The first of six PartyPoker Championship (PPC) Winter Main Event flights is in the bag, and it was Ukraine's Ihor Hula who was the fastest out of the blocks. Hula shone brightly on Day 1A of the $530 buy-in $500,000 guaranteed tournament and has done his chances of glory no harm at all. Indeed, his colossal stack makes him one of the favorites to go deep in the PPC Winter Main Event even at this early stage.
Day 1A was the starting flight of choice for 175 PartyPoker players, but only 26 of them progressed to Day 2 on January 16.