Friday, August 11th: High Hands Headline The Start To The Weekend

ICYMI: Yesterday's tournament action started with a mixed event, as the $130 H.O.R.S.E. ($2,000 GTD) got underway at 11:00am.  A total of (26) entries made up the field, eclipsing the posted guarantee, and making for solid event.  A total of four spots were scheduled to get paid, and once the money bubble burst, the remaining players agreed to a deal.  Ilia Belkin (Aventura, FL) earned his second ever recorded tournament cash, and first win, collecting $737 for first place money.

1. Ilia Belkin (Aventura, FL) $737
2. Gary Finkel (Lake Worth, FL) $706
3. Ronald Schroeder (Pembroke Pines, FL) $600
4. Cesar Garcia (Miramar, FL) $557

The evening tournament (6:00pm) was the $130 No Limit Hold'em ($20,000 GTD), an event that has eclipsed the guarantee week after week, and attracted fields north of (200) entries.  Last night's installment would be no different, as a field of (214) entries made up the official prize pool of $20,758.  Many of the Isle Poker tournament regulars were in attendance, with names like Elias Nassif, Maury Halperin, Joseph Duchman, Adel Jo, and Alexander Thomas adding another Isle tournament cash to their resumes.  It was late in the evening once the final table was reached, but that didn't deter players from continuing on without a chop.  After the elimination of Cindy Chiu (Coconut Creek, FL) in fourth place, the three players remaining agreed to a deal, with Prang In (Pompano Beach, FL) declared the tournament's "winner."

1. Prang In (Pompano Beach, FL) $4,500
2. Robert Arahovites (Davie, FL) $3,572
3. Jared Carter (Pompano Beach, FL) $2,600
4. Cindy Chiu (Coconut Creek, FL) $1,294
5. Manuel Amaro (West Palm Beach, FL) $999
6. David Albertson (Margate, FL) $828
7. Dan Kolchko (Pompano Beach, FL) $706
8. Teddy Mendesse (Boynton Beach, FL) $604
9. Horney Boutros (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) $504
10. Patricia Conrad (Delray Beach, FL) $436

Tournaments: The weekend tournament action kicks off at 6:00pm, with the $3,000 guaranteed, $75 No Limit Hold'em event.  With the poker room open (24) hours on Fridays, players can take advantage of the fact, and can play the tournament down to a winner (if they so choose).  The tournament structure has players sitting down to starting stacks of 15,000 units, and playing (20) minute levels over the course of the night.

Promotions: From the moment the doors to the poker room open, the "bonus" high hands are in effect.  Things start with the "Turbo High Hands," with $100 awarded to the qualifying high hand every (10) minutes.  With less tables in the morning hours, we usually see rollovers on a consistent basis, some of which get as high as $600-$700.  The ten minute high hands run from 9:00am-12:00pm, and then transition to a different promotion. 

Things are still "turbo-ish," with $250 high hands awarded every (20) minutes, from the hours of 12:00pm-4:00pm.  The promotion only gets richer after that, as one last transition sees $500 awarded every (20) minutes, from the hours of 4:00pm-12:00am.

6:00pm - $75 No Limit Hold'em ($3,000 GTD)

- Players will begin with a 15,000 starting stack

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

- Alternates and late entries will receive full stacks

- Levels are (20) minutes in length throughout