Day 1b of PokerStars Championship Panama $5,300 Main Event saw a strong turnout of 259 players show up at Sortis Hotel, Spa & Casino to push the two-day total to 363 runners.
In a fitting end to a day that saw a number of Canadians take turns near the top of the chip counts, Jiachen Gong ended up with the chip lead when he bagged 154,300, putting him barely ahead of American pro Caufman Talley (150,300).
End of Day 1b Top 10 Chip Count
| Position | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jiachen Gong | 154,300 |
| 2 | Caufman Talley | 150,300 |
| 3 | Kamal Bittar | 146,700 |
| 4 | Pablo Fernandez | 133,700 |
| 5 | Sergey Lebedev | 132,600 |
Gong played a massive pot at the end of the night, just after the six-hand countdown was announced.