Friday, April 14th: Massive Turnout Last Night, Weekend Starts Off Strong

ICYMI: Before we shift focus on the headline that was last night's tournament, we will look at the afternoon event that started the day.  The $80 No Limit Hold'em w/ $10 Bounties ($2,000 GTD) tournament began at 11:00am, and attracted a field of (36) total entries, officially ending up with a prize pool of $1,672 ($360 bounty pool).  The tournament was scheduled to pay four spots, but after a handful of eliminations at the final table, a deal was made between the remaining players:

1. Howard Rappoport (Johnston, RI) $752
2. John Gottlieb (Roslyn, NY) $400
3. David Walker (Deerfield Beach, FL) $174
4. Dwight Pinkerton (Boca Raton, FL) $173
5. Stanley Sternberg (Highland Beach, FL) $173

A few hours after that tournament's conclusion, players started filing in for the evening event (6:00pm), a $130 No Limit Hold'em ($25,000 GTD).  The tournament offered a 16,000 unit starting stack, (20) minute levels, and the opportunity to play for what was sure to be a larger prize pool.  Last Thursday's $20,000 GTD installment of the event crushed the guarantee...and last night's flattened it.  With over (331) entries in the field, the prize pool grew to $33,100...almost $10,000 more than the posted number.  The posted first place prize was just short of $9,000, while a min-cash in the event would earn players $215.  A total of (36) players would reach the money, and after the bubble burst, a group (made up of many notables) made their way to the tournament podium to get paid.  Some of those names included the likes of Jerrold Jacobs (36th place - $215), Michelle Shah (25th place - $248), Ray Millard (18th place - $298), Andre Rukasa (15th place - $348), and Michael Goldfard (11th place - $430).  Talk of a deal didn't last long once the final table was reached, and wouldn't start back up until the eliminations of Joel Greenfeld (10th place - $430), Marcin Plewinski (9th place - $563), and Nancy Birnbaum (8th place - $778).  This was Nancy's second final table in a row in this event, falling just short of being part of the seven-way deal that was agreed to after her elimination:

1. Peter Fellows (Pembroke Pines, FL) $6,776
2. Robert Kessler (Parkland, FL) $4,124
3. Christian Rodriguez (Boynton Beach, FL) $3,457
4. Robert Blanchette (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) $3,187
5. Irwin Block (Coconut Creek, FL) $3,187
6. Hari Sukhu (Miramar, FL) $1,822
7. Ethiel Garcia (Weston, FL) $1,811

The full results from both tournaments (as well as the rest of the week's events) will be posted in the "Week In Review" feature, published after the weekend concludes.  

Tournaments: There is one tournament on the schedule this evening, a $150 No Limit Hold'em ($10,000 GTD), beginning a 6:00pm.

Promotions: Things start off "quickly" this afternoon, with the "Turbo High Hands" running from 9:00am-12:00pm.  During that window, $100 will be awarded every (10) minutes to the qualifying high hand (rollovers do apply).  The promotion will then transition to $250 every (20) minutes (rollovers do apply), from 12:00pm-4:00pm...laddering up one more time to $500 every (20) minutes (rollovers apply), from 4:00pm-12:00am.

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 (8) levels
- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack
- Levels are (25) minutes in length