Monday, December 27th: Sunday's $20,000 Guarantee Topped By Scott Zakheim, With "Final Table Finish" Headlining Today's Schedule

ICYMI: Sunday's $400 No Limit Hold'em ($20,000 GTD) looked as if it was going to miss the number needed to meet the guarantee, but a late surge saw the prize pool once again eclipse $20,000 (as it has been doing on a frequent basis).  Registration for the tournament closed with a total of (67) entries, and an official prize pool of $23,316.  A total of nine players were scheduled to reach the money, with action playing down to a five-handed final table.  A chop was then agreed to, which saw tournament veteran Scott Zakheim (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) take home first place money.  Official results from the event are listed below, along with an updated Player of the Month leaderboard:

1. Scott Zakheim (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) $4,895
2. Mark Rakoff (West Palm Beach, FL) $4,134
3. Dennis Rodriguez (Sunrise, FL) $4,070
4. Jason Estrem (Vero Beach, FL) $3,330
5. Shamica Lamar (Wellington, FL) $2,865
6. Richard Gomolinski (Boca Raton, FL) $1,224
7. Jennifer Aguilar (Cooper City, FL) $1,049
8. Peter Cleven (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) $933
9. Eric Vaqquez (Pompano Beach, FL) $816

Tournaments: At 6:00pm this evening, the $250 No Limit Hold'em ($10,000 GTD) "Final Table Finish" returns, with a little wrinkle.  This particular tournament had such a good structure, that the final table action ran into the closing time of the poker room (players are then faced with chopping, or bagging for a Day 2).  To keep that from occurring, there will be some slight changes moving forward.

The event will be structured with 25,000 chip starting stacks, (20) minute levels, and open registration through Level 8 (and the break that follows).  The new format-wrinkle comes into play when discussing payouts, as the tournament will pay out just the final table, regardless of how many entries.  Exact payout percentages are as follows (final tables are now nine-handed):

1. 40%
2. 18%
3. 10%
4. 7%
5. 7%
6. 6%
7. 6%
8. 3%
9. 3%

Promotions: From 9:00am (the minute the doors open) until 11:00pm, $300 high hands will be awarded every (30) minutes. These high hands must be aces-full or better, use both hole cards, and be the winning hand (in a pot that has at least $10).  From 11:00pm until close, $100 high hands will be awarded every (30) minutes.

In addition to the high hands, there is a "bonus" promotion in place, which offers $1,000 to the highest hand from the 10:00am-1:00pm time period.  If a player makes a straight flush in the 9:00am-9:30am qualifying period, and that is the best qualifying high hand from 9:00am-12:00pm, they will earn an extra $1,000 (in addition to the $300 they were awarded for the half-hour time period).

6:00pm: $250 No Limit Hold'em "Final Table Finish" ($10,000 GTD)

• Players start with 25,000 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