael Damiani, Kevin Taylor, Steve Buckner, Sasha Baresse, and WPT Anchor Lynn Gilmartin.
Day 1F is setting up to easily be the biggest starting day of the WPT500 with more than 200 entrants in the game midway through the first level. There are plenty of big names in early action but we were especially happy to see WPT Anchor Lynn Gilmartin sit down for some Saturday afternoon poker.
The players are seated and ready to go here on Day 1F of the partypoker presents: WPT500 at ARIA Resort & Casino. Registration remains open until the beginning of Level 9 (about 2:30 pm), the final 11% of today's field will earn at least $950, and the final 5% of today's field will advance to Day 2.
Players begin with 15,000 in chips, and the opening blinds are 25-50. It's time to shuffle up and deal!
Firing at this WPT500 @WPT @WPTlive @AlCantHang @Jorie_P let's bring this thing home to SF #WPT #1milly
— Michael Damiani (@MDamiani_) July 2, 2016
With five out of nine starting flights complete, the total field size so far is 1,598, and 81 players have survived to Day 2. Day 1F begins at 10:00 am.