Vangjel Haxhia managed to find some value on a hand that began when a player from early position made it 1,000. The bet was called in the next seat over before the button came along.

Haxhia made the call out of the small blind to bring the flop.

All four players checked through the flop to bring the turn. Haxhia bet 3,000 and was called in one place by the original raiser.

The turn led to a bet of 6,000 from Haxhia. The bet was called.

Haxhia tabled for a full house to scoop the pot.

Vangjel Haxhia

43,000

5,000

Play has started on Day 1b of the 2026 Bar Poker Open Florida World Championship. A total of 53 players have taken their seats to begin the tournament.

The Bar Poker Open 2026 Florida World Championship will host its final opening flight at 11 a.m. at the Palm Beach Kennel Club Poker Room to decide how many players will earn their final opportunity at a bag for Day 2 as hopefuls continue to pursue a share of the estimated $100,000 prize pool.

Day 1a enticed a total of 227 entries, which permitted 23 players to advance. Bryan Ducharme (920,000), J.P. Terras (615,000), and David Short (599,000) finished as the top three stacks from Day 1a.

Top Ten Day 1a Chip Counts

The tournament grants players a starting stack of 30,000 to begin play. The tournament is slated for 30-minute blind levels as players look to take advantage of their last chance to advance to Day 2.

The Bar Poker Open 2026 Florida World Championship will offer a $1,000 double bag bonus as a reward to the players who qualify twice for Day 2. The player will keep the best stack and forfeit the lowest stack should they qualify twice.

Bar Poker Championship Schedule

Day 2 restart is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. local time, where play will continue until a winner is crowned. The final table will feature cards-up coverage as Gorilla Gaming will stream the final table of the championship.

Stay tuned here at PokerNews for full coverage of the Bar Poker Open 2026 Florida World Championship.

Day 1a of the Bar Poker Open 2026 Florida World Championship attracted 227 entries at the Palm Beach Kennel Club Poker Room. A total of 23 players advanced to Day 2 as players continue their chase of the $100,000 estimated prize pool. Bryan Ducharme (920,000) finished Day 1a as the chip leader.

J.P. Terrasi (615,000) and David Short (599,000) round out the top three finishers for the opening flight.

Top Ten Chip Counts

Ducharme took a moment after bagging the Day 1a chip lead to speak with PokerNews about his climb to the top of the leaderboard.

"It was a rough day at first. I was grinding most of the day," Ducharme said. "I just tried to play my game."

Ducharme's strategy paid off, as he started climbing the standings after hitting a set to crack his opponent's pocket jacks. This was a launching pad for Ducharme, who would go on to bag the biggest stack of the remaining 23 players.

"It hasn't hit me at all," Ducharme said. "We'll see what happens on Monday." 


An estimated 23 different poker leagues were present on Day 1a, notably the No Limit Pub Poker Tour, which had the largest contingency of any group. The league got its start in 2006 with co-owners Jimmy Rivers and Carl Pipitone in Jupiter, Florida. The league has since grown to include 13 regions and over 50,000 players since that time.

Players will have one last chance to qualify for Day 2 with flight Day 1b on Sunday, March 8, beginning at 11 a.m. local time. The remaining players will convene for Day 2 on March 9 at 11 a.m.

Stay tuned here at PokerNews for updates on Day 1b and beyond at the Bar Poker Open 2026 Florida World Championship.

Play has finished for Day 1a. The remaining 23 players bagged to advance to Day 2 and make the money. Stay tuned for a full recap of Day 1a.

The cutoff shoved for their final 12,000, which was not enough to cover the big blind. Aaron Boas of Riverchasers Poker Tour called out of the small blind, and the big blind checked and sent them to a flop.

Both blinds checked down on the board. Boas showed , which was enough to sink the all-in to end Day 1a.

Aaron Boas

212,000

28,000

Day 1a of the Bar Poker Open 2026 Florida World Championship attracted 227 entries at the Palm Beach Kennel Club Poker Room. A total of 23 entries were permitted to advance to Day 2 as players continue their chase of the $100,000 estimated prize pool. Bryan Ducharme (920,000) finished Day 1a as the chip leader.

J.P. Terras (615,000) and David Short (599,000) round out the top three finishers for the opening flight.

Top Ten Chip Counts

Ducharme took some time after bagging as Day 1a chip leader to talk to PokerNews about his journey to the top of the leaderboard.

"It was a rough day at first. I was grinding most of the day," Ducharme said. "I just tried to play my game."

Ducharme's approach paid off, as he began to catapult up the standings when he hit a set to crack the pocket jacks of his opponent. This was a launching pad for Ducharme, who would go on to bag the biggest stack of the remaining 23 players.

"It hasn't hit me at all," Ducharme said. "We'll see what happens on Monday." 


An estimated 23 different poker leagues were present on Day 1a, notably the No Limit Pub Poker Tour, which had the largest contingency of any group. The league got its start in 2006 with co-owners Jimmy Rivers and Carl Pipitone in Jupiter, Florida. The league has since grown to include 13 regions and over 50,000 players since that time.

Players will have one last chance to qualify for Day 2 with flight Day 1b on Sunday, March 8, beginning at 11 a.m. local time. The remaining players will convene for Day 2 on March 9 at 11 a.m.

Stay tuned here at PokerNews for updates on Day 1b and beyond at the Bar Poker Open 2026 Florida World Championship.

Play is now hand-for-hand on Day 1a of the Bar Poker Open Florida World Championship.

A player from early position raised to 35,000 and was called by Robert Savadge from No Limit Pub Poker Tour, who called from the cutoff.

Both players checked down on the board.

The early position player showed , but it was no good as Savadge tabled to take down the pot.

Robert Savadge

380,000

321,000

The button opened to 36,000 before Mari Tomaccio chose to shove for 47,000 total. The button called to put Tomaccio at risk.

Mari Tomaccio:
Opponent:

Tomaccio was behind, but that didn't last long as the flop came to give Tomaccio a pair of aces.

She held on the turn and the river to double.