Event 1 (Flight K): End Of Flight Chip Counts

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 15 (Blinds 2,000/4,000/500)
Total Flight K Entries: 139
Flight K Players Remaining: 19

The following (19) players have bagged chips heading to Day 2 on Monday:

Gil	Aboodi *	342,500
Hashim	Burney *	331,500
Ray	Millard *	244,000
Frederico	Dabus	242,500
Salameh	Bahhur	232,500
Paula	Alibrandi	225,500
Louis	Leo	217,500
John	Kwon	200,000
Rinat	Haviv	192,500
Michael	Newman	185,500
Carlos	Ulloa	181,000
Pedro	Catinchi	177,000
Elliott	Zaydruman	166,500
Lou	Stadler	164,500
Claude	Ferland	152,000
Ellen	Smith	103,500
Moshe	Wasser	101,500

* Denotes "chipleader bonus," and entry into Event 5 ($570 NLH - $250,000 Guarantee)

Event 1 (Flight K): Focusing On The Transition

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 15 (Blinds 2,000/4,000/500)
Total Flight K Entries: 139
Flight K Players Remaining: 19

The only tournament players remaining in the poker room are those in Flight L, as (19) players were left standing at Flight K's conclusion.  The bags are currently being verified by the tournament director (and will be posted shortly), but here is a breakdown of the numbers:

Flight K Entries: 139
Flight K Players Remaining: 19
Flight K Chip Average: 183,000
Total Flight K Chips: 3,475,000

We can now take a detailed look at Flight L, as registration is closed (play is currently in Level 9 - Blinds 500/1,000/100):

Flight L Entries: 92
Flight L  Players Remaining: 43
(Current) Flight L Chip Average: 53,500
Total Flight L Chips: 2,300,000

Event 1 (Flight K): Stadler Sends Salmen Downstream

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 15 (Blinds 2,000/4,000/500)
Total Flight K Entries: 139
Flight K Players Remaining: 28

Lou Stadler (Miami, FL)

While scanning the remaining three tables for chip counts, we happened to walk over to an all-in (pre) between Nabila Salmen and Lou Stadler (Miami, FL).  Stadler held a commanding lead with pocket queens against the pocket tens of Salmen.  The board would run out clean for Stadler, and he would jump the leaderboard, stacking up to 160,000.

Some other names in contention for the end of flight bonus:

Frederico Dabus - 230,000
Jon Ounjian - 220,000
Gil A. - 190,000
Simon Bahhur - 185,000
Elliot Zaydman - 170,000
Rinat Haviv - 150,000

Players have just one more level to maneuver their way into position for the bonus, or just to find themselves a bag.  Once the counts are verified, we will be posting the end of flight chip counts, as well as the bonus winners.  Focus will then turn to Flight L, as they round the homestretch for the evening.

Event 1 (Flight K): Final Break Of The Flight

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 14 (Blinds 1,500/3,000/400)
Total Flight K Entries: 139
Flight K Players Remaining: 30

Frederico Dabus (Doral, FL)

The final few seconds of Level 14 are ticking off the clock, with players taking their last break of the flight at it's conclusion. Frederico Dabus (Doral, FL) is currently leading the (30) players that remain, sitting with the only stack above 200,000.

Dabus is no stranger to tournament success, boasting career earnings just over $133,000.  Dabus's highlighting score came in 2014, when he final tabled Event 57 of the WSOP ($1,000 NLH), finishing in 8th place for $38,676.  Fred's best score here at the Isle came earlier this year, during Event 5 of the "Battle At The Beach," finishing 25th ($1,831) in the $350 NLH event.

Dabus has some tough company though, as veteran grinder Elliot Zaydman just joined the table.  Zaydman has been steadily increasing his own stack, and now sits with over 150,000.

Event 1 (Flight L): Spotting Names On Break

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 5 (Blinds 200/400)
Total Flight L Entries: 71

Players in Flight L are taking one of their (10) minute breaks, and will be returning to Level 5 and blinds of 200/400.  There are three more levels of play before the next break, which will then signify the end of registration for the flight.  After that point, it's a bag chips or return this weekend situation...a weekend that should bring large fields and notable names.  

While players stood from their tables and departed the tournament area, it gave us an opportunity to spot some of the Isle Casino Poker regulars in this 7:00pm flight:

Markus Petteway
Anton Serkov
Ian Bishop
Alain Alvarado
Anthony Casas
Thomas Millward
Sandra Seligman

Event 1 (Flight K): Big Stacks Emerging, Chasing Down The Bonus

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 12 (Blinds 1,000/2,000/300)
Total Flight K Entries: 139
Flight K Players Remaining: 50

While three of the larger stacks in the Flight K field all share the same table, Nabila Salmen is climbing the leaderboard, currently sitting with just over 130,000.

With (50) players remaining in this Flight K field, the chip average currently sits at just under 70,000.  There are numerous stacks across the tournament area hovering around that number, but a handful of players have separated themselves from the field, and are looking towards bagging the "chiplead bonus."  Nabila Salmen is currently in the top five, sitting with 130,000 (65bb), and continued to trend upward as she was photographed scooping in another pot.

Gil A. - 205,000

Steve Raeman - 189,000

Fred Dabus - 165,000

Nabila Salmen - 125,000

Lou Stadler - 110,000

Event 1 (Flight K): Padding The Prize Pool

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 8 (Blinds 400/800/100)
Total Flight K Entries: 126

Players are currently on break for Flight K, and will return with hopes of putting chips in the bag for Day 2 (and having the next two days off).  

Players are heading on another break, and when they return to Level 9, the blinds will have increased to 500/1,000/100.  Also important to note is the closing of registration when Level 9 resumes.  There are already 138 total entries for this flight, almost matching the total for the first three flights combined.  The prize pool for this flight is well over $15,000, and at this rate, we should see a total prize pool for Event 1 eclipse the $100,000 mark.

About (15) minutes after these players on break return to their seats, players for Flight L (7:00pm) will begin to arrive, and look to grab another opportunity to put chips in a bag for Monday.

Event 1 (Flight K): October Poker Promotions

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 7 (Blinds 300/600)
Total Flight K Entries: 126

Beyond great tournament series (and daily tournaments), the Isle Casino Poker Room offers some of the best promotions in all of Florida:

High Hands:

All no limit high hands are worth $250, while limit and multi-table tournament high hands are worth $150.  These high hands run each day in October, and are hands out every (30) minutes with rollovers from 9:00am-3:00am (unless a different "daily" promotion is running).

Tuesdays in October ("Early Bird Full House Promotion):

Players that come in and play limit hold'em (Tuesdays) between 9:00am-11:00am will receive an "early bird card."  With that card, players in an active limit hold'em game are eligible for this full house promotion, whereas the first (100) full houses are paid out throughout the day.  Those hands that qualify the promotion will receive $20 (for 2/2 limit), and $40 (for 2/4 limit and above).

Wednesdays in October ("Spin The Wheel Promotion"):

New for this month, from 12:00pm-11:00pm, the high hand for each half hour will have an opportunity to "spin the wheel," located in the back corner of the poker room (closest to the cashier).  The wheel has numerous bonus amounts (real money) that players could spin and land on.  The three spots to try and land on would be the $2,000, $3,000, and $5,000.  Qualifying high hands are "aces-full" or better, and it should be mentioned that in any four card variation (PLO, PLO8), the high hand needs to be made on the flop.

Sundays in October ("Every 15 Minutes"):

Every Sunday in October, players are eligible to win a $300 high hand every (15) minutes from 2:00pm-9:00pm.  

Friday October 14th and October 28th ("Raise The High Hand"):

On October 14th and 28th (both Friday), the high hands will be given out every (20) minutes, with players receiving $250 from 11:00am-4:00pm and $500 from 4:00pm-12:00am.

Event 1 (Flight K): Zaydman Look To Build Off Solid September

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 5 (Blinds 200/400)
Total Flight K Entries: 106

Elliot Zaydman (Coconut Creek, FL) decided to "take his talents" to Florida
just over (15) months ago.  From the looks of his resume, it was a solid career
choice...amassing lifetime earnings over $500,000.

One of the first players spotted in the field this afternoon was Elliot Zaydman (Coconut Creek, FL), a tournament grinder who got his start at the Borgata in Atlantic City, NJ. Elliot was a low-to-mid stakes tournament player for most of his early career, but has a breakout 2014, where he earned over $150,000 (his first year in Florida).  While his career highlighting score came at the Hollywood Poker Open (Las Vegas) for over $71,000, Zaydman does have two five-figure scores here at the Isle over the past two years.

Elliot was part of an eleven-way chop during the 2015 PPC Isle Casino Winter Series Main Event, a cash that saw him take home $18,600.  A year prior, he final tabled Event 11 of the 2014 Florida State Poker Championships ($1,600 NLH Bounty), finishing third and earning himself $10,150.

Zaydman highlights a list of early familiar faces in the field, those of which include:

Luke Rosenberg

Thomas Gari

Tom Gity

Tylor Durden

Richard Bowers

Ian Cohen

Event 1 (Flight K): And If You Don't Know...Well Now You Know

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 4 (Blinds 100/200)
Total Flight K Entries: 101

This opening flight of the day just eclipsed the century mark, with (101) entries, and we continue to see players walking towards the tournament area with their entry receipts.  Players will be taking a break at the end of this level, and will return to Level 5 and blinds of 200/400.  Many tournament players routinely choose the time during break as a moment to update their legions of followers on Twitter (chip counts, hand histories, bust outs, cashes, etc.).  

There is a new "handle" in town if you'd like to find out most anything Isle Casino Poker Room related, and here's the inaugural tweet from that account:

Cards are back in the air post-Hurricane Matthew, as Event 1 resumes (Flight K). Follow newly launched https://t.co/yQIFX4BZai for updates

— IsleCasinoPokerPP (@islepokerPP) October 7, 2016

Make sure to follow that account, and find out all tournament related information, promotions, openings, closings...basically everything room related during this 2016 Isle Poker Open.  If you'd like to be mentioned on the blog, no easier way to get noticed than tweeting out those tournament updates to @islepokerPP.

As players return from break, we will feature some of our "faces in the crowd."

Event 1 (Flight K): Already On To Monday (Day 2)

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 2 (Blinds 50/100)
Total Flight K Entries: 72

It's been over (48) hours since initial coverage of this opening event, so it's important to not forgot that (23) players have already bagged chips for Day 2.  Rafael Reis (Brazil), our Flight A chipleader, still holds onto the "heaviest" bag...but there is still a lot of poker to be played.  Reis is one of nine players to already lock up their Event 5 seat ($570 NLH - $250,000 Guarantee), with three more names added to that list each time a future flight ends.  For those wondering, there are still (7) flights to enter, after the closing of this Flight K registration.

Rafael	Reis *	555,500
Jeff	Morrison ***	447,000
Martin	Robbins **	342,500
John	Freidkes **	260,000
Eric	Mutschler ***	251,500
Jacob	Richardson *	239,500
Eduardo	Christ ***	225,000
David	Coughlin	215,000
Carlo	Rodriguez *	214,500
Larry	Douglas Sr **	208,500
Daniel	Cruz	199,500
John	Valevich	199,000
Robert	Transue	190,500
Christopher	Morris	186,000
Dave	Price	182,000
Tom	Moran	102,000
Joel	Deutsch	94,000
Lawrence	Hawkins	92,000
Sebastian	Sanchez	91,500
Hollander	Preap	80,500
Gregg	Weiss	80,000
Daniel	Mijac	72,500
Sharon	Pickard	51,000

* Denotes Flight A "chipleader bonus"

** Denotes Flight B "chipleader bonus"

*** Denotes Flight C "chipleader bonus"

Event 1 (Flight K): "Look...The Storm's Gone"

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 2 (Blinds 50/100)
Total Flight K Entries: 72

There's nothing like 24 hours of "cabin fever" to kick start a weekend of tournament poker action.  It's clear that players were ready for action, as we've already seen (72) entries in this first flight of the day.   There are a lot of recognizable faces in the crowd, which we will feature in just a few moments.  Players still have over two hours to enter, so this will without a doubt be the largest flight of this early event.

Event 1 (Flight K): 11:00am Flight Cancelled, Action Picks Up With Flight K

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 1 (Blinds 25/50)
Total Flight K Entries: N/A

Just like the weather forecast, things are ever-changing in this Event 1 landscape.   There has been another slight tweak in today's schedule, as the 11 AM flight has been canceled. Things will get started today at 3 PM, with Flight K, which will be the fourth flight of this event.  On behalf of the poker room, we apologize for any inconvenience, and look forward to continuing this great opening event.

Event 1 (Flight J): Getting Back To Business

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 1 (Blinds 25/50)
Total Flight J Entries: N/A

You can always count on "cabin fever" to help bring out players, as Event 1 resumes in just a few moments.  The "shuffle up and deal" announcement is about to be made, and we are going pick right up where we left off.  

The same rules apply, as those registering will sit down to starting stacks of 25,000 in chips.  Levels will be (25) minutes in length, with the re-entry/registration period open right until the start of Level 9.  Each of these Day 1 flights are scheduled to play (16) levels, unless the flight is down to 8% of the field (at which point they will pause the clock and bag).

The top (3) chip leaders from each flight will still receive entry into Event 5 ($570 NLH - $250,000 Guarantee), which means the race is already on.  Here are the players to bag the chip lead through Flights A-C:

Flight A:

Rafael Reis (555,500)
Jacob Richardson (239,500)
Carlo Rodriguez (214,500)

Flight B:

Martin Robbins (342,500)
John Freidkes (260,000)
Larry Douglas Sr. (208,500)

Flight C:

Jess Morrison (447,000)
Eric Mutschler (251,500)
Eduardo Christ (225,000)

Event 1 (Flight J): Poker Room Opens At 10:00am, Event 1 Flights Resume

Event 1 ($150 Monster Stack NLH)
Level 1 (Blinds 25/50)
Total Flight J Entries: N/A

Isle Poker room will open at 10a this morning. Isle Open Event #1 will resume with flights at 11a, 3p and 7p.

— Ralph Brandt (@uniden32) October 7, 2016

Isle Poker's own Ralph Brandt posted the announcement about (30) minutes ago, giving the green light for all Isle Poker players to return to play.  Cards will be in the air for cash games just after 10:00am, while Event 1 will pick up right where it left off, with Event J beginning at 11:00am (and the two scheduled flights to follow at 3:00pm and 7:00pm).

Hurricane Matthew forced a total of (6) flights to be cancelled, and may have altered the guarantee for this opening event...but a great showing is still expected for this weekend (as the show must goes on).

The live tournament coverage has also been altered slightly, with the cancelation/closing of the poker room (and the evacuation of the blogger), but updates will pick back up today for Event 1.  We hope that everyone was able to remain safe during the storm, and look forward to returning to business as usual.