Late registration has just closed on Day 1A of the $250 Frenzy. Based on past events, the first Day 1 of the Frenzy usually draws the fewest entrants, and today’s strong showing bodes well for the rest of the Frenzy. 95 players made it out today, making for 1,900,000 chips in play. Eleven players busted before the first break, and we expect many more to follow suit as the players grind it out for a total of 14 levels of play today.

For those who bust or anyone has yet to join, Day 1B starts tonight at 7:00pm.

Here are some of the early chip leaders from Day 1A:

Players are doing their best to take as much as possible of the 1,700,000 chips in play with them to Day 2.

A hand that just played out offers an illustrative example; With the blinds at 100/200, the action was opened to 800 from a player in early position. This raise picked up 5 callers and 6 players saw the flop of . The action was checked to the initial raiser who continued with a bet of 2,500. The next two players quickly moved in all of their chips. The first for slightly more than 13,000 and the second for slightly less. After some hesitation, the initial bettor made the call and hands were tabled. Georges Hallak, the first player to move all in, showed for two pair and the lead. He was up against and . The turn brought a harmless and the river sealed the deal with an , allowing Hallak to triple his stack.

The action is heating up here in Day 1A. There have been 73 entries so far, and five players have already hit the rail. With the blinds increasing every 30 minutes throughout the day, players can register late and still have plenty of big blinds at their disposal.

While the Frenzy picks up pace, we also have Day 2 of the Crazy $80 underway. The players still in the Crazy $80 have already cashed and those eliminated are now making their way to the Frenzy.

Late registration for Day 1A of the Frenzy runs until 1:15pm so you have more than enough time to make it down to Playground to take your shot at the $200,000 guaranteed prize pool.

There are already over 1,000,000 chips in play, with 59 entries before the end of the second level. There is well over an hour left in the late registration period so there’s still plenty of time to join the Frenzy!

Here’s a look at the field so far.

The $250 Frenzy has just kicked off! This event offers six Day 1s, and players are allowed to enter as many Day 1s as they like. With a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000, we expect many players to take advantage of the next day re-entry format. This format offers players multiple chances to qualify for Day 2 as well as giving those who advance to Day 2 the opportunity to run up a bigger stack if they want more ammunition.

As of the opening announcement, 39 players were in the field. Late registration is open until 1:15pm so there is still plenty of time to jump into the action on Day 1A!

Event #4 in the 2018 Playground Poker Winter Festival is one of the traditional “starting” events, The $250 Frenzy. The tournament is a 3-Day No Limit Hold’em event with 6 starting Day 1 flights – two per day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The buy-in for the event is $225 + $25, and it’s a next-day re-entry event, meaning that players can enter as many Day 1 starting flights as they wish to try to qualify for Day 2. The tournament features a massive $200,000 prize pool guarantee, and if the past is any indicator then sure to be an action-packed event.

The cards will be in the air in just minutes, and we’ll be following the tournament from start to finish right here on the Winter Festival Event Blog.

Good luck to everyone!