Thursday, August 24, 2017

"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Official End Of Flight 1C Chip Counts

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 16 (Blinds 2,000/4,000/500)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 94
Flight 1C Players Remaining: 14

Flight 1C of the "August $100,000" ended after Level 16, with (14) players bagging chips for Day 2.  Official end of flight counts are listed below:

Alberto Neibla - 281,000
Tracy Scala - 203,500
Andrew Blake - 118,000
Joseph Petrolino - 112,500
Alan Katsnelson - 108,500
Tom Macey - 102,500
Zaki Lichaa - 102,500
Paul Vieira - 99,000
Francois Gagne - 98,500
Russell Williams - 88,500
Quang Pham - 78,000
Joe Tacher - 68,500
Joseph Mancuso - 50,100


"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Flight Could End Early, Last Look At Chip Counts

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 15 (Blinds 1,500/3,000/500)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 97
Flight 1C Players Remaining: 17


Alberto Niebla (Miami, FL)

Flight 1C still has just over one level remaining to be played, but if the field gets down to (13) players, things will stop right there (four eliminations away).  There has been a shift in the leaderboard, as Georges Boyadjian and Alberto Niebla have spent the last few levels trending in the right direction.  Posted below are the top four stacks of the seventeen players that remain in Flight 1C:

Alberto Niebla - 215,000
Georges Boyadjian - 195,000
Paulius Bikus - 168,000
Tracy Scala - 165,000

"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Blake Goes Runner Clubs To Eliminate O'Brien

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 14 (Blinds 1,200/2,400/400)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 97
Flight 1C Players Remaining: 20


Andrew Blake (Delray Beach, FL) 

Andrew Blake just got it in against Mike O'Brien on a flop of 10 6♣ 9♠, for a pot worth close to 50,000.  Blake had called Mike's all-in, disappointed to see O'Brien's Q♠ 10 ahead of his A♣ K♣.  The 8♣ on the turn would bring more outs for Blake, one of which appeared on the river, as he made a flush with the J♣.  Blake reacted with a subdued clenching of the fist, just before racks were handed out to the table, and players found new seating assignments (Table 3 broke with O'Brien's elimination).

Andrew Blake - 115,000

"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Tables Lineups For The Three Active Tables

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 13 (Blinds 1,000/2,000/300)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 97
Flight 1C Players Remaining: 25

Players are now back from break, and have four scheduled levels remaining in the flight.  The structure sees these opening flights end after Level 16, or if 13% of the field remains.  Both of yesterday's flights ended after Level 16, but with (25) minute levels, the potential for one of the remaining flights to end early is high.

Table 1:

  1. Alan Cozine
  2. Rafael Calero
  3. Larry Kusch
  4. Paul Shafran
  5. Georges Boyadjian
  6. Joe Thatcher
  7. Joe P.
  8. Paulius Bikus
Table 2:
  1. Mario Donoso
  2. Alberto Niebla
  3. Russell Williams
  4. Francois Gagne
  5. Mel Littman
  6. Paul Vieira
  7. Joseph Ritzie
  8. Joseph Mancuso
  9. Atfab Shakoo
Table 3:
  1. Andrew Blake
  2. Tom Macey
  3. Quang Pham
  4. Tracy Scala
  5. Alan Katsnelson
  6. Zaki Lichaa
  7. Eric Piderit
  8. Mike O'Brian

"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Macey Getting Tired Of The Tanking

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 12 (Blinds 800/1,600/200)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 97
Flight 1C Players Remaining: 31


Tom Macey (Chicago, IL)

Joseph Ritzie would open the action at Table 2 with a raise from late position to 2,600.  After one fold, Tom Macey (Chicago, IL) would put forward a three-bet to 8,600.  The player in the small blind made the call, with Thomas Gari four-bet shoving from the big for 38,000.  Gari's all-in would elicit a fold from Ritzie, with Macey taking little time to announce that he was all-in as well (59,000).

The unknown player in the small blind then went deep in the tank, which was clearly making Macey unhappy.  "You've been doing this all day...tanking forever, and then folding," Macey said, just moments before calling the clock.  A supervisor came over, and with about thirty seconds remaining in the countdown, the small blind folded pocket jacks face up.

Macey tabled A A♠, and would be well ahead the K♠ Q of Gari, who mentioned aloud that he misread his hand.  The A♣ Q♣ 4♣ K 7♠ saw Gari drawing extremely thin after the flop, and he'd be drawing dead after the turn.  Thomas exited the tournament area, while the table continued discussion about the hand that just unfolded.

Tom Macey - 120,000

Players will be heading on their final break of the flight at the end of this level, returning to Level 13, and new blinds of 1,000/2,000/300.

"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): One Scala Remains In The Field, Seeing Some Success

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 11 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 97
Flight 1C Players Remaining: 33


Tracy Scala (Delray Beach, FL)

Tracy Scala (Delray Beach, FL) was joined in the field by his father Frank earlier in the day, but is now represent the family on his own.  Both players are Isle Casino Poker Room regulars, with Tracy making it out for more of the larger guaranteed events, while Frank is in attendance on almost a daily basis.  Both are experienced tournament players, with Tracy holding onto the better resume.  He has over $348,000 in live tournament earnings, almost all of which came before 2013.  Tracy is back recording tournament cashes after a three year "off-period," with a recent cash in the FSPC (Event #7) his last result.

Tracy Scala - 80,000


"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Updated Chip Counts Post Break

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 10 (Blinds 500/1,000/100)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 97
Flight 1C Players Remaining:42


Paulius Bikus (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) 

The field came back with (51) players when Level 9 resumed, but has lost eleven players since.  Many of the players that happened to have been mentioned on the blog are seeing some success, but it's Paulius Bikus (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) making the biggest move up the leaderboard.  The Isle Poker tournament regular is sitting with over 110,000, and is coming off a final table finish during a daily event last week at Coconut Creek.  

Jeff Burdeen - 120,000
Paulius Bikus - 112,000
Paul Vieira - 110,000
Alberto Niebla - 65,000
Michael Corbett - 65,000
Joseph Ritzie - 63,000
Andrew Blake - 41,000




"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Paul Vieira Leads The Way As Registration Closes

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 8 (Blinds 300/600/75)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 93


Paul Vieira (Wethersfield, FL)

Players have just over (15) minutes to enter this flight, as registration will close when the cards are in the air for Level 9 (Blinds 400/800/100).  Paul Vieira (Wethersfield, FL) will be heading to the second break as the flight's chip leader, becoming the first player to eclipse the century mark.  Usually focusing primarily on cash games, Vieira does has just under $18,000 in live tournament earnings, much of which came from a chop of Event #7 ($360 No Limit Hold'em) during last year's FSPC (7th Place - $15,371).

Paul Vieira - 107,000



"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Burdeen's "Reintroduction" Looks To Be Working

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/50)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 84


Jeff Burdeen (Delray Beach, FL) 

When Jeff Burdeen (Delray Beach, FL) was featured on the blog during last week's $360 No Limit Hold'em "August $150,000," the focus of the post was on his break from tournament poker.  The time away from the table was strictly to work on his game, as Jeff looked to basically "reintroduce" himself at the table, with a style and strategy that was unlike before.

While the results didn't show during last week's event, these type of changes usually take time to really work out.  It's like changing a golf swing...the first few times out on the course may yield some rough results, but it's an unexplainable feeling when everything clicks.  Burdeen is off to a quick start this afternoon, just knocking out an opponent to chip up to 73,000.

Jeff was one of the notables in the field that hadn't been mentioned up until this point, putting himself at the top of a list that contains names like:

Alberto Niebla
Nagui Yassa
Tracy Scala
Eric Piderit
Ralph Spadafore
Francois Gagne
John Marinacci
Kenneth Bruno


"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Boyadjian Finds The Best River Possible

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 6 (Blinds 200/400/50)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 79


Geroges Boyadjian (Pompano Beach, FL) 

After an open at Table 1 to 1,000, and one call, Georges Boyadjian would also call from the cutoff.  Before his 1,000 unit chip hit the felt, the button went all-in for just over 10,000.  The blinds and original raiser folded, and after the player who flatted went all-in for less, Georges tossed in a chip for a call.

Boyadjian would turn over the best hand with A Q, up against A♠ 10♣ (button) and 6♠ 4♠.  The dealer would then fan out a flop of J♠ 7 3♠, with Boyadjian still holding the lead, but it was a slim one at that.  The turn brought the 6, making Georges a sizable underdog to win the main pot, but he would find the Q♣ on the river to steal a win.  "How do you find that river," one of the players at the table said, with Georges collecting the pot worth close to 30,000.  He's now up to 60,000, and happens to be one of the larger stacks in the field.

Georges Boyadjian - 62,500



"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Coming Off "Single-Day Series," Couden Looking To Find A Bag

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 5 (Blinds 150/300/25)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 77

Joseph Couden (Coconut Creek, FL)

Joseph Couden (Coconut Creek, FL) is coming off of the Single-Day Series earlier in the week, and while he didn't cash in the event, he is still in the midst of a solid tournament year.  Couden has over $145,000 in live earnings in 2017, a majority of which came from his runner-up finish in the Battles At The Beach $1,500 Main Event (2nd Place - $120,000).

The Isle Casino Poker Room happens to be a place where Joseph has experienced some of his best results, with three of his top four cashes (in terms of amount) happening between these four walls.  Couden has over $1,300,000 in career earnings, spanning (86) results spread over nine years.  Interesting to note...if Joseph goes on to cash in this event, it will be his first ever (recorded) in a buy-in that's less than $200.  

Couden entered just before the first break of the day, and was joined by some other late arriving players, including: 

Kevin Matheson
Wayne Brown
Jawara Flowers
Joseph Ritzie
Quang Pham
Michael Brinson
Renato Paiva

"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Money Wheel Spins From Yesterday (August 23rd)

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 4 (Blinds 100/200)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 57




From 12:00pm-11:00pm yesterday, the "Spin To Win" high hand promotion was running, one of the most popular poker promotions you'll find in the state (as well as one of the richest).  The player with the "winning" high hand from each half hour is awarded an opportunity to spin the "money wheel," which sits located in the "stage area" of the poker room, closest to the cashier.  There are over (70) different slots on the wheel, all with different monetary amounts.  The "major" amounts that can be won are $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, and $5,000.  If (and only if) the high hand that qualifies is a royal flush, the $5,000 "Jackpot" slice is worth $25,000.  Posted below are all of the results from yesterday's promotion (along with the game the player was playing):

12:30pm: $225 (1/2 NLH)
1:00pm: $200 (2/5 NLH)
1:30pm: $600 (1/2 NLH)
2:00pm: $475 (6/12 O.E.)
2:30pm: $400 (6/12 O.E.)
3:00pm: $275 (1/2 NLH)
3:30pm: $325 (1/2 NLH)
4:00pm: $1,000 (2/5 NLH)
4:30pm: $425 (2/4 LHE)
5:00pm: $350 (2/4 LHE)
5:30pm: $750 (1/2 NLH)
6:00pm: $350 (6/12 O.E.)
6:30pm: $375 (1/2 NLH)
7:00pm: (No Qualifying High Hand)
7:30pm: $400 (2/5 NLH)
8:00pm: $374 (2/5 NLH) *Royal Spin*
8:30pm: $725 (1/2 NLH)
9:00pm: $450 (2/5 NLH)
9:30pm: $350 (1/2 NLH)
10:00pm: $400 (2/4 LHE)
10:30pm: $500 (2/4 LHE)
11:00pm: (No Qualifying High Hand)

That's $8,949 awarded over the course of the eleven-hour promotion, with one player hitting a "jackpot slice" for $1,000.  There was one "Royal Spin" towards the end of the promotion, with the potential for the player to with $25,000 (if they landed on the $5,000 "jackpot slice").

Players in the "August $100,000" are going to take their first break at the end of this level, returning to Level 5, with new blinds of 100/200.

"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Gelley Looking For Back-To-Back Final Tables

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 3 (Blinds 75/150)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 52


David Gelley (Boca Raton, FL)

David Gelley (Boca Raton, FL) is returning to felt for the first time since chopping last week's "August $150,000," a $360 No Limit Hold'em event that attracted (792) entries.  David would earn sixth place money in the nine-way chop, which was worth $15,110.  Gelley seems to like these stand-alone events, with multiple flights and large guarantees, considering he was also part of the deal that ended the "April $100,000" (2nd Place - $15,418).  This is already David's second best statistical year when it comes to tournaments, already earning over $30,000, with four months yet to go.

Gelley headlines the first group of notables in this Flight 1C field, joining the likes of:

Michael Corbett
Joseph Mancuso
Thomas Gari
Paulius Bikus
Hari Sukhu
Marsha Wolak

"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Official Chip Counts (Flights 1A-1B)

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 2 (Blinds 50/100)
Total Flight 1C Entries: 42




"August $100,000" (Flight 1C): Flight 1C Action Underway In Moments

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 1 (Blinds 25/50)
Total Flight 1C Entries: N/A




After a successful opening pair of starting flights, the action continues with Flight 1C of the "August $100,000."  Yesterday's flights saw a total of (185) entries, with (27) players managing to navigate their way to the bagging process.  That's a total of $21,275 towards the overall prize pool, which is guaranteed to be $100,000.  

Of the (27) players to bag chips, Vitaly Shafran led the way with 271,000, followed by Marc Bronstein (254,500).  Some others to book their ticket to Sunday's Day 2 proceedings included Jeffrey Nahom (236,500), David Coughlin (193,000), Rick Kalgstein (147,000), Kevin Scarola (132,500), and Zakarya Wolgamott (110,500).

Flight 1C action will be underway right after the rules announcement is made, with players doing their best to increase the 18,000 unit starting stack.  They will have a total of sixteen levels to spin things up, each lasting (25) minutes (that number will transition to 30 minutes on Day 2).  Chip counts from yesterday's flights will be posted shortly (combined), followed by our first look at notables in this third starting flight.

Thursday, August 24th: "August $100,000" Continues On, Shafran And Bronstein Bag Chip Leads

ICYMI: Wednesday was the opening day of the "August $100,000," a $150 buy-in No Limit Hold'em event with eight starting flights, and a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool.  The first opening flight of the tournament saw registration close with (84) total entries, and after the scheduled sixteen levels were played, (13) players remained to bag chips for Sunday (Day 2).  Vitaly Shafran would bag the flight's chip lead, which also stood as the chip lead for the day (271,000).  Shafran bagged over 100,000 more than his nearest competitor in Flight 1A, which was Alexander Bastidas (149,500).  The flight ended just after 6:00pm, moments after the cards got in the air for Flight 1B.

Flight 1B become the first of eight flights to eclipse the century mark in terms of entries, with (101) entries posted on the clock at registration's end.  Even though the flight had seventeen more entries than the one that come before it, only (14) players reached the bagging process.  Marc Bronstein (Delray Beach, FL) bagged the flight's chip lead (254,500), and is looking up at only Vitaly Shafran in the combined counts.  Two other players bagged over 200,000 from the flight, with Jeffrey Nahom putting 236,500 in the bag, and Jay Feierstadt heading to Sunday with 223,500.

That brings the total after two flights to (185) entries, with (27) players headed to Day 2.

Tournaments: The second pair of "August $100,000" flights are on today's schedule, with Flight 1C getting underway at 11:00am, followed by Flight 1D at 6:00pm.  Both flights have the same structure, with players sitting down to starting stacks of 18,000 units, and playing levels that are (25) minutes in length.

Promotions: The Full House Early Bird promotion is in it's regularly scheduled spot this morning, but it's no longer just for limit hold'em players.  Every table in the poker room (excluding time raked games) is eligible for the promotion, which pays out the first (50) full houses (payout depends on which stakes are being played).  Similar to what is run on Friday's, there will also be $300 awarded to qualifying high hands every (15) minutes (from 12:00pm-4:00pm).

11:00am - "August $100k GTD" (Flight 1C): $150 No Limit Hold'em ($100,000 GTD) 

- Players start with 18,000 in tournament chips
- Late and re-entries for the first (8) levels
- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack
- Level will last (25) minutes during Day 1 flights, transitioning to (30) minutes on Day 2
- All Day 1's will play (16) complete levels or until 13% of the field remains (whichever comes first)

6:00pm - "August $100k GTD" (Flight 1D): $150 No Limit Hold'em ($100,000 GTD)

- Players start with 18,000 in tournament chips
- Late and re-entries for the first (8) levels
- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack
- Level will last (25) minutes during Day 1 flights, transitioning to (30) minutes on Day 2
- All Day 1's will play (16) complete levels or until 13% of the field remains (whichever comes first)

"August $100,000" (Flight 1B): Official End Of Flight 1B Chip Counts

"August $100,000 GTD"
$150 No Limit Hold'em (Re-Entry)
Level 16 (Blinds 2,000/4,000/500)
Total Flight 1A Entries: 101
Flight 1A Players Remaining: 14


Marc Bronstein 254,500
Jeffrey Nahom 236,500
Jay Feierstadt 223,500
David Coughlin 193,000
Fedner Oralien 172,000
Francisco Pulido 136,500
William Novotny 121,500
Dave Recke 103,000
Zachary Eichenbaum 102,000
Steve Novak 67,000
Bob Peoples 58,000
Felipe Vinicius 54,000
Eric Polirer 49,500
Brian Appell 48,000