Eric Hanson from dominated the opening flight, bagging a towering stack of 1,260,000. He built momentum throughout the session and seized control of the leaderboard in the closing stretch. Hanson stands alone as the only player to top the million mark and will head into Championship Sunday armed with more than 100 big blinds.

In second position is Craig Pohlmann (797,000), who vaulted up the counts after a dramatic bubble hand. Pohlmann connected with the stone-cold nuts against Carl Derry’s flopped set, a clash that sent Derry tumbling to the short stack before bowing out as the bubble finisher.

Not far behind sits Gary Ewald (724,000). Ewald surged late in the evening, winning a critical race when his pocket jacks prevailed over Joseph Osterbauer Sr.’s ace-king. From there, he held steady to secure a top-three stack heading into Day 2.

Day 1 final Chip Counts: 

Eric Hanson 1,260,000
Craig Pohlmann 797,000
Gary Ewald 724,000
Arlie Brandvold 645,000
Anthony Uhlir 602,000
Samuel Johnson 587,000
Chad Knoblauch 561,000
Robert Urbatsch 474,000
Jeremy Thury 461,000
Samuel Faleide 409,000
Jon Wurden 383,000
Skyler Sand 361,000
Ernest Trzpuc 344,000
Chad Ransom 280,000
Jason Kramer 277,000
Matthew Wetsch 265,000
James Girouard 258,000
Weston Wells 238,000
Cody Slusher 195,000
Paul Johnson 193,000
Eli Egli 154,000
Les Haagenson 116,000
Jeremy Holmes 110,000
Cody Billadeau 75,000
Mark Dufner 63,000