Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Official End Of Flight 1E Chip Counts

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 15 (Blinds 1,500/3,000/500)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 183
Flight 1E Players Remaining: 25

Kao	Saechao E	298,500
Joel	Benson	245,000
Gil	Jagar	226,500
Ory	Hen	215,500
Nissim	Vaknin	207,000
George	Boyadjian	191,000
Chip	Reed	183,000
Oktay	Albinas	177,000
Dubrevil	Michel	171,000
David	Inselberg	153,000
Elliott	Zaydman	150,500
Steven	Sanzone	149,500
Sean Syed	Shah	148,000
Walter	Buss	140,000
Michael Ray	Lutz	134,500
Stuart	Elkin	122,500
Manuel	Jo	120,000
Steven	Lipkins	110,000
Nagui	Yassa	105,000
Nissim	Gozlan	96,500
Paul	Mabel	77,000
Will	Underdown	75,000
Frank	DiMaria	63,500
Paraskevas	Patsatsis	60,000
Panagiotis	Nifakos	33,000

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Kao Saechao Bags The Flight 1E Chip Lead

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 15 (Blinds 1,500/3,000/500)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 183
Flight 1E Players Remaining: 25

Kao Saechao (Damascus, OR) was under the hood...and under the radar for most of the day.

As expected, the landscape of the leaderboard shifted over the final thirty minutes, with Kao Saechao (Damascus, OR) bagging the flight's chip lead.  Saechao was one of five players that were in striking distance when Level 15 started, and pushed his stack up to 298,500 by the time the final hand was dealt.  Saechao's name may not sound familiar to followers of the blog, being that he's spent most of his time grinding on the left coast.  Kai has over $408,000 in live tournament earnings, spanning (107) recorded results on Hendon Mob.

The end of Flight 1E chip counts will be posted once the numbers have been made official.

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Michel Dubreuil Taking Lead Into Final Level

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 15 (Blinds 1,500/3,000/500)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 183
Flight 1E Players Remaining: 31

Michel Dubreuil (Quebec, Canada) knows exactly where he stands as play enter the final level.

Play is about to enter Level 15, with blinds going up to 1,500/3,000/500, and the race for the chip lead currently a runaway.  Michel Dubrueil (Quebec, Canada) is leading the remaining field with just shy of 300,000, with his nearest competitor close to 75,000 away from that number.  A lot can change over the next twenty minutes (and additional four hands), so we'll just call him the "favorite" at the moment.

The remaining players in this flight will play until the 10:00 minute mark of Level 15.  At that point, the clock will be paused, and those players left will play four hands.  The bagging process will then commence once those hands have been finished at each table, with end of Flight 1E chip counts to be posted shortly thereafter.

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Full Field Update (By Seating Assignment)

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 14 (Blinds 1,200/2,400/400)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 183
Flight 1E Players Remaining: 44

Listed below are the remaining players in Flight 1E, all looking to reach the bagging process, which begins with 10:00 minutes remaining in Level 15 (after four final hands).

Table 1

1. Gil Chaim
2. Craig Witz
3. Neil Blumenfield
4. Nissim Vaknin
5. Jerry Cavicchi
6. Steve Kaplan
7. Ory Hen
8. Stuart Elkin
9. Brandon Ageloff

Table 3

1. Steve Sanzone
2. Ryan Gianquitti
3. Walter Buss
4. David Inselberg
5. Daren Stabinski
6. Michael Tafuro
7. Jeffrey Silverstein
8. Kao Saechao

Table 4

1. Nagui Yassa
2. Adel Jo
3. Bob Cook
4. Frank DiMaria
5. David Baker
6. Israel De La Cerda
7. Joel Benson
8. Miechel Dubreuil
9. William Underdown

Table 5

1. Christian Soto
2. Sean Shah
3. Nissim Gozlan
4. Kenneth Bruno
5. Georges Boyadjian
6. Paul Mabel
7. Oktay Altinbas
8. Dolphins Powers

Table 9

1. Paraskevas Patsatsis
2. Michael Lutz
3. Michael Newman
4. David Nowling
5. Chip Reed
6. Andrew Blake
7. Steven Lipkins
8. Jim Stone
9. Elliot Zaydman
10. Panagiotas Nifakos

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Ageloff Couldn't Spin It Up, But Jumps Right Back In

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 12 (Blinds 800/1,600/200)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 182

Andrew Blake's (Delray Beach, FL) schedule doesn't allow for much poker during the week, which is why he's a frequent attendant of these Saturday flights.

Brandon Ageloff was one of the later entries into the field this afternoon, and after spending just over an hour hovering around the starting stack, he picked his spot to try and double.  His 24,000 shove from late position (with A♠ 5♥) was called by Andrew Blake, who had him dominated with A♦ Q♥.  The 4♣ 7♠ 8♦ J♣ 8♠ runout gave Brandon some extra hope on the flop, but he found no help on the turn or river.  Blake, who won the "June $50,000" earlier this year, is now close to 100,000.  Ageloff, on the other hand, went to the cage to enter the Flight 1C field once again.

Andrew Blake - 98,000

Brandon Ageloff - 20,000

Players are about to head on their final break of the day, and will be returning to Level 13, with new blinds of 1,000/2,000/300.

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): New Members Of The Century Club

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 11 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 172

"You're the man...your'e the man," Joel Benson (Blaine, FL) said to the dealer, after rivering a set to crack pocket kings.

There are a handful of new members to the century club, including Joel Benson (Blaine, FL), who just entered the hard way.  Benson called a 40,000 chip shove holding 10♥ 10♠, but would be well behind the K♠ K♣ of his opponent.  The dealer would run out a board of A♠ 4♦ 5♦ Q♥ 10♦, giving Benson a winning set on the river, and causing his opponent to jump out of his chair.  The pot would help Joel cross the century mark, as he chipped up to 140,000.

Chip Reed - 160,000

Joel Benson - 140,000

Miechel Dubreuil - 130,000

Steve Sanzone - 120,000

Adel Jo - 120,000

John Despersio - 105,000

Players are about to enter Level 12, which is the last full level of registration.  Players that want an opportunity to bag chips after Level 13 starts, have to look towards this evening's Flight 1F, which begins at 6:00pm.

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Inselberg Gets Value On The Final Street

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 10 (Blinds 500/1,000/100)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 168

David Inselberg (Long Beach, NY) has spent most of his poker career playing tournaments in the Northeast, but found himself playing here in Florida a good amount over the course of this year.

The action at Table 3 was spotted on the river, in a hand between David Inselberg (Long Beach, FL) and Jeffrey Silverstein.  The board read K♦ 9♣ 5♥ K♠ 4♥, with Inselberg putting out just more than a pot sized river bet (20,000).  Silverstein spent a solid minute agonizing over his decision, his body language giving off the the look of, "really...what could you possibly have?"  Jeffrey eventually decided to toss in the chips for a call, only to see Inselberg roll over K♥ 9♥, having turned a full house.  Silverstein did end up showing his hand (tabling K♣ Q♠), giving a little insight to why he was taking time with his decision.

David Inselberg - 90,000 (90bb)

Jeffrey Silverstein  - 35,000 (35bb)

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Updated Chip Counts After Break

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 9 (Blinds 400/800/100)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 165

Cangir Elcin (Hollywood, FL) spent a good amount of time frequenting events only at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, but is back at the Isle Poker Room, after chopping up the $250 No Limit Hold'em Single-Ante.

After a lap around the field (post break), Stuart Elkin still leads the field, but players are beginning to catch up to his impressive number.  Cangir Elcin (Hollywood, FL) is the closest to Elkin, sitting with just over 120,000, and feeling pretty comfortable.  Elcin has over $82,800 in live tournament earning (spanning 21 recorded results), with all but one of those results coming at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.  After close to five years of cashes from the same poker room, Cangir recently put a stop to that trend, after chopping the $250 No Limit Hold'em Single-Ante (Event #8), that ran earlier this week.  The $4,443 that Elcin earned fro the even chop was his second largest cash of the year, and first outside of Hollywood.  It seems as if he liked these new surroundings, as he's back in today's field, and seeing success once again.

Stuart Elkin - 162,000

Cangir Elcin - 124,000

Adel Jo - 100,000

Ory Hen - 90,000

Georges Boyadjian - 88,000

Craig Witz - 85,000

Evan Teitelbaum - 62,000

Kenneth Bruno - 60,000 

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Stuart Elkin Taking A Sizable Lead Into Flight's Second Break

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 8 (Blinds 300/600/75)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 159

Stuart Elkin (Delray Beach, FL) had a very successful WSOP summer this year, cashing in three events, including the $10,000 WSOP Main Event.

As the field continues to grow, so do the chip stacks across the tournament tables.  None are bigger than that of Stuart Elkin, who has over 150,000 in front of him, which is the earliest we've seen a stack of that size in these starting flights.  With more than 3,000,000 chips currently in play, we are sure to see some sizable numbers once the bagging process is reached, but Elkin is already holding a stack that's larger than the Day 2 average.

Players will be heading on their second break of the day (at the end of this level), and will be returning to Level 9, with new blinds of 400/800/100 (33,000 chip average).  Once play resumes, a first look at updated chip counts from the flight will be posted.

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Gianquitti Returns With His "Sea Legs"

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 7 (Blinds 250/500/75)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 153

Ryan Gianquitti (Lake Worth, FL) just earned his third largest tournament cash, finishing in fifth place during the Norwegian Cruise Line Poker Challenge (Main Event).

Moving up the "who loves it more" rankings is Ryan Gianquitti (Lake Worth, FL), who is in this Flight 1E field, less than (24) hours after reaching the final table of the Norwegian Cruise Line Poker Challenge ($1,100 Main Event).  Gianquitti entered the final table second in chips, but the blind to stack ratio was such, that his returning stack was less than (20) big blinds.  Ryan eventually finished in fifth place, which was a return of $25,000.  It wasn't the $105,000 that Gianquitti may have wanted going into the day, but it became his third largest tournament score.

Ryan was one of the later arriving players in this flight, which has already eclipsed the numbers that were expected.  The combined prize pool is now less than $50,000 from reaching the guarantee, with the largest flight of the group yet to come.  Posted below, are some other new names spotted across the tournament area:

Steven McKoy

Neil Blumenfield

Jeffrey Silverstein

Andrew Blake

Uri Kadosh

Georges Boyadjian

Steven Lipkins

Kenneth Bruno

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): The Expected Guests To The Party

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 4 (Blinds 100/200/25)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 109

TJ Shulman (Boynton Beach, FL) sits down in Event #10, coming off one of the largest tournament wins of his career. 

Tournaments such as this event, with a mid-range buy-in and a large guarantee, will always attract certain players.  These are tournament veterans who travel around playing premier events across the country, but spend most of their time here in Florida.  One of those players is sitting down to his second entry of the day, but the quick exit doesn't hurt as much, after winning over $100,000 just two weeks ago.  TJ Shulman (Boynton Beach, FL) took a trip to North Carolina for the WSOP Circuit at Cherokee, and started the series off with a bang, winning the opening event ($365 No Limit Hold'em Event #1).  It was the second WSOP Circuit win of his career, along with his second largest tournament cash ($102,398).  Shulman's career earnings are now north of $772,000, with the prestigious $1,000,000 benchmark the next to reach.

Some of the other players that we "expect" to see in the field (that have entered over the last thirty minutes), include names like:

Erik Nomberg
Evan Teitelbaum
Nagui Yassa
Daren Stabinski
Thomas Gari
Dolphus Powers
Nissim Gozlan
Alan Saltzman
Elliot Zaydman
Michael Newman

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Smith Looking To Enter The Winner's Circle Once Again

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 3 (Blinds 75/150/25)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 90

Dale Smith (Newnan, GA) was one of the first notables spotted in the field this afternoon, amongst a field that's littered with recognizable names and faces.

Winning a tournament will always help a player get that "bug" to play events, as is the case with Dale Smith (Newnan, GA).  Smith had a handful of Isle Poker cashes since 2014, but wasn't a player that we frequently saw in events.  Then came the final multi-flight event on the November schedule, run over Thanksgiving weekend.  The $250 No Limit Hold'em event boasted a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool, and ended up eclipsing that number, with a total of (571) entries.  The tournament ended in a five-way deal, which was headed by Dale Smith ($16,281).  It was the largest cash of Smith's career, and clearly has renewed his interest in tournament poker.  Dale has since been in attendance of a number of Isle Classic events, and is already in today's field, looking to bag chips for tomorrow's Day 2.  Also hoping to bag chips in Flight 1E are names like:

Craig Witz

David Inselberg

Maurice Hawkins

David Ward

Tom Gity

Dave Albertson

Al Gomez

William Underdown

Preecha Taepakdee

Marc Sacheli

Michael Tafuro

Ory Hen

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Official Chip Counts (Flight 1A-Flight 1D)

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 2 (Blinds 50/100)
Total Flight 1E Entries: 63

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1E): Cards Are In The Air For Flight 1E, Big Numbers Expected

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 1 (Blinds 25/50)
Total Flight 1E Entries: N/A

Seats across the tournament area are filling up, while those already occupied are receiving their first hand of Flight 1E.  The fifth of six starting flights should bring out some large crowds, as the time runs out for players to try and bag chips for tomorrow's Day 2.  To this point, there has been a total of (352) entries, with (49) players successful in bagging chips.  That leaves the prize pool more than $90,000 away from the posted guarantee, meaning each of today's flights need at least (152) entries to avoid a potential overlay.

Today's flights are structured the same as the four that came before it, with starting stacks of 20,000 units.  Levels 1-15 will be (30) minutes, and will transition to (40) minutes Levels 16+ (which is Day 2).  The chip leader from each flight will earn a "bonus," which is entry into Event #16 ($1,100 No Limit Hold'em $50,000 Guaranteed).

Live blogged coverage will be here to update followers on all of the Flight 1E action, but before we take a look at the early notables in the field, a full list of Day 2 chip counts (combined from Flights 1A-1D) will be published.

Saturday, December 9th: Event #10 Starting Flights Wrapping Up, Last Chance To Join The Action

ICYMI: Event #10 continued on yesterday, with the second pair of starting flights on the Isle Classic schedule.  Flight 1C started at 11:00am, and from the moment that the first cards were pitched, it was clear that the numbers were going to be bigger than Thursday.  Numerous notables were in action, including Michael Newman (Nanuet, NY), who returned for the first time since winning the Rock N' Roll Poker Open $3,500 Championship Event.  Newman made more than one attempt to bag chips, but ended up falling short of the goal.  Andre Rakusa (Coral Gables, FL) grabbed the chip lead as the flight entered it's later stages, and ended up trading that top spot with James Salmon (Davie, FL).  While that battle was going on at Table 1, Johnathan Steward (Woodstock, GA) ended up assuming the chip lead with a few hands left in the night, and would bag the flight's chip lead bonus (entry into Event #16 | $1,100 No Limit Hold'em).  Of the (100) entries in the flight, (16) players would bag chips from Flight 1C, including Zachary Mullenix, Wilmer Diaz, Scott Zakheim, and Charlemagne Benjamin.

Just like the day before, the 6:00pm flight began taking shape when the afternoon's bagging process began, with the Flight 1D field growing at a rapid pace.  The evening flight would end up with the largest field of the four flight's to have been played to that point, with a total of (121) entries.  After fifteen full levels, the bagging process would being with (14) players, led by Robert Jonsson (Deerfield Beach, FL).  Jonsson would not only end up bagging the chip lead bonus, but he'd pack up the largest stack of any player over the first four flights (527,000).  Other Flight 1D players to bag chips from the fourth starting flight included Brenda Vaca (250,500), Jason Holzberg (216,500), Clint Bowles (122,500), and Michelle Shah (47,500).

The official numbers to this point have seen a total of (352) entries, with (49) players to have already booked Day 2 seats.  The current prize pool sits at $107,360, with today's starting flights needing to average (152) entries in order to reach the $200,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Tournaments: As mentioned above, today's Isle Classic schedule hosts the final pair of opening flights for Event #10, with action beginning at 11:00am.  The $360 No Limit Hold'em tournament carries a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool, and has four more flights over the next two days.  Each of the starting flights is structured the same, with starting stacks of 20,000 units.  Levels 1-15 will be (30) minutes, and will transition to (40) minutes Levels 16+ (which is Day 2).  The chip leader from each flight will earn a "bonus," which is entry into Event #16 ($1,100 No Limit Hold'em $50,000 Guaranteed).

Promotions: From (9:00am-10:00am), the high hand will award $150 every (30) minutes.  The high hands will then transition from 10:00am-12:00am (midnight), with the opportunity to win $400 every (30) minutes.  During that period, the promotion sees tournament players eligible (Isle Open events not eligible for high hand) each half-hour for $100 high hands, 2/2 limit hold'em players eligible for $200 high hands, 2/4 limit hold'em players eligible for $300 high hands, and all other raked games (1/2-5/10 NLH, 4/8 Omaha 8B, 6/12 O.E., etc.) eligible for $400 high hands.  From 12:00am-9:00am, players are eligible for $100 high hands every hour.

It should also be noted that starting November 1st, players are able to win the high hand using only one card in their hand!!!  The payouts for those that use one card are different than the standard numbers listed above, and can be found (full listing of one-card payouts on flyers in the poker room).

11:00am - 2017 Isle Classic Event #7 (Flight 1E): $360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD) 

- Players start with 20,000 in tournament chips

- Late and re-entries for the first (12) levels

- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack

- Levels will last (30) minutes through Level 15, and will the transition to (40) minutes Level 16+

- All Day 1's will play (15) complete levels or until 10% of the field remains (whichever comes first)

- The chip leader from each flight will earn a seat into Event 16 ($1,100 No Limit Hold'em Single-Ante)

6:00pm - 2017 Isle Classic Event #7 (Flight 1F): $360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)

- Players start with 20,000 in tournament chips

- Late and re-entries for the first (12) levels

- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack

- Levels will last (30) minutes through Level 15, and will the transition to (40) minutes Level 16+

- All Day 1's will play (15) complete levels or until 10% of the field remains (whichever comes first)

- The chip leader from each flight will earn a seat into Event 16 ($1,100 No Limit Hold'em Single-Ante)

Isle Classic Event #10 (Flight 1D): Official End Of Flight 1D

2017 Isle Classic | Event #10
$360 No Limit Hold'em ($200,000 GTD)
Level 15 (Blinds 1,500/3,000/500)
Total Flight 1D Entries: 121
Flight 1D Players Remaining: 14

Robert	Jonsson D	527,000
Brenda	Vaca	250,500
Jerry	Limber	248,000
Jason	Holzberg	216,500
Raymond	Roberty	214,000
Mitchell	Smith	213,000
Hugh	Ganter	182,500
Clint	Bowles	122,500
Andres	Anthanosopoulos	116,000
David	Zaldivan	97,000
Bryan	Rosen	94,500
Martin	Beirne, Jr	72,500
Michelle	Shah	47,500
Daniel	Couzens	46,500