Thursday, August 17th: The "August $150,000" Continues, Full House And "Turbo" Promos

ICYMI: Yesterday was he opening day of the "August $150,000," with the first two starting flights (of eight total) on the schedule.  Things got off to a relatively slow start, when considering the history of this particular multi-flight event (at the $360 prize point).  Flight 1A and Flight 1B saw a combined total of (83) entries, with (12) players successfully bagging chips for Day 2.  We saw numerous notables in the opening flight's field, including the return of Megan Endres, who chopped the $360 No Limit Hold'em event during the most recent Florida State Poker Championships.  Players like Michael Tait, Nader Bahhur, Steven Bennett, and Paula Alibrandi were all in the field at one point, but were unable to reach the bagging process.  Fausto Tersigni (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) grabbed the chip lead towards the middle of the day, and never looked back, bagging the overall lead for the day.  Listed below are the complete (combined) counts for the players that bagged chips from yesterday's pair of flights:

Fausto	Tersigni	212,500
Richard	Leger	205,000
Martin	Markov	193,000
Steven	Sondak	154,500
Thomas	Cuce	154,000
Justin	Levy	150,000
Jennifer	Parker	131,000
James	McCaffrey	113,000
Jose	Reyes	103,000
Jay	Feierstadt	87,000
Myles	German	85,000
Manny	Perez	73,000

Tournaments: Today's sees the second pair of "August $150,000" flights on the schedule, with the first (Flight 1C) beginning at 11:00am.  The structure for the $360 No Limit Hold'em ($150,000 GTD) event is the same as yesterday, with players sitting down to 20,000 unit starting stacks, and playing levels of (30) minutes.  The day's play is scheduled to conclude after Level 16, or until 10% of the field remains (whichever comes first).  The second flight (Flight 1D) will follow at 6:00pm, with the tournament's opening flights reaching their halfway point at it's conclusion.  "Live blogged coverage" will be available during the afternoon flight (Flight 1C), with official chip counts from the end of Flight 1D posted once the bags/stacks have been verified.

Promotions: The Full House Early Bird promotion is in it's regularly scheduled spot this morning, but it's no longer just for limit hold'em players.  Every table in the poker room (excluding time raked games) is eligible for the promotion, which pays out the first (50) full houses (payout depends on which stakes are being played).  Similar to what is run on Friday's, there will also be $300 awarded to qualifying high hands every (15) minutes (from 12:00pm-4:00pm).

12:00pm - "August $150k GTD" (Flight 1C): $360 No Limit Hold'em ($150,000 GTD) 

- Players start with 20,000 in tournament chips

- Late and re-entries for the first (8) levels

- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack

- Level will last (30) minutes during Day 1 flights, transitioning to (40) minutes on Day 2

- All Day 1's will play (15) complete levels or until 13% of the field remains (whichever comes first)

6:00pm - "August $150k GTD" (Flight 1D): $360 No Limit Hold'em ($150,000 GTD)

- Players start with 20,000 in tournament chips

- Late and re-entries for the first (8) levels

- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack

- Level will last (30) minutes during Day 1 flights, transitioning to (40) minutes on Day 2

- All Day 1's will play (15) complete levels or until 13% of the field remains (whichever comes first)