Day 1F in the Colossus got underway at 4:30pm today and has just come to a close in the Tournament Tent. The flight registered 364 entries, including 66 re-entries. The players pushed through 14 40-minute levels, and after all was said and done 44 players qualified for Day 2.

Some players managed to rack up some interesting stacks, and the exact counts have been published on the Colossus Combined Day 1 Results page. It’s no surprise to anyone, however, that Jason Mandanici-Turcot bagged the most with a very respectable 520,000 chips. His performance earns him a spot in the top three chip holders of the combined Day 1’s to date.

Congratulations to the 44 players who made it to Day 2 which will be on Monday, August 27th at noon.

The last 4 levels of play in Day 1F have been very good for Jason Mandanici-Turcot who has consistently built-up his stack.

We came upon his table to witness a hand in progress involving Jason and Maxim Caron-Turcotte.

Maxim Caron-Turcotte:

Jason Mandanici-Turcot:

Maxim was good on the flop:

But the on the turn sealed his fate and the river was no help.

With Jason the solid chip leader of the table, there was no second chance for Maxim Caron-Turcotte to recover. It was definitely a hard blow this close to the end. The tournament director has informed the players that there will be 4 last hands.

The players enjoyed a welcome break after level 12. It was their final reprieve, then play will resume for another two levels before the bags come out. Right now, we have 55 players left on six tables and the action is going strong.

The rate of elimination of players has slowed down considerably, a major indicator that the players are playing it a little safer. After 6 hours of play they don’t want to jeopardize their stacks if they don’t have to.

Eric Ranger has managed to maintain a decent stack all day. He is still among the chip leaders, but the top spot is now being held by Jason Mandanici-Trucot with a massive 447,000 stack. Jason has a comfortable lead coming into level 13. The next 80 minutes will tell if he can hold on to that lead.

Here are the chip leaders as of the end of level 12.

Play is currently at the start of level 12 and there is no sign that the players are slowing down. Action is seen (and heard) on every table, and everyone is hoping to improve their stack before the end of level 14. There will be a 15 minute break after level 12 and we will have an update on the leaders.

But there is still a long way to go, and anything can happen. We captured a few more photos of the players as they soldier on.

Things are rolling along here in the tournament tent for Day 1F. We are down to 98 players and they seem to have settled into a comfortable pace.

After 9 levels the players went on break and we had a peek at the stacks. Eric Ranger had a massive 330,600 stack. This represents more than 100,000 on top of any other player.

This is the crucial point where bigger stacked players need to concentrate on building up their chips. Shorter stacks need to use every opportunity to double up, to keep up with the pressure brought on by the aggressors and the blinds.

We came up on a somewhat joyous table to catch the tail end of a hand involving none other than the Oyster King himself Armand King.

The flop and turn were already out: and action was on Arnold Yaxley.

Arnold checked and The King snapped a quick and spicy “all-in”, which was obviously not what Yaxley was hoping for. After a few minutes of deep decision-making, Arnold folded.

“I never bluff!” exclaimed the Oyster King with a huge smile, tabling his hand: having hit a set on the flop. The whole table laughed at his antics, and even Arnold Yaxley couldn’t hold back a good-natured smile.