Event 16 (Flight 1A): End Of Flight 1A Chip Counts

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 16 (Blinds 2,500/5,000/500)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 57
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 11

Flight 1A Chip Leader Kevin Matheson (West Palm Beach, FL)

Each of the starting flights for Event 16 are scheduled to finish at the conclusion of Level 16, or when 8% of the field remains (whichever comes first).  For much of the afternoon, it seemed as if the 8% point was going to be reached first, as play was down to (13) players with three levels left in the day.  Things ended up slowing down as the stacks became deeper, and while four different players held the chip lead over the course of the final two levels, it was Kevin Matheson (West Palm Beach, FL) on top of the leaderboard after the final hand was dealt.

Flight 1A Chip Counts:

Kevin Matheson	243,000
Waldemar Wasilewski	210,000
Garrick Young	204,500
Jeffrey Burdeen	192,000
B. Nonymous	149,500
Marc Culberson	115,500
Rudy Miret	89,000
A. Nonymous	68,500
Jose Picado	67,500
Joshua Silva	53,000
Tony Gregory	32,000

Event 16 (Flight 1A): Another "Spin To Win" Jackpot Winner!!!!

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 16 (Blinds 2,500/5,000/500)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 57
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 11

The "Money Wheel" hits again, as the player with the qualifying hand from the 5:00-5:30pm period just hit for $5,000!!!  That is the highest amount the wheel yields, unless the player spinning held a royal flush as their high hand.  That's an unprecedented two weeks in a row that the $5,000 spot on the wheel has been hit!

Players in the Event 16 field will be finishing up the remaining hands in the level, and the bagging process will then begin.  Once the chips are verified and the tournament staff has made the numbers official, we will be posting the end of Flight 1A chip counts.

Event 16 (Flight 1A): Last Look At Chip Counts

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 15 (Blinds 1,500/3,000/400)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 57
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 12

Flight 1A is about to enter the final level of scheduled play (Level 16), with (12) players still trying to navigate their way to the bagging process.  The action has slowed down considerably, with the stacks as deep as they are (chip average is 40 big blinds).  Here are the updated counts for the remaining players in the flight:

Table 1:

1. Jose Picado - 110,000
2. Jeffrey Burdeen - 170,000
3. Tony Dudley - 60,000
4. Joshua Silva - 38,000
5. Kevin Mathson - 160,000
6. Marc Culberson - 170,000

Table 3:

1. Garrick Young - 200,000
2. A. Nonymous - 130,000
3. Walter Walter - 180,000
4. B. Nonymous - 70,000
5. Tony Gregory - 40,000
6. Rudy Miret - 90,000

Event 16 (Flight 1A): "Walter Walter" Picks One Off

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 14 (Blinds 1,200/2,400/300)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 57
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 13

"Walter Walter" is actually Waldemar Wasilewski (Deerfield Beach, FL), and he's currently climbing up the leaderboard.  Waldemar was on the river against Jason Lin, on a board reading 7♠ 9♣ A♣ A♠ 3♣, waiting on Lin's action (Waldemar had bet 15,000 into a pot over 33,000).  Lin sat for about three minutes, eventually putting together chips for a sizable raise, and pushing forward a stack worth 53,000.  Wasilewski was visibly bothered by the raise, but grabbed a stack of yellow (5,000) chips, and slammed them down for the call.

Lin immediately tossed his hand in the muck (without showing), meaning Waldemar would win the pot uncontested.  He did not have to show his hand, but the one thing that was evident, he picked off Lin's bluff attempt.  Wasilewski is now the second player to eclipse the 200,000 mark, and sits with almost double the chip average (with 13 players remaining in the flight).

Event 16 (Flight 1A): Updated Chip Counts From Final Break

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 13 (Blinds 1,000/2,000/300)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 52
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 15

Flight 1A players are about to return from their final break of the day, and will return to finish out the remaining four levels (scheduled).  Here are the updated counts tallied during break:

Table 1:

1. Jose Picado - 95,000
2. (Empty)
3. Jeffrey Burdeen - 120,000
4. Michael Weinberg - 28,000
5. Tony Dudley - 88,000
6. (Empty)
7. Joshua Silva - 42,000
8. Kevin Mathson - 140,000
9. Bill Reich - 40,000
10. Marc Culberson - 135,000

Table 3:

1. Garrick Young - 210,000
2. A. Nonymous - 125,000
3. (Empty)
4. (Empty)
5. Jason Lin - 85,000
6. Walter Walter - 130,000
7. (Empty)
8. B. Nonymous - 84,000
9. Tony Gregory - 39,000
10. Rudy Miret - 58,000

Event 16 (Flight 1A): Down To The "Sweet Sixteen"

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 12 (Blinds 800/1,600/200)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 57
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 16

There has been a flurry of eliminations over the past (20) minutes, with only (16) players currently left in this opening flight of Event 16.  Here are the names (and seating assignments) of the remaining players:

Table 1:

1. Jose Picado
2. (Empty)
3. Jeffrey Burdeen
4. Michael Weinberg
5. Tony Dudley
6. (Empty)
7. Joshua Silva
8. Kevin Mathson
9. Bill Reich
10. Marc Culberson

Table 3:

1. Garrick Young
2. A. Nonymous
3. Robert Urspruch
4. (Empty)
5. Jason Lin
6. Walter Walter
7. (Empty)
8. B. Nonymous
9. Tony Gregory
10. Rudy Miret

Event 16 (Flight 1A): Young Looking To Strengthen Resume

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 11 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 57
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 22

Garrick Young (Miami Gardens, FL)

Garrick Young (Miami Gardens, FL) has a tournament resume with (3) recorded cashes over the course of 2014-15, all of which came here at the Isle Poker Room.  Young's highlighting score came during the 2015 Isle Poker Classic, when he final tabled Event #2 ($70 No Limit Hold'em), finishing in 5th place for $2,521.  

Young is currently the chip leader in the field, now sitting with over 160,000 in front of him.  There are (22) players remaining in this flight, and once we get down to two tables, a full list of players remaining will be posted.

Event 16 (Flight 1A): Two Players Separating From The Field

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 10 (Blinds 500/1,000/100)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 57
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 31

Jason Lin currently sits second in chips (90,000), with (31) players remaining in the flight.

The field is through one "post-registration" level, with the flight officially attracting a total of (57) entries.  Two players have emerged from the group with sizable stacks, with Garrick Young sitting with a stack over 105,000, and Jason Lin looking to eclipse the century mark.  Lin has just over 90,000, which is close to double the chip average at the moment (49,000).  The structure of this tournament is similar to that of Event 10, except the levels are five minutes longer.  That small difference makes a big deal as these opening flights play out, with the average stack holding on to (49) big blinds.  That's a far cry from the (10-15) big blind stacks that were prevalent during the same stage of that earlier event.

Today's play is scheduled to conclude after Level 16, unless the field reaches 8%, which would be five players.

Event 16 (Flight 1A): ICYMI, The "Money Wheel" Strikes Again!

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 8 (Blinds 300/600/75)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 52
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 35

Actual wheel not photos

Flight 1A play has just entered Level 8, which means the window for registration is quickly closing (players have until the cards are in the air for Level 9).  The field has more than doubles since things started about three hours ago, with the future flights expected to host much larger crowds.

One of the possible reasons for the "intimate" showing this morning could be the high hand promotion for the day..."Spin To Win."  It's been the most popular promotion since it's inception last year, and after a week like last (where over $25,000 was given away on just a handful of spins), it's no surprise the cash games are super active.

Last week started with a $5,000 winner, and continued with three more $5,000 winners!!! There was also one $3,000 spin, and three $2,000 spins!!!  Things are off to another strong start, as the fourth spin of the day yielded another $2,000 winner!!!

Event 16 (Flight 1A): Damsky Continues To Experience The Wrong Side Of Variance

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/50)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 43
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 36

Ryan Hopp (Grand Rapids, MI)

After the beat that Steve Damsky took to bust Event 10, one would think that things would eventually turn around for him.  That wasn't the case moments ago though, as he found a good percentage of his stack at risk against Ryan Hopp.

On a flop of 9♣ 6♠ 3♠, Rodolfo Miret would lead out from the small blind for 1,200, with Damsky raising to 4,000 (next to act).  Action was then on Ryan Hopp (Grand Rapids, MI), who took a good amount of time before announcing himself "all-in," for just over 10,000 total.  Miret then folded behind, and Damsky took some time himself, before pushing his chips forward for a call.  Damsky would be in good shape holding A♦ 9♦ against Hopp's 8♠ 6♣.

"I was trying to get you to lay down jacks or tens," Hopp said as the hands were tabled.  Although Ryan was behind, it only took a matter of seconds to change that, as the 8♦ hit on the turn.  The river brought no help to Damsky, and he'd double up Ryan, leaving himself with just under 6,000.  After the stacks were matched and the pot was pushed to Hopp, he'd be over 28,000.

Event 16 (Flight 1A): Official Results Updated

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 5 (Blinds 150/300/25)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 41
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 36

Flight 1A players of Event 16 have just returned from their first (10) minute break of the day, and return to new blinds of 150/300/25.  Discussion amongst the Isle Poker "braintrust"  predicted a total of (55) entries for this opening flight, which seems to be the exact number we are on pace for.  Registration is open until the conclusion of Level 8 (and the break that follows), so once the cards are in the air for Level 9, players will have to look at the 6:00pm (Flight 1B) as their opportunity to join the field today.

Those players who have been looking for the results to this point in the series can check the "updated" results sidebar.  The results from each tournament of this series will be updated and posted before this flight's conclusion (click on event number to see results).

Event 16 (Flight 1A): Poker PSA...Don't Celebrate Too Early

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 3 (Blinds 100/200)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 29
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 29

Steven Damsky (Homestead, FL)

It's something that almost every poker player has seen at some point in their career...the premature celebration.  Not only do some feel as if it's "bad luck" to celebrate too early, it makes the eventual loss of the hand that much worse.  Just a few days ago, Steven Damsky was down to the final two tables of Event 10, and in the running for the the $12,176 first place prize.

With the blinds increasing at a rapid rate, and the stacks super shallow across the field, Damsky got his chips all-in (for a pot worth close to 30 big blinds) against Tevy Wellins.  Damsky held 7♦ 7♠ against the A♠ 9♣ of Wellins, and right after the deal spread the 7♥ 9♦ 10♠ flop, Damsky put his hands in the air and began celebrating.  Considering he was a 95% favorite to win the hand, you can't really blame him for reacting that way.  The turn would bring another 10♣, and his equity dropped just slightly to 90%, meaning he would win the hand nine out of ten times.  Unfortunately for Damsky, that moment happened to be the time he'd lose, as the river brought the 9♠, giving Wellins a larger full house.  Damsky would be eliminated from the tournament in 17th place, and ended up collecting $302 for his efforts.

We're pretty sure that if Damsky finds himself in a similar situation, he may be waiting for the river to fall before he does any celebrating.

Event 16 (Flight 1A): Looking To Recapture The Magic

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 3 (Blinds 75/150)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 23
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 23

Jeffrey Kessler (Plantation, FL)

Of the group of players currently in the field, only a handful are names familiar to those that follow the blog.  Jeffrey Kessler (Plantation, FL) may not be a player that blog followers know too much about, but if you play in the poker room at all, he's a face you'd recognize.  Kessler has a tournament resume that boasts (19) recorded cashes over the span of the last four years.  Kessler's $73,264 in recorded tournament earnings are made up, in large part, to a win during the 2013 Isle Poker Classic. Part of what was the Deepstacks Poker Tour (now WPT Deepstacks), the $330 No Limit Hold'em tournament ended in an eight-way deal, with Kessler earning the winner's share of $42,558.  Kessler seems like the Isle Poker Classic, as his last tournament cash recorded in this poker room was during the last installment of this series.

The rest of the players that were registered for this flight (before the post was published) include the likes of:

Robert Tanner

Katsuhide Yamamoto

Bernie Boudle

Michael Weinberg

Prae Godd

Paul Smerdon

William Reich

Bruce Klein

Joseph Mancuso

George Duffield

Daniel Wayson

Waldermar Wasilewski

Matthew Marmie

Craig Schlesinger

Robert Valentine

Andrew Reid

Anthony Gregory

Event 16 (Flight 1A): The Penultimate Isle Poker Classic Event Underway

Event 16 ($150 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Level 2 (Blinds 50/100)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 16
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 16

The 25,000 chip starting stacks will be 25,000,000 in total chips after eight flights pass this weekend.

The cards are in the air for the final event of the 2017 Isle Poker Classic, a $150 buy-in No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry tournament with a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool.  This event would be considered the third of three "majors" on the Isle Classic schedule, sharing the largest guarantee of the series with Event 2.

This is the first of eight flights to played, with one more flight this evening, and six on the schedule over the course of the next three days.  The "intimate" start that we are seeing to start the day should not come as a surprise, as players see this first starting flight almost as the "unofficial" beginning to the event.  

The smaller field does allow for "live coverage" to focus on everyone currently in the tournament, as we will update followers on who all of our "early birds" are that are currently in action.  Followers of the blog can also look forward to updated results from events held over the course of the last week.

Wednesday, January 18th: The Deals Continue, Isle Classic "Main Event" Starts Today

Greg Barker (Delray Beach, FL)

There were two tournament on the Isle Poker Classic schedule yesterday, both following the trend of the series, and ending in chops.  The afternoon event was a $100 No Limit Hold'em "Monster Stack" ($5,000 Guarantee).  The tournament attracted a total of (92) entries, ending up with a prize pool of $7,360.  The were ten spots being paid in the event, so everyone that reached the final table would be cashing.  There was no talk of chop when the final ten shared the felt for the same time, with some notable names notching a cash on the their resume, including Arlene Vasquez (6th Place - $397).  The next player to be eliminated was Japneet Chawla (New Delhi, India), a player who is related to one of the most successful Isle Poker tournament players, Raminder Singh (Delray Beach, FL).  The deal making didn't begin until three players remained, with Greg Barker (Delray Beach, FL) declared the "winner" of the event.  Alan Munoz (Miami, FL) was the "runner-up," with George Lukawski (Parkland, FL) taking home third place money.  Official results will be posted on the blog later today.

The evening event was the ever-popular "Tuesday $10K," a $40 No Limit Hold'em event with a

Vasile Schita (Oakland Park, FL)

$10,000 Guarantee.  Last night's installment attracted a total of (404) entries, and after the addition of the "optional add-on," had a prize pool of $13,688.  There were (45) spots paid in the tournament, with the posted first place prize over $3,600.  The event ended in a nine-way chop, with Vasile Schita (Oakland Park, FL) taking home the "winner's share" ($1,752) and the tournament's trophy.

Today's tournament schedule hosts the first two flights of the 2017 Isle Poker Classic's "Main Event."  The third of three headlining events is a $150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) tournament with a $100,000 Guarantee.  Each of today's flights (11:00am and 6:00pm) is scheduled to play (16) levels, and will see those players that bag chip return on Sunday for Day 2.

11:00am - Event 16 (Flight 1A) $150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) $100,000 Guarantee:

- Players receive 25,000 in tournament chips

- All late registrants and re-entries will receive a full stack

- Level will be (25) minutes in length

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

- All Day 1's will play 16 complete levels, or until 8% of the field remains (whichever comes first)

6:00pm - Event 16 (Flight 1B) $150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry) $100,000 Guarantee:

- Players receive 25,000 in tournament chips

- All late registrants and re-entries will receive a full stack

- Level will be (25) minutes in length

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

- All Day 1's will play 16 complete levels, or until 8% of the field remains (whichever comes first)