Thursday, March 6, 2014

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Final Level Counts

Level 15 (Blinds 2,000/4,000/500)
Total Entries: 94

Here are some chip counts going into the final level:

Henry Guttman - 390,000
Dan Wach - 310,000
Ryan Eriquezzo - 290,000
Matt Glantz - 280,000
Joe Gola - 275,000
Emad Alabsi - 250,000
James Anderson - 215,000
Justin Liberto - 175,000

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Final Break

Players are on their final break (5 minutes) while the tournament floor does a color off.  They will return to blinds of 2,000/4,000/500 (94 total entries, and 28 remain playing).

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Wach In The Park

Level 14 (Blinds 1,500/3,000/400)
Total Entries: 94

Beat a field of 3,703 to play heads-up, take second for just over $200,000…check.  Beat a field of 4,480 to play heads-up exactly a year later, take second for just over $235,000…check.  Playing deep in tournaments, and tournaments with deep play are seemingly Dan Wach's (Boonton, NJ) thing.

In a two year span, Dan has cashed for just under $600,000 in live tournaments, and he's become one of the best high limit cash players in Atlantic City.  He's currently one of the top stacks in the room with close to 400,000, and certainly one of the favorites in the field when he gets chips.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Shedaker Out, Albilia Back In

Level 14 (Blinds 1,500/3,000/400)
Players Remaining: 94

Ari Albilia showed up after dinner and eventually busted during Level 13.  He was right back in and waited for his big blind to post (player has a choice to post or wait until the big blind when entering tournament).  Paul Shedaker shoved from the hijack and Albilia waited no time to put his starting stack right in, and watched his JJ > A10.  Albilia is up over 100,000 with one hand played, and already had over 30 bigs.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Two More Levels

Level 14 is about to begin, with blinds going up to 1,500/3,000/300 (total entries at 94).  There will be this level, a color up to take off the (100) brown chips, and the final level of the night (Level 15).

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Rocco Loses Flip

Level 13 (Blinds 1,200/2,400/300)
Total Entries: 93

Rocco Luciano (Philadelphia, PA) lost a late flip to Henry Guttman (Brooklyn, NY) with KK < AJ, leaving us with 36 players.  Guttman has put himself in nice position to bag a healthy count, sitting with over 240,000.

Since returning from break, Matt Glantz has lost about a quarter of his stack, but still holds close to 300,000.  In what would of been a really amazing feat, Nancy Martin falls short of bagging chips for each of this series trophy event…on one bullet!  Nancy won a seat into this event via one of our satellites, and it's likely we will see her again before Day 2 begins.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Field Shrinking

Level 13 (Blinds 1,200/2,400/300)
Total Entries: 93

Right now there are five active tables with 46 players seated, meaning we have lost close to half of the field.  Just moments ago we lost Parx regular Jeffrey Spence (King Of Prussia, PA), who last played on Day 3 of the Big Stax 500.  Not long after that the was a loud cheer from Joe Gola as he puts sends Abe Faroni to the rail.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Break Time

Players are going on another (15) minute break, and when they return the blinds will have gone up to 1,200/2,400/300.  Here are some of the top stacks going into break:

Matt Glantz - 380,000
Joe Gola - 330,000
Dan Wach - 260,000
Justin Liberto - 220,000
Ryan Eriquezzo - 205,000
James Anderson - 180,000

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Big Stax 500 Final Table Reunion

Level 12 (Blinds 1,000/2,000/300)
Total Entries: 93

Three players from our Big Stax 500 final table are still remaining in the field, and they are looking to repeat their deep runs.

Guttman, Temel, Anderson

Updated chip counts:

Henry Guttman - 170,000
James Anderson - 120,000
Izzet Burak Temel - 115,000

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Blinds Going Up

Level 12 is about to begin, with blinds going up to 1,000/2,000/300 (total entries is at 93).  Moments before the end of the level we lost one of our three remaining women in the field, as Cathy Dever was seen walking with her things out of the tournament area.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Break Out The Loop

Level 11 (Blinds 800/1,600/200)
Total Entries: 92

Joe "The Jeweler" Gola is continuing where he left off before dinner, as he pads his chip lead that he came back with.  Gola just got two streets of value from Abe Faroni on a nine high flop, with Joe showing top set after Faroni called his river bet.

Joe is up to 290,000 and is beginning to pull away from the rest of the field.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Still Alive

Level 11 (Blinds 800/1,600/200)
Total Entries: 92

Here is a short list of notables still remaining in the field:

Abe Faroni
Joe Gola
Ken Silberstein
Greg Himmelbrand
Cathy Dever
Izzet Burak Temel
Nancy Martin
Emad Alabsi
Rob Yaas
Erik Rivkin
Justin Liberto
Jeffrey Spence
Rocco Luciano
Alex Queen
AJ DeNicco
Amanda Musumeci
Matt Glantz
James Anderson

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Level Going Up

Level 11 is about to begin, with blinds going up to 800/1,600/200 (total entries at 92).  There are seven active tables in the room, which means we have about 63 players left from the total number.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Queen Busts Shulman

Level 10 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 92

Alex Queen

Alex Queen looked down at AK in the big blind after TJ Shulman had pushed from late position.  He would make the call and be in good position as his AK > AQ on TJ, and Queen would chip up to over 94,000.

Queen is currently seated at one of the tougher tables in the room (even though they all seem tough), with Ryan Eriquezzo, Rocco Luciano, and AJ DeNicco.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Just Desserts

Level 10 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 91

One trend we've seen since the Big Stax series have been running is a good number of players waiting until after dinner break to enter.  If you entered now you would sit down at the table with 41 bigs, which still plays super deep.

The only player to enter post dinner was Ari Albilia (Syosset, NY), who is looking for his second ever cash at Parx, with his first coming earlier in the series.  Ari is only a healthy cash away from pushing his career earnings over $500,000, with his breakout scores coming in 2012 Foxwoods World Poker Finals main ($184,000) and 2011 Borgata Fall Poker Open main ($138,000).

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Back From Dinner

Level 10 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 90

Players are getting settled once again post dinner, and Joe Gola comes back with the chip lead.  Joe is the only player over 200,000, with Matt Glantz in a close second (180,000).

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Going To Dinner

Players are on their way to dinner, with (75) before they have to return.  Level 10 will resume (along with live coverage) at approximately 7:40pm.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): You Own My Soul

Level 9 (Blinds 500/1,000/100)
Total Entries: 90

Home Court Advantage

Matt Glantz opened the pot for 2,200, and was three-bet by Alan Kraut.  After a four and five bet, all of the chips got in the middle pre:

Kraut: K K♣            Glantz: Q Q♠

Flop: K♠ J♠ 8

Turn: 7♠

River: 6♠

After the river hit, Alan looked at Glantz and said, "You just own my soul," the comment getting a big laugh from the table.  Matt mentioned that being his home court advantage, and he will go to dinner one of the chip leaders in the room (165,0000).

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): McColgan Busts First Bullet

Level 9 (Blinds 500/1,000/100)
Total Entries: 90

Kevin McColgan checked the 10 6 3 flop in a mutli-way pot which included Emad Alabsi, Nancy Martin, and one other player.  The unknown player bet 6,000, and Alabsi raised to 14,000, leaving the action back to Kevin once Nancy folded.  McColgan then declared himself all-in for 32,000, and was immediately called by Alabsi (after a fold from the original bettor).  McColgan's 10 6 (flopped top two) was behind the 3 3 (set of threes) of Alabsi, and could not fill up to come from behind.

It's yet to be determined if Kevin will be seen again today, but we're sure to see him once again before the three Day 1's conclude.  Emad Alabsi is now up to 115,000.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Familiar With Each Other

Level 8 (Blinds 400/800/100)
Total Entries: 87

Seated right next to each other at Table 74 is Henry Guttman (Brooklyn, NY) and Izzet Burak Temel (Arlington, VA).  The two players have formed a little history, having spent most of Day 3 in the Big Stax 500 at the same table (and final table).

Guttman took a pretty brutal beat to get eliminated in fifth place after his 99 < 99 of James Anderson, as Anderson rivered a flush to keep them from a chop.  He did end up taking home $17,747 for his finish, and is already off to a solid start to the day.

Temel ended up chopping the tournament, signing for first place and taking home just under $70,000.  Temel had his stack up to 90,000 before the second break of the day, but is now back to starting stack (which is still over 50 bigs).

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Levelin' Up/In And Out

Level 8 is about to begin with blinds going up to 400/800/100 (84 total entries).  During the last level we lost a handful of players, those of which included Rocco Luciano and Greg Fishberg.  Rocco has already re-entered and found his seat at Table 72, with Alex Queen and AJ DeNicco.

Joe "The Jeweler" Gola walked into the room for the first time today, trying to reach his second final table of the tournament.  Joe chopped the Big Stax 300 earlier in the series, signing for third place and taking home $50,000.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Satellites Abound

Level 7 (Blinds 300/600/100)
Total Entries: 83

There are ways to play in the main event without shelling out the $1600 entry fee, and we saw last night that the satellites are super popular.  Last night's Black Chip Bounty Super Satellite ($220) had 294 runners, and gave 17 players the opportunity to get into this event for that cost.  There are two more satellites being ran between now and the end of play on Day 1C:

Friday March 7 (7:00pm) - $200 + 30 Super Satellite

Saturday March 8 (9:00am) - $150 + 25 Super Turbo Satellite (This satellite starts early and will get you immediately into the event on Day 1C)

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Break Time/Chip Counts

Players are going on their second break of the day, and when they return to Level 7 the blinds will have increased to 300/600/100.  Here is a short list of chip counts going into break:

Greg Himmelbrand - 109,000
Alan Kraut - 90,000
Ryan Eriquezzo - 90,000
Cathy Dever - 85,000
Izzet Burak Temel - 74,000
Henry Guttman - 72,000
Alex Queen - 60,000
Dan Wach - 56,000
James Anderson - 56,000
Rocco Luciano - 55,000
AJ DeNicco - 50,000
Kevin McColgan - 48,000
Justin Liberto - 43,000
Nancy Martin - 38,000
Erik Rivkin - 38,000
Matt Glantz - 37,000
Abe Faroni - 37,000
Amanda Musumeci - 36,000

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Handful Of Busts

Level 6 (Blinds 250/500/50)
Total Entries: 81

The action started off pretty slow, but we just saw seven players eliminated in a span of (30) minutes, some of which are already on their way back in:


Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Still Shots

Level 5 (Blinds 200/400/50)
Total Entries: 76

Players are moments away from starting Level 6, with the blinds going up to 250/500/50.  We caught some players already in action during the beginning stages of the day:

Dan Wach

James Anderson

Eric Rivkin

Greg Himmelbrand

Alex Queen

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): In Other News

Level 4 (Blinds 150/300/50)
Total Entries: 74

One thing that was learned earlier this week is that you can never really count on the weather forecast.  The Omaha 8/B tournament was cancelled Monday in order to protect the safety of both the players and staff.  The players really gave a push via Twitter to get the tournament scheduled back in, and with a little persistence and hard work…it's back on!!

The Omaha 8/B tournament originally scheduled for Monday March 3 has been RESCHEDULED for Monday March 10 at 11:00am.

And also in other news, Level 5 is about to begin with the blinds and antes going up to 200/400/50.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Picture Of Consistency

Level 4 (Blinds 150/300/50)
Total Entries: 72

Ari Engel

Ari Engel may reside in Las Vegas, NV, but he spends most of his time traveling the world playing tournament poker.  His poker resume could fill up the pages of a novel, so breaking it down into numbers may be slightly easier:

Total Live Tournament Earnings: $1,426,000
Total Live Recorded Cashes: 101
Total Online Earnings: 2,100,000
WSOP Circuit Rings: 6 (T-2nd All-Time)
2012 Number Of Cashes: 33rd (Worldwide)
2013 Number Of Cashes: 3rd
2014 Number Of Cashes: 64th

Engel consistently goes deep in tournaments, as you can see by his rankings in number of cashes by year.  His best score came late last year when he won the HPT St. Louis $1600 Main Event for over $142,000.  Considering that is his biggest live score compared to what his lifetime earnings are, it only furthers the belief that Ari may be the most consistent player in the game.



Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Also In The Field

Level 4 (Blinds 150/300/50)
Total Entries: 68

Players have returned from break, and more notables have entered the field:

Cathy Dever
Justin Liberto
Abe Faroni
Ken Silberstein
Eric Rivkin

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Break Time Counts

Here are some counts from the first break:

Henry Guttman - 74,000
Dan Wach - 56,000
Alexander Queen - 55,000
AJ DeNicco - 53,000
Izzet Burak Temel - 53,000
Ryan Eriquezzo - 52,000
Greg Fishberg - 42,000
Nancy Martin - 41,000
Amanda Musumeci - 38,000
Ari Engel - 23,500

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): First Break

Players are going on their first break of the day, and will return after (15) minutes, posting blinds of 150/300/50.  The total number of entries has gone up to 62, and the field seemingly gets tougher as each new face walks in.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): A Little Exposure

Level 3 (Blinds 100/200/50)
Total Entries: 63



Kevin "Kevmath" Mathers would be one of the first names on the Mt. Rushmore of poker media, and one of the most popular names when it comes to the poker communities Twitter feed.  Kevin let the poker world know where to follow updates from this event, and many eyes are going to be on the outcome.  The fields we have had this week have been nothing short of staggering, and with exposure like this, we can only expect for things to continue to grow.

Kevin will be playing in this event (Day 1C), and it will be the second time he's been to the room, but first main he's entered here.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): In The Field

Level 3 (Blinds 100/200/50)
Total Entries: 59

The field at the moment is playing on seven tables in the clubhouse room, and although things are intimate this afternoon, there aren't many spots.  Here is a short list of those currently seated in the room:

Ryan Eriquezzo
Amanda Musumeci
TJ Shulman
Greg Himmelbrand
Henry Guttman
Izzet Burak Temel
Alan Kraut
Kevin McColgan
Ari Engel
Dan Wach
Nancy Martin
AJ DeNicco
Robert Pyne
Robert Yass
Paul Shedaker

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Level Up

The first level of the day is in the books, and blinds will be going up to 75/150.  The 50,000 starting stack makes the play incredibly deep, especially in the very early stages of the tournament.  As the clubhouse room fills up, we will bring you more faces in the crowd.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Shuffling In

Level 1 (Blinds 50/100)
Total Entries: TBD

There are a handful of notables who decided to show up bright and early this afternoon, including local pro Alex Queen:


Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): Cards In The Air

Level 1 (Blinds 100/200)
Total Entries: TBD

The "early birds" are taking their seats in the clubhouse room, as the main trophy event of the series kicks off in just moments.  We are sure to see many familiar faces, including some that haven't been in any of the earlier fields.  Day 1A is usually a good barometer of how the field size will end up, and if today is anything like the other Day 1A's of the series, everyone is in for a welcome surprise.

Big Stax 1500 (Day 1A): It Begins Again

After two trophy events that saw record breaking fields, many players are looking forward to seeing how the Big Stax 150 unfolds.  Cards will be in the air at 11:00am, and live coverage of Day 1A will begin shortly thereafter.