Bluff Online Poker Challenge Midway Through

Halfway through the Bluff Online Poker Challenge and it appears that the rest of the field is going to spend the better part of the next two weeks chasing down overwhelming leader Brian "SNO0OWMAN" Hawkins.

Hawkins has turned his initial $200 into $14,519.80 by playing 496 tournaments. To date he's averaging just under $900 profit per day with his best day coming on Saturday when he posted a $2,954.01 win. He's also had days where he booked wins of $2,676.54, $2,494.72 and $2,415.

The chase group includes only two players. Garrett "GBECKS" Beckman and Shaun Deeb are the only other players to have broken into the four-digit winnings category. Beckman sits in second with $3,010.97 while Deeb, who has ridden a roller coaster of wins and losses throughout the Challenge, has $2,564.56 in winnings. He's also posted the single worst day of the Challenge on Friday when he lost $1,210.

While Beckman and Deeb are the chase group there is another group of players who have all had good results. Most impressive of that group is Maria Ho. The longest lasting woman from the 2007 World Series of Poker sits in fourth spot with $847.71. What makes her total impressive is that she's played only 30 tournaments, the least of anybody with a positive balance.

Lock Poker qualifier Jeffrey "DURALAST" Romano has had an up-and-down Challenge so far. After taking the lead on the first day of play Romano has struggled to maintain a winning pace. Though 900 tournaments Romano is up only $98.06 and he's currently averaging $0.38 profit per hour played.