- Ricardo Quintero (Miramar, FL) $1,290
- Cesar Garcia (Miramar, FL) $1,175
- Brian Baris (Tamarac, FL) $983
- Andrew Daire (Boca Raton, FL) $468
- Fabian Medina (West Palm Beach, FL) $340
While the Omaha tournament was wrapping up registration, the first of the $55 No Limit Hold'em Satellites into the "Isle New Year Kickstart" began. The satellite would see registration close with (40) entries, which meant that (8) total seats were awarded into Flight 1A of the year's first multi.
That opening flight began at 6:00pm, and if there was a word to describe the first of eight flights, it would be "impressive." After eight levels of open registration, Flight 1A closed with (122) entries, which is a number that nobody could have predicted. From that number, (13) players bagged chips for Sunday's Day 2, as action reached the 10% mark during Level 15 (with 5:40 remaining in the flight). Julio Fernandez bagged the Flight 1A chip lead, and will be heading to Day 2 with 281,000, setting the pace for the flights that follow. Official chip counts from Flight 1A are listed below:
Julio Fernandez - 281,000
Mathieu Gaudett - 278,500
Ed Lark - 262,000
Andrew Kern - 238,000
Diane Linke - 224,000
Karin Powsner - 215,000
William Handwerker - 211,000
Louis Raton - 194,000
David Poces - 160,000
Ryan Rackleff - 151,000
Alex Michaels - 120,000
Ziad Ismail - 77,000
Marcin Plewinski - 70,000
Tournaments: Today's tournament schedule is similar to yesterday's, with a recurring event in the 11:00am time slot, and a flight for the "Isle New Year Kickstart" in the 6:00pm time slot (with a $55 No Limit Hold'em Satellite sandwiched between the two). At 11:00am, we have the ever-popular $130 No Limit Hold'em "Survivor" ($3,000 GTD), in which three $1,000 payouts are guaranteed. The survivor is structured with 16,000 unit starting stacks, (20) minute levels, and registration that is open through Level 8.
At 2:00pm, there is a $55 No Limit Hold'em Satellite into the "Isle New Year Kickstart." This satellite is for players who only want to play in this evening's Flight 1A, with (5) guaranteed seats into the opening flight. The satellite it structured with 10,000 unit starting stacks, (15) minute levels, and registration that is open through Level 10.
At 6:00pm, the second flight (Flight 1B) of the $200 No Limit Hold'em "Isle New Year Kickstart" ($100,000 GTD) begins. The tournament has seven flights over the next four days, with Day 2 scheduled for 12:00pm on Sunday (January 6th). The event is structured with 20,000 unit starting stacks, (30) minute levels, and registration for each flight that is open through Level 8.
Promotions: Outside of the "standard" high hands, the poker room opens with the "new" Full House Promotion. The proceedings begin once the doors of the poker room open, with the first (25) full houses made, earning a $40 prize. Each jackpot eligible cash game is included in the promotion, with two rules to keep in mind, when thinking about winning the $40. In order to be eligible, the full house must be made using two cards, and must be the winning hand.
The day's "standard" high hand period will last from 9:00am-12:00am, with the opportunity to win $400 every (30) minutes. During that period, the promotion sees tournament players eligible 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.
It should also be noted that 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).
From 12:00am-3:00am, the high hand will be awarded $100 every (60) minutes.
11:00am - $130 No Limit Hold'em "Survivor" ($3,000 GTD)
- Players start with 16,000 in tournament chips
- Late and re-entries for the first (8) levels
- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack
- Levels will last (20) minutes
2:00pm - $55 No Limit Hold'em Satellite Into "Isle New Year Kickstart" (5 Seats GTD)
- Players start with 10,000 in tournament chips
- Late and re-entries for the first (10) levels
- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack
- Levels will last (15) minutes
- The (5) guaranteed seats are into Flight 1B
6:00pm - $200 No Limit Hold'em "Isle New Year Kickstart" ($100,000 GTD) Flight 1B
- Players start with 20,000 in tournament chips
- Late and re-entries for the first (8) levels
- Alternates and late entries will start with a full stack
- Levels will last (30) minutes
- Day 2 on Sunday, January 6th (12:00pm)
