Isle Open Championship (Day 1A): Quick Turnaround For Panzica, Joins Late Arriving Crowd

2017 Isle Open | Event #21
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em Isle Open Championship| $500,000 GTD
Level 5 (Blinds 200/400/40)
Total Day 1A Entries: 76

Less than (24) hours ago, Sam "@bestindabiz51" Panzica was sitting at the final table of the $5,000 NLH WPT BestBet Bounty Scramble.

The likelihood that Sam Panzica (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) was going to be in this Isle Open Championship field was high, but nobody could have predicted that it was going to be in this Day 1A field.  Less than (24) hours ago, Panzica was in Jacksonville, trying to defend his title at the $5,000 NLH WPT BestBet Bounty Scramble Main Event.  Sam won the event last year, the first of his two WPT titles, and earned himself $354,335.  

In what's widely considered as one of the more "stacked" WPT fields (being that they choose some of the greatest players as bounties in the tournament), making back-to-back deep runs is impressive.  To win the event last year, and then reach the final table once again this year...that's unprecedented.  Sam not only made the live-streamed final table, but he came as close as possible to defending his title, finishing runner-up to Paul Petraglia.

The second place result ($210,783) is the fourth largest of Panzica's career, and helps bring his total earnings above $3,685,000.  Sam has great history in this poker room, with a Florida State Championships Main Event title from last year ($117,282), and a fourth place finish in last year's Isle Open Championship Event ($44,037).

Panzica was just one of a handful of players to arrive just after the first break of the day:

Jordan Meltzer

Jerry Wong

Justin Harvell

Sean Perry

Bryce McVay