The inaugural PokerStars Championship Panama event kicked off with a massive $50,000 Super High Roller event, the largest buy-in poker tournament ever on Panamanian soil. A total of 26 unique players registered and 4 reentered after busting, making for a total field of 30 on Day 1.
After 8 levels of play, 19 players remain with Steve O'Dwyer in the lead. Registration remains open till the start of Day 2 so a prize pool is only expected when buying in is no longer an option.
| Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| Steve O'Dwyer | Ireland | 856,000 |
| Orpen Kisacikoglu | United Kingdom | 728,000 |
| Justin Bonomo | United States | 615,000 |
| Mike Watson | Canada | 546,000 |
| Ben Tollerene | United States | 541,000 |
| Koray Aldemir | Germany | 497,000 |
| David Peters | United States | 432,000 |
| Ben Heath | United Kingdom | 425,000 |
| Dario Sammartino | Italy | 417,000 |
| Daniel Dvoress | Canada | 385,000 |
| Jason Koon | United States | 335,000 |
| Timothy Adams | Canada | 33,0000 |
| Dan Colman | United States | 305,000 |
| Paul Newey | United Kingdom | 29,0000 |
| Erik Seidel | United States | 212,000 |
| Sam Greenwood | Canada | 207,000 |
| Isaac Haxton | United States | 192,000 |
| Stefan Schillhabel | Germany | 84,000 |
| Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 84,000 |
Play got underway at 12:30, half an hour later than planned.