Day 1 Wraps Up: Chip Counts, Heartbreak, and a Toast for Tom
Elite Tampa Bay Poker League — WSOP 2026 Update
Day 1 of the WSOP Main Event is officially in the books for the whole Elite Tampa Bay crew (minus Jordan Joeckel and Ray Mancini, who enter directly on Day 2). Here’s the full chip count leaderboard, biggest stack to smallest:
1. Ryan Harfouch — 216,700
2. Juan Rodriguez — 111,200
3. Evan Pantano — 97,100
4. Josh Nicholson — 93,000
5. Allen Wiseman — 63,900
6. Jason Barnett — 53,700
7. Dan Goonin — 53,100
7. Lee Tran — 53,100
9. Dan Johnson — 43,900
10. David Smith — 33,800
11. Andra Zachow — 32,500
12. Robert Fulton — 21,500
Ryan Harfouch leads the way, and it’s no surprise to anyone who’s watched him play a Thursday night final table — he was at the center of one of the wildest chops in league history back in Week 12, a late-night deal with Evan Vancavage that flipped the standings with real money on the line. That same fearless style carried straight into Day 1B.
Juan Rodriguez kept his hot summer going with 111,200. He’s already got a WSOP bracelet to his name after taking down the $5K Seniors High Roller earlier in the series, and media has been clamoring for interviews with him ever since.
Evan Pantano bagged 97,100 after a series that’s seen him run deep again and again — he just made a name for himself grinding all the way to 30th place in the massive WSOP Mini Main, a field of over 12,000 entries.
Josh Nicholson put together the best Day 1D stack in the group at 93,000, and he earned every chip of it. Late in the day he rivered top set with pocket aces to win a big pot, and then found himself seated with the notorious Maurice Hawkins for Day 2 — including a moment where the table watched Hawkins tank-fold AK only to see the raiser show aces.
While Allen Wiseman was playing day 1D his wife Sherry – a league alum – was over in the daily deep stack. She ran deep finishing 21 of 638!
She’s been on the sidelines since 2021 but apparently not rusty!
Not every story from Day 1 was a good one.
Saif Keshwani ran about as bad as it gets, losing four separate big pots on his way out: a rivered two pair that lost to a rivered flush, a 3-bet AQ that ran into AJ, a big blind defense with KJ that lost a check-raised pot to 89 suited, and finally a 3-bet shove with AK double-suited that got called by two players — one of whom rivered a flush with A4 to send him home.
And finally, a moment worth pausing on. Our beloved league member Tom McDonald passed away on March 14, and his teammate Dan Johnson took his seat in the Main Event in his place. Before Day 1 got underway, Dan raised a beer for Tom and one for himself at the table — “I’m having a beer for Tom and one for myself. Cheers!!!” Andra Zachow also played A6 suited in Tom’s honor during her Day 1, though the hand ended in a full house over nut flush beat. Andra said Tom had a great sense of humor as the very next hand she won all the chips back + with a FH>FH with KK. He was with the league in spirit all day.
Day 2 is next. Jordan Joeckel has entered the fray on Day 2ABC with a 60,000 starting stack, and Ray Mancini takes his seat for Day 2D. Both go in fresh and ready to build.
Let’s go, Elite Tampa Bay!
