The starting flights are complete in the $1,675 WSOP Circuit Main Event at Horseshoe Hammond.
Friday's Day 1A flight drew 539 entries, and another 708 joined Day 1B to bring the total field to 1,247 across both flights. That creates a prizepool of nearly $1.9 million — nearly twice the guarantee — to be shared by the final 135 players.
Mitch Vermeulen finished Day 1A with the big stack of 400,500 chips, but that lead did not hold through Saturday. James Callea (pictured) finished the Day 1B flight with 413,000, and he'll be the man setting the pace on Day 2.
Here's the overnight top five:
1. James Callea - 413,000
2. Mitch Vermeulen - 400,500
3. George Dietz - 324,500
4. Carter Myers - 296,500
5. Mark Fink - 295,000
Others who advanced near the top include Cero Zuccarello (278,000), Jake Bazeley (261,000), and Andy Philachack (257,500). Kevin Eyster (172,500), Mukul Pahuja (110,000), Ben Keeline (107,000), Ravi Raghavan (94,000), Kurt Jewell (80,500), and Keven Stammen (44,000) lurk a bit further down the list.
Defending Champion Dylan Linde (128,500) and the winner before him, Krzysztof Stybaniewicz (230,500), also advanced to Day 2 once again.
Day 2 chip counts | Day 2 seat draw
A total of 230 players made it through, and they'll return to action on Sunday. The money bubble will be in sight, too, and they'll play down as close to a final table as they can get in 10 levels.
Blinds will be 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante when play resumes, putting the average stack around just north of 35 big blinds. A gold ring and the top prize of $332,020 are reserved for the winner.
Day 2 begins at 11 a.m.