Event 8 (Flight 1A): Official Flight 1A Chip Counts

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 14 (Blinds 1,200/2,400/400)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 151

Flight 1A Players Remaining: 28

Ido	Ashkenazi	402,000
TJ	Shulman	315,000
Manuel	Amaro-Alvarez	247,000
Damien	Simon	245,000
Jeff	Kessler	240,500
Matthew	Vetstein	199,000
Edward	Novak	179,000
Frank	Scala	160,500
Bret	Beebe	159,000
Asher	Conniff	155,000
Eugene	Cavaceci	142,000
Fred	Allenspach	142,000
Tracy	Scala	126,000
Rolando	Garcia	113,000
Juan	Rodriguez	107,500
Albert	Niebla	106,000
Gerald	Mortensen	91,000
Jason	Wandling	89,000
Erik	Silevitch	86,000
Marc	Sacheli	80,500
Montgomery	Cole	78,000
Joseph	Duchman	73,500
Kiaran	McLaughlin	58,500
Paul	Shafran	49,000
Mike	Fryett	45,000
Carlos	Loving	37,500
Sheldon	Gross	37,000
Andrew	Touchette	34,000

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Ashkenazi Bags Flight 1A Chip Lead

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 14 (Blinds 1,200/2,400/400)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 151

Ido Ashkenazi (Queens, NY)

Ido Ashkenazi (Queens, NY) made the most of the final two hours of play, starting his steady rise to the top during Level 11.  He won a pot during that level to chip up to 115,000, and never looked back from there.  It looked as if there was going to be some drama with the "race," but Ashkenazi won that key pot that eliminated Timothy Kegel, and essentially gave Ido the chips needed to coast for the rest of the flight.  TJ Shulman made a valiant effort to catch Ido over the final two levels of the day, but ended up falling short of the $1,500 Main Event seat.  Once the bagging process has concluded, a full list of official chip counts will be posted.

This will conclude today's "live blogged coverage," but followers of the blog can check back for chip counts from both this flight, and Flight 1B (which began at 6:00pm).

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Final Level Of The Flight

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 14 (Blinds 1,200/2,400/400)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 151

The remaining players in the Flight 1A field just started playing Level 14, which is the final level of the day.  The clock will be paused with 10:00 minutes on the clock, at which point the tournament supervisors will announce how many hands are left to play.  Once those hands are over, the bagging process will begin, and we will follow with an update on the winner of the "chip lead bonus."  Once the bagging process has concluded, a full list of official flight chip counts will be posted.

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Ashkenazi Gains Some Separation

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 13 (Blinds 1,000/2,000/300)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 151

What could be the deciding "chip lead bonus" pot just went down, with Ido Ashkenazi pulling away from the field after it's conclusion.  The action was caught up with on the flop, as three players (Ido Ashkenazi, Jose Rodriguez, and Timothy Kegel) were staring down at a board of 9♦ J♣ 5♣.  Ido checked to start the action, with Jose Rodriguez betting 17,000, and Kegel calling behind.  Ashkenazi then check-raised to 41,700, causing Rodriguez to fold, and putting Kegel in the tank.  

Kegel murmured something under his breath, along the lines of "I wish I was smart enough to fold here," before making the call.  Ido then smoked a bet of 100,000 before the turn came out, well enough to put Kegel all-in.  Timothy followed with a call after the 8♥ hit the table, and after Ido turned over Q♦ J♦, Kegel showed K♠ Q♥.  The river would bring the 7♥, giving Ido what could be the pot that sealed up the bonus, as he now sits with over 320,000.

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Updated Counts After Final Break

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 13 (Blinds 1,000/2,000/300)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 151

Players have just returned from the final break of the flight, and have two more scheduled levels of play remaining.  It's currently a two man race for the chip lead bonus, between Ido Ashkenazi and Damien Simon.  A lot can change over the next two levels, but here are updated (top five) counts tallied during the break:

Ido Ashkenazi - 275,000

Damien Simon - 255,000

Edward Novak - 170,000

Rolando Garcia - 155,000

Jose Rodriguez - 150,000

And another list of notable players still alive in the field:

Tom Gity

TJ Shulman

Asher Conniff

Jessica Dawley

Andrew Touchette

Luis Santoni

Joseph Duchman

Event 8 (Flight 1A): "And If You Don't Know, Well Now You Know"

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 12 (Blinds 800/1,600/300)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 149

Asher Conniff (Brooklyn, NY)

If this were the Borgata...or Parx...or Vegas, Asher Conniff (Brooklyn, NY) would really need no introduction.  Conniff was a tournament grinder in the Northeast, playing events at numerous stops, and doing well enough (in terms of results) to continue the path he was passionate about.  From 2012-2014, Conniff would earn himself over $150,000 via live tournaments, but he was also afforded the opportunity to return to online play (with the introduction of online poker in New Jersey).

Then came the month (and series) that would change his life forever.  Asher would get his breakthrough score during the opening event of the 2015 Borgata Spring Poker Open, besting a massive field of 2,408 entries in the $560 No Limit Hold'em event, and earning $203,321.  That's just where the story begins though...as Asher entered an online tournament later in the series while him and his friends were hanging in his hotel room.  As Conniff began to go deep, he realized that it was actually not a standard tournament, but a satellite into the $15,000 WPT World Championship.  Asher eventually won himself a seat through that satellite, but then had another decision to make...he had a European vacation planned with family that conflicted with the prestigious event, and didn't know what to do.  His mother insisted that he stay and play in the tournament...which could have been the wisest decision ever made.  

Conniff bested a field of some of the greatest players in the world (239 entries) to win the WPT World Championship, and just over $973,000!  He was then given the moniker 'Misclick,' and was literally featured on every news outlet in New York.  Asher is now part of the Event 8 field, making his first appearance here at the Isle Poker Room since moving to Florida.  Having covered Asher up North for most of his career, I can tell you that he's one of the nicest players (forget that...nicest person) you'll ever meet.  It's great to have him at the Isle, and great to see him run into a lot of dealers and staff he used to know well from the Borgata (that now work here).

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Ashkenazi Climbing Up The Leaderboard

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 11 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 144

Ido Ashkenazi (Queens, NY)

Ido Ashkenazi (Queens, NY) cashed in Event 1 of this series, but the min-cash is a results like he was likely disappointed with.  Obviously it's better than not reaching the money...or bubbling...but Ashkenazi made a habit of making deep runs for most of last year.  Ido is another player coming off of a "breakout" year so to say, as his best year (in terms of earnings) between 2010-2015 was $89,450.  His earnings last year alone were over $230,000, and he also gained valuable experience playing under the bright lights.  Ido reached the live streamed final table of Event 10 during the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open ($570 No Limit Hold'em).  He would eventually chop the tournament heads-up, earning his largest payday to date ($158,304).  

Askenazi made a strong move up the leaderboard moments ago, as he raked in a pot worth just over 80,000.  The action was caught on the turn of a heads-up hand, with the board reading 10♠ 5♥ 9♣ 7♦.  The chips would get in the middle with Ido having his opponent covered, as well as having him in bad shape.  Ashkenazi flopped middle set with 9♠ 9♥, and just had to fade his opponents two-outer (holding Q♠ Q♣).  A six on the river would seal the deal, and Ido would chip up to 115,000.

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Novak's Back In Action

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 10 (Blinds 500/1,000/200)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 141

Edward Novak (Simsbury, CT)

To say last year was a "breakout" year for Edward Novak (Simsbury, CT) would be an understatement, as the Connecticut native went from $3,518 in earnings during 2015, to $246,033 in 2016.  Over half of last year's earnings came during his Isle Poker Open $1,500 Championship Event win ($166,071), which is why his name may sound familiar to followers of the blog.  The year was jump started though, by a win during the Coco Poker Open (Seminole Coconut Creek), when he took down a $350 No Limit Hold'em event during the series ($63,323).  Edward's tournament resume shows that he likes playing on the "big stage," with his three cashes this year all coming during "major" series at properties in the area (Isle Poker Classic, Lucky Hearts Poker Open, and Coco Poker Showdown).

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Play Resumes After Second Break, Updated Chip Counts

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 9 (Blinds 400/800/100)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 135

Players returned from their second break about (10) minutes ago, with the tournament staff racing off the green chips from play (25 denomination).  The removal of those chips from play make it a little easier to eye down stacks, and leads us to the first updated chip counts listing of the day.  Damien Simon (Hialeah, FL) has trended upward since being featured on the blog coverage, and currently holds the chip lead with six levels remaining:

Damien Simon - 170,000

Edward Novak - 125,000

Timothy Kegel - 112,000

Jeff Rodriguez - 105,000

Matt Vetstein - 90,000

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Catching Up On Battles At The Beach Results (Part II)

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 8 (Blinds 300/600/100)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 117

Level 8 is usually the point when registration closes on tournaments during the series (unless it's a turbo), but as mentioned earlier, the window is open all day for these opening flights (until the cards are in the air on Day 2).  This will be the time when the blog's focuses shift to the action on the felt, but before that happens, the remaining tournament results up to this point are posted below:

Event 8 (Flight 1A): The Fashionably Late Crowd

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/50)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 116

Guillermo Irving (Miami Gardens, FL)

It well documented that a poker player's day starts a little bit later than the standard 9-5 gig, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that we've seen a large group of players arrive over the past two hours.  Guillermo Irving (Miami Gardens, FL) was one of those late entries, as he looks to recapture the magic that was "December 2016."  In one of the more successful months of Irving's poker career, he recorded four results (all here at the Isle), totaling over $10,000 in cashes.  A bulk of that number came in the second week of December, when Guillermo was part of a final table chop that occurred during a $130 No Limit Hold'em "Structure Beast" event.  Irving collected seventh place money, which was worth $7,273 (the third largest cash of his career).

Guillermo was just one of the many players to join the field since noon, with other names jumping in listed below:

Brian O'Keefe

Kobi Ribak

Cheryl Parker

Daren Stabinski

Nissim Gozlan

Carlos Loving

James Smith

John Magnetta

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Kegel Out To The Early Lead

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 6 (Blinds 200/400/50)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 109

Timothy Kegel (Hollywood, FL)

It's still very early in the day to take a look at chip counts, but Timothy Kegel (Hollywood, FL) is off to a start that can not be ignored.  The seasoned tournament veteran already sits with over 100,000, and is the only player in the field to have eclipsed that mark.  Kegel's first recorded tournament cash came in 2011 (Seniors Event "Denny Crum Poker Open" Horseshoe Southern Indiana), when he earned $643 for his sixth place finish.  Since that night, Kegel has amassed live tournament earnings over $146,000, spanning (29) different recorded results.

Kegel's career highlighting score came in 2014, when he final tabled the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open $3,500 Championship Event, eventually finishing in 6th place ($67,842).  Kegel's best Isle Poker finish came in 2012, when he finished runner-up in a $230 No Limit Holde'm event during the Isle Poker Open ($5,100).  It should be repeated, there is still a long way to go in this opening flight of Event 8, but Timothy Kegel is surely the early favorite for the "chip lead bonus."

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Catching Up On Battles At The Beach Results (Part I)

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 5 (Blinds 150/300/25)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 97

Players have just returned from their first break of the day, with the cards now in the air for Level 5 (Blinds 150/300/25).  There are now (7) Battles At The Beach events in the books (eight if you count yesterday's satellite), with five tournament's results to have yet been published here on the blog.  Part of today's coverage is dedicated to catching followers up on the "goings on" during the series, with the official results of Event 3-5 posted below (you can also find links to the results on the righthand sidebar of the blog):

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Raminder's The Real Deal

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 4 (Blinds 100/200)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 79

WSOPC Main Event Champion Raminder Singh (Delray Beach, FL) Photo Courtesy: WSOP.com

One of the bigger surprises of the series has been the absence of Raminder Singh (Delray Beach, FL), a player who is in attendance for most every tournament during these seasonal series.  The answer to why he hasn't been around is now known...he was shipping the WSOPC Main Event at Palm Beach Kennel Club!!  The $1,675 Main Event ran at the same time as the opening event of this series, so once Raminder bagged chips for Day 2, the schedule was not going to allow to Singh to play both events.

We will give Raminder a pass this one time, as he was busy earning the largest cash of his career, taking home the coveted WSOPC ring and just under $169,000.  While he has been missed throughout this series, we are sure he'll be back as soon as the celebrations finish up.  Congratulations to one of the most entertaining, well-liked Isle Poker Room notables there is!!!!

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Second Wave Of Notables

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 3 (Blinds 75/150)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 72

Damien Simon (Hialeah, FL)

Damien Simon (Hialeah, FL) may not be a name familiar to blog followers up until now, but it's likely because his poker focus is based more on cash games, along with the occasionally "daily" tournament on the schedule.  That being said, Damien still has a pretty impressive tournament resume, with (30) recorded results over the past five years (totaling over $54,000).  His largest Isle Poker cash came in 2013, when he was part of a seven-way deal that took place during a $200 No Limit Hold'em event (Isle Poker Open).  Simon received $3,900 for sixth place money that evening, and is only bested on his resume by a result at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood (2015 WPT $3,500 SHPO Championship Event - 90th Place $8,650), and a chop during an event at Calder ($150 No Limit Hold'em - 3rd Place $12,800).

Damien's "other half" may be more familiar to blog followers, having just cashed in Event 1 of this series.  Gili Prizament (Biscayne Park, FL) had Damien on the rail during her run in the opening event of this series, as he also checked on her dog "Bailey," who usually gets a lot of attention while seated at the poker table.  Damien headlines our second wave of notables, including the likes of:

Jeffrey Kessler

Paul Shafran

Ido Ashkenazi

Allan Bieler

Jose Rodriguez

Sheldon Gross

Kenneth Bruno

Edward Novak

David Shaw

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Touchette Looking To Best Last Effort

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 2 (Blinds 50/100)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 57

Andrew Touchette (Wakefield, MA)

The last time Andrew Touchette (Wakefield, MA) was featured on the blog, he was part of a deal that ended Event 2 of the Isle Poker Classic ($360 No Limit Hold'em).  Andrew received third place money from that deal ($18,430), which was the second largest cash of his tournament career.  The accomplished tournament professional has over $258,000 in live tournament earnings, spanning (10) years and (79) recorded results.  He has since cashed in the Coco Poker Showdown (Event 1) and WSOPC at Palm Beach Kennel Club (Event 1 "Monster Stack"), but the most enjoyable point since mid-January...his Patriots completing the greatest comeback most of us have ever seen!  Andrew heads our first wave of notables, which also includes:

Frank Scala

Gunnar Rabe

Joseph Marchese

Joseph Duchman

Tom Gity

Luis Santoni

Francis Margaglione

Peter Bronstein

Paulius Bikus

TJ Shulman

Event 8 (Flight 1A): Back To Blogging, Flight 1A Now Underway

"Battles At The Beach"

Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em $200,000 GTD)

Level 1 (Blinds 25/50)

Total Flight 1A Entries: 25

Tournament supervisor Ralph Brandt just finished up with another great rendition of the "rules announcement" for the seated players in this Event 8 (Flight 1A) field, and the cards are in the air!!! This tournament is the second of three "major" events on the Battles At The Beach schedule, boasting the second largest guarantee of the (17) events ($200,000).

Players will be sitting down to starting stacks of 25,000, with registration open all flight.  Like tournament we've seen before, the "open registration" stays that way until the cards are in the air for Sunday's Day 2, meaning players can enter on Day 2 if they choose.  Day 1 is scheduled to play (14) levels, and as things are wrapping up, we will focus on who those chip leaders are....because the "chip lead bonus" is back in play (with the largest stack from each flight earning a seat into the BATB $1,500 Main Event).  It should also be noted that the levels are (30) minutes in length on Day 1, transitioning to (50) minutes on Day 2.

We will allow the field to fill up before the "notables" in the field are posted, with updated results from past tournaments to be published.  It's "back to blogging," so have those browsers ready to be refreshed!!!

Thursday, February 23rd: Wednesday's Action Recapped, Multi Flight Madness Returns!

Yesterday's tournament action started with the first Main Event satellite of the series, a $175 buy-in that guaranteed ten seats into the highlighting event of the series.  The satellite attracted a total of (92) entries, with the following players earning themselves the $1,500 seat: Mark Wasserman, Marcel Dechamps, Lawrence Paden, John Palace, Yigal Hen, John Bilas, Vasil Leshchenko, Scott Efron, Jeffrey Silverstein, and James Ross Jr.  Those players now have the choice to enter one of the three Day 1's, that are hosted between March 2nd-4th.  The next Main Event satellite is next Wednesday (March 1st), a $340 buy-in that is going to offer up (30) guaranteed seats.

Last night's $100 No Limit Hold'em "Deep Stack Turbo Bounty" was the only "standard" event on the day's schedule, drawing a total of (284) entries.  The $18,000 guarantee was eclipsed, with the tournament boasting a first place prize of $5,021.  Things never got to that point though, as a deal was made when six players remained.  Seth Gibson (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) earned $2,885 for the winner's share, but the story of the day may have been Marcel Dechamps (Canada).  It was a full day of poker for Dechamps, who found himself part of the deal after winning a $1,500 Main Event seat earlier in the day.  The other players to make up the event's chop were Jeffrey Membrane (Litchfield, CT), Samuel Borger (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), Mark Zeitlin (Miami, FL), and Justin Lee (Davie, FL).

Today's action sees the return of "live blogged" coverage, as Event 8 ($360 No Limit Hold'em Deep Stack $200,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool) begins, with it's multi-flight action.

11:00am - Event 8 (Battles At The Beach) $360 No Limit Hold'em Deep Stack $200,000 GTD

- Players receive 25,000 in tournament chips
- All late registrants and re-entries receive a full stack
- Levels 1-14 will be (30) minutes, Levels 15+ will be (50) minutes
- Late registration and re-entries for the first (14) levels, to include before the first card on Day 2
- The chip leader from each flight will win a $1,500 BATB Main Event seat (for any Day 1)

6:00pm - Event 8 (Battles At The Beach) $360 No Limit Hold'em Deep Stack $200,000 GTD

- Players receive 25,000 in tournament chips
- All late registrants and re-entries receive a full stack
- Levels 1-14 will be (30) minutes, Levels 15+ will be (50) minutes
- Late registration and re-entries for the first (14) levels, to include before the first card on Day 2
- The chip leader from each flight will win a $1,500 BATB Main Event seat (for any Day 1)

ICYMI: Official Battles At The Beach Event 7 Results