Monday, June 6th: Noam Ben-Arie Takes Down First Running Of $600 No Limit Hold'em ($30,000 GTD), In Contention For WSOP Main Event Seat!!!

ICYMI: Sunday's $600 No Limit Hold'em ($30,000 GTD) ran for the first time ever, with things getting off to a good start.  Registration for the tournament closed with a total of (61) entries, which equated to an official prize pool of $32,818.  A total of eight players were scheduled to reach the money, with action playing down to an outright winner.  Noam Ben-Arie (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) took home first place, besting the field to take home $11,815.  Official results are listed below, along with an updated Player of the Month leaderboard:

1. Noam Ben-Arie (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) $11,815
2. Adel Jo (Miami, FL) $6,941
3. Jonathan Marcu (Boca Raton, FL) $4,348
4. Egerton Bullock (Plantation, FL) $2,954
5. Raymond Ruszkowski (Cutler Bay, FL) 42,297
6. Ivan Ruban (Moscow) $1,805
7. Michael Johnson (Miami, FL) $1,477
8. Ryan Estrada (Sunrise, FL) $1,181

Tournaments: At 5:00pm this evening, the $250 No Limit Hold'em ($20,000 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 12:00pm, there is a new promotion in June, offering boosted Early Bird High Hands.  The high hand at the top of the hour (:00) will be awarded $599, while the high hands at the bottom of the hour (:30) will be awarded $300.  From 12:00pm 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.

5:00pm: $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