Friday, March 24th: Millward Tops Star-Studded "Thursday $12k" Final Table, Weekend Starts Off Strong

ICYMI: Last night's "Thursday $12k" was another successful tournament, attracting a total of (273) entries, and ending with an official prize pool of $13,646.  As expected, it was a "who's who" of Isle Pompano tournament poker regulars in the crowed, including the likes of Michelle Milker, Pedro Palacio, Changfei Cui, Tom Millward, Tom Gity, Antonio Albanes, Irwin Block, and Adel Jo (just to name a few).  After registration closed (around 9:00pm), and all of the player add-ons were added to the prize pool, just over half of the field remained.  With no option for re-entry, those left had their eyes on one of the (27) spots getting paid...most staring at the $3,819 first place prize.  

Matthew Meeuwen (Green Acres, FL) was the first player to cash in the tournament, earning $123 and beginning the flurry of short stacks busting from the field.  Some of the names to grab a min-cash were Waldemar Wasilewski (Deerfield Beach, FL), Patricia Conrad (Palm Beach Gardens, FL), Gary Lopes (Delray Beach, FL), and Robert Kline (Ft. Lauderdale, FL).  As the field continued to shrink, more big names made their way to the tournament podium to receive their prize money, including Irwin Block (18th Place - $143), Calixto Rodriguez (14th Place - $164), and Michael Gutterman (11th Place - $191).

When the final table was reached, the players that remained were some of the most successful Isle Casino Poker tournament regulars: Tom Gity, Adel Jo, Bruce Smith, Bruce Levin, Karen Rutherford, Simon Welds, Charles Lee, Patrick Carnakie, Bart Lino, and Tom Milward.  Bruce Smith (West Palm Beach, FL) was the first player eliminated from the final table, earning himself $191.  Smith was followed by Bruce Levin in 9th place ($246), Karen Rutherford in 8th place ($341), Simon Welds in 7th place ($464), and Charles Lee in 6th place ($600).  The interesting thing to note about this final table, it that a deal was never really something the players were considering.  There sitting, with five players remaining, some of the top players to frequent the daily tournaments.  The event played down to an outright winner, with Tom Millward (Boca Raton, FL) hoisting his first ever Isle Casino Poker trophy, after besting Bart Lino (Coral Springs, FL) heads-up.  The rest of the final five results are as followed:

1. Tom Millward (Boca Raton, FL) $3,819
2. Bart Lino (Coral Springs, FL) $2,252
3. Tom Gity (Pompano Beach, FL) $1,501
4. Patrick Carnakie (West Palm Beach, FL) $1,044
5. Adel Jo (Miami, FL) $778

All of the results will be posted next Monday, in the "Week In Review" featured, along with the "Daily Tournament Results" link on the right-hand sidebar of the blog.

Tournaments: There is one tournament on the schedule this evening, beginning at 6:00pm.  The $150 No Limit Hold'em has a $10,000 guarantee, and has surpassed that number each Friday more months.  It's the first of four events for the weekend, and is tied for the largest guarantee as well.

Promotions: With a one day "breather" on Thursday, the high hand promotions are back in full swing to start the weekend, beginning with the "Turbo High Hands."  From the moment the doors open at 9:00am, until 12:00pm, $100 will be awarded to the qualifying high hand every (10) minutes (with rollovers).  

At noon, the high hands transition to $250 every (20) minutes, lasting until 4:00pm (with rollovers)...at which point they ladder up $500 every (20) minutes (with rollovers), running from 4:00pm-12:00am.  It's well over $16,000 in high hand money ready to be awarded over the course of the day, and with the NCAA tournament going on as well, the poker room will surely be buzzing.

6:00pm - $150 No Limit Hold'em  $10,000 GTD

- Players will begin with a 20,000 starting stack

- Late and re-entries for the first (12) levels

- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack

- Levels are (25) minutes in length