Arizona State Poker Championship Reaches 4,018 Entries
Toby Price leads the Day 2 field with 1.868 million as the $4,018,000 prize pool sets up a run to the $627,050 top prize.
The 2026 Arizona State Poker Championship reached 4,018 entries after four days at Talking Stick Resort, building a $4,018,000 prize pool and sending 469 players into Day 2. Toby Price led the returnees with 1,868,000 chips, and 12 players came back above the seven-figure mark.
As reported yesterday, according to PokerNews, the event stood at 2,881 entries through three starting flights, with 346 players already bagged and a field of 4,000 within reach. The final push took the tournament well past that mark, and there were 483 bags on the board before the double bags were removed to leave the 469 Day 2 survivors.
Gregory Brown returned with 1,354,000, Andrew Crookston with 1,278,000, Jean "Prince" Gaspard with 1,200,000 and Nicholas Julia with 1,138,000. Defending champion Brandon Mitchell will try to repeat with 390,000.
Day 2 is set to restart at 10:15 a.m. in Level 16, with blinds of 4,000/8,000 and 60-minute levels. The plan is to play 12 levels or continue until just 57 players remain, which works out to 12% of the returning field.
The tournament is a $1,130 buy-in event that starts players with 40,000 chips at 100/100 blinds and a 100 big blind ante. Day 1 levels ran 40 minutes apiece, with a 15-minute break every three levels and unlimited reentry open until the start of Level 10 around 5 p.m. local time.
The 469 returnees now play toward the next checkpoint, with the field set to be trimmed to 57 players if the day runs its full 12-level schedule.
