Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Final Five Tables

Level 24 (Blinds 15,000/30,000/5,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 41

Here is a table layout for the remaining field:

Table 45:

1. Jose Montes
2. Stephen Press
3. Neal Gay 
4. A. Nonymous
5. Trevor Savage
6. (Empty)
7. Josh Lehrman
8. Tony Cheng
9. Jeffrey Spence

Table 46:

1. Charles Urrutia
2. Adam Sanders
3. David Heck
4. Alan Kraut
5. Dan Wach
6. A. Nonymous
7. Horatio Hu
8. Mike Azzaro
9. David Kim

Table 51:

1. Daniel Chan
2. Sergio Loureiro
3. Craig Lozak
4. Ed Blount
5. (Empty)
6. Richard Guadagnino
7. Bill Strong
8. Robert Sembler
9. Chris Curtin

Table 52:

1. Scott Blackman
2. Rich Lipson
3. (Empty)
4. Vincent Caesar
5. Juan Valdez
6. Jesse Mercado
7. Brian Santiago
8. Sean Wright
9. Frederick Ferrell

Table 54:

1. James Nguyen
2. A. Nonymous
3. Mike Gelaso
4. (Empty)
5. Justin Liberto
6. Kevin Tran
7. Dennis Thurman
8. Anthony Gorafalo
9. H. Trillo

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Final Day 2 Break

Level 24 (Blinds 15,000/30,000/5,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 41

The remaining (41) players are going on the final (10) minute break of the night, and they will return to Level 24 and blinds of 15,000/30,000/5,000.  A list of the full field remaining will be posted shortly after they return from break.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): 46th-54th Places ($1,676)

Level 23 (Blinds 12,000/24,000/4,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 45

The following players have cashed in the Big Stax 300 for $1,676:

46. Bartholomew Golik (Brooklyn, NY)
47. Michael Marder (Sewell, NJ)
48. Andrew Lydon (Royersford, PA)
49. Alek Givotovsky (New York, NY)
50. Sean Wallace (Horsham, PA)
51. Dominick Giovanniello (Howard Beach, NY)
52. Timothy Cook (Media, PA)
53. Andrew Mullens (Philadelphia, PA)
54. Patrick Cahn (Brooklyn, NY)

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): The Wright River

Level 23 (Blinds 12,000/24,000/4,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 46

Sean Wright

Walking over to Table 52, Sean Wright would open the pot in early position to 60,000.  The action would fold to Jamie Kerstetter on the button, who would three-bet to 115,000.  After the small blind folded, Juan Valdez would four-bet to 312,000.  Action would be back on Wright and he would take his time, thinking for about 2-3 minutes.  He finally shoved his chips across the line (387,000), and Jamie quickly folded:

Valdez: 9♣ 9♦
Wright: Q♦ Q♣

Runout: 9♠ 5♦ A♣ 7♣ Q♥

Valdez would flop a set, with Wright staring down at the board just shocked at what was unfolding.  The turn would bring no help to Sean, but when the dealer placed the queen on the river, the whole table gave a collaborative reaction.  Sean would double to 800,000, while Valdez dropped down to 750,000.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Montes Updates The Fans On Twitter

Level 23 (Blinds 12,000/24,000/4,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 52

Jose Montes 

Jose Montes's Day 2 timeline:

2:30pm - 360,000
5:30pm - 270,000
7:30pm - 381,000
9:35pm - 720,000
9:45pm - 990,000
10:36pm - 2,400,000

Won 1.2 mil pot my JJ vs 99 up too 2.4mil gotta be close to Chipleader #parxbigstax
— Jose Montes (@suganills) August 4, 2014

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): 55th-63rd Places ($1,414)

Level 23 (Blinds 12,000/24,000/4,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 53

The following players have cashed in the Big Stax 300 for $1,414:

55. Joseph Mancini (Philadelphia, PA)
56. Anthony Arneiri (Lumberton, NJ)
57. Jeremy Hendricks (Bloomsburg, PA)
58. Byung Yoo (Norwood, NJ)
59. Tam Le (Lawrenceville, NJ)
60. Dennis Lisovskiy (Holland, PA)
61. AJ DeNicco (Pottstown, PA)
62. Jeremy Brown (Brooklawn, NJ)
63. Matteo Menna (Drexel, PA)

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Thurman Joins The Top Tier

Level 23 (Blinds 12,000/24,000/4,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 55

Dennis Thurman (Fisk, MO)

Dennis Thurman (Fisk, MO) is here as a testament to the great structure and value of this event.  He travels the country playing tournaments, and made sure this tournament was on his schedule. He's done a good job of navigating this field in an under the radar fashion, but he can't hide anymore.

Tony Cheng would open the pot at Table 53 to 80,000.  After action folded around to Dennis in the big blind, he would make the call.  The two would see a flop of Jx 10x 7x, and after Thurman checked, Cheng would announce himself all-in (covering Dennis).  Dennis would quickly make the call for the pot worth close to 1,900,000, and he'd have a solid grip on the hand.  Thurman tabled 7x 7x (bottom set), and would be up against the Qx Qx of Cheng.  The turn and river would bring no help to Cheng, and Dennis would double to 1,925,000.  After absorbing the loss, Cheng would be down to 550,000.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Break Time/Updated Chip Counts

Level 23 (Blinds 12,000/24,000/4,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 57

Players are heading on a (10) minute break, and they will return to Level 23 and blinds of 12,000/24,000/4,000.  Here are some updated chip counts as players empty the tournament area:

Richard Guadagnino - 2,200,000
James Nguyen - 1,900,000
Stephen Press - 1,800,000
Daniel Chan - 1,800,000
Scott Blackman - 1,700,000
Dan Wach - 1,700,000
Tony Cheng - 1,600,000
Justin Liberto - 1,600,000
Neal Gay - 1,400,000

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Chan Chips Way Up

Level 22 (Blinds 10,000/20,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 58

Daniel Chan (New York, NY)

There was a huge pot brewing at Table 51, as three players were effectively all-in for a pot worth 1,700,000:

Flop: Q♦ 5♠ 4♠

Daniel Chan: K♥ Q♥
Denis Lisovskiy: Q♣ 7♥
Tam Le: K♠ J♠

Turn: 3♦
River: J♦

Daniel Chan's hand would manage to hold against both Le and Lisovskiy, and he'd scoop up the pot to chip up to 1,800,000.  He's close to double the average at the moment, with players about to go on break (and blinds going up).

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): 64th-72nd Places ($1,152)

Level 22 (Blinds 10,000/20,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 63

The following players have cashed in the Big Stax 300 for $1,152:

64. Joshua Albright (Mountville, PA)
65. Terrance Marchio (Hanover, PA)
66. Ferdinand Chong (White Plains, NY)
67. Matthew Giametta (West Islip, NY)
68. Jamar Ross (Drexel Hill, PA)
69. Joe Reddick (Bronx, NY)
70. Sing Cen (Stony Brook, NY)
71. John Kroetz (Southampton, PA)
72. Hal Neeman (Mt. Laurel, NJ)

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Spence Gets A Double

Level 22 (Blinds 10,000/20,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 69

Jeffrey Spence (King Of Prussia, PA)

The action at Table 45 would be caught just as Jeffrey Spence was pushing forward his full stack of chips across the line.  Spence opened from late position and was three-bet by Anthony Garofalo.  After Spence four-bet shoved, Garofalo made the call and the hands were tabled:

Spence: A♦ K♥
Garofalo: 9♠ 9♦

Flop: 6♠ K♠ J♠
Turn: 4♦
River: Q♦

Although Jeffrey would flop a pair to take the lead, he still had to sweat any spade.  The red turn and river would give Spence the double, and he is now over 1,100,000.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): 73rd-81st Places ($996)

Level 22 (Blinds 10,000/20,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 72

The following players have cashed in the Big Stax 300 for $996:

73. Trevor Deeter (Langhorne, PA)
74. Alex Queen (Bethlehem, PA)
75. Joseph Mosca (Bronx, NY)
76. David Reilly (Brooklyn, NY)
77. Shane Clements (Virginia Beach, VA)
78. Brett Baumeister (Exton, PA)
79. Tim Bryan (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
80. Ken Silberstein (Edison, NJ)
81. Joe McKeehen (North Wales, PA)

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Notables And Their Counts

Level 22 (Blinds 10,000/20,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 75

Before a long list of chip counts for notables still remaining in posted, we must reminder those following the action that the blind levels are now (90) minutes.  The quality of players still remaining is very high, even the players that may not be household names to the recreational follower are still solid.  Here are the notables that recreational followers recognize (and their chip counts):

Justin Liberto - 1,400,000
Alek Givotovsky - 1,400,000
Scott Blackman - 1,200,000
Dan Wach - 1,200,000
Sean Wallace - 1,000,000
David Kim - 960,000
Mike Azzaro - 930,000
Patrick Chan - 880,000
Alan Kraut - 760,000
Trevor Savage - 700,000
Joe Black - 600,000
Jeffrey Spence - 600,000
Jamie Kerstetter - 560,000
Matteo Menna - 420,000
Trevor Deeter - 400,000
AJ DeNicco - 390,000
Michael Marder - 340,000

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Back From Dinner

Level 22 (Blinds 10,000/20,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 75

Dinner break has come and gone, and the (75) remaining players are ready to finish off the final three levels of the night.  The chip average of 735,000 is (36) big blinds, which still leaves a lot of deep play, even for players that are just under average.  Lots of big names still remain, but a lot of time is still left in the day.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Dinner Break

Level 21 (Blinds 8,000/16,000/2,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 80

Players are about to head on a (75) minute dinner break which will last from 6:55pm-8:10pm.  When they return from dinner, players will be posting blinds of 10,000/20,000/3,000.  The field is now down to three ladies as Anna Khait busts in 83rd place just moments ago.  The night will continue after dinner through the conclusion of Level 24 (or) if the field reaches the final table (whichever comes first).  Players will then bag their chips for Day 3, which begins tomorrow at 1:00pm.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Savage Triples Right Before Break

Level 21 (Blinds 8,000/16,000/2,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 78

Trevor Savage (Mantua, NJ) had been grinding a below average stack for the past few levels, and was about to go to dinner with 200,000 (which would of been ten blinds coming back).  After a shove from a short stack in middle position (240,000), and a re-shove from the button (320,000), Savage would be thinking in the big blind.  Eventually he would make the call and his 10♦ 10♥ would best A♠ K♠ and A♦ Q♣, tripling up to 680,000.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): 82nd-90th Places ($943)

Level 21 (Blinds 8,000/16,000/2,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 78

The following players have cashed in the Big Stax 300 for $943:

82. Johnathan Borenstein (Teaneck, NJ)
83. Anna Khait (Staten Island, NY)
84. Richard Rodrigo (Lavalette, NJ)
85. Richard Devivo (Phoenixville, PA)
86. Kent Wuethrich (Sugar Run, PA)
87. Paul Antzoulis (Maspeth, NY)
88. John Banh (Aldan, PA)
89. Duane McCrory (Malvern, PA)
90. Deding Xu (Philadelphia, PA)

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Chip Counts Before Dinner

Level 21 (Blinds 8,000/16,000/2,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 83

Stephen Press (Staten Island, NY)

There are still a lot of solid, well-known players remaining in the field, but the player leading the way is a relative unknown.  Stephen Press (Staten Island, NY) has one career cash to his name, but it's not too shabby.  Press finished runner-up in a $350 No Limit Hold'em Event at Borgata during the Borgata Winter Poker Open, collecting $33,456.  Press is currently sitting with 2,650,000 in front of him, and leads the way by almost 1,000,000:

Stephen Press - 2,650,000
Justin Liberto - 1,700,000
Juan Valdez - 1,650,000
Neal Gay - 1,500,000
Bartholomew Golik - 1,300,000
Scott Blackman - 1,300,000
Dan Wach - 1,100,000
Craig Lozak - 1,000,000
Josh Lehrman - 1,000,000
Ken Silberstein - 900,000

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): 91st-108th Places ($839)

Level 21 (Blinds 8,000/16,000/2,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 85

The following players have cashed in the Big Stax 300 for $839:

91. Gretchen Sonne (Red Lion, PA)
92. Christopher Csik (Hoboken, NJ)
93. Adam Lagreca (Hillsborough, NJ)
94. Eugene Gorelik (Brooklyn, NY)
95. Mike Linster (Island Park, NY)
96. Rocco Luciano (Philadelphia, PA)
97. Robert Murphy (Lexington, NC)
98. Jay Frey (Tully, NY)
99. Kevin Johnson (Raritan, NJ)
100. Tim Little (Cheverly, MD)
101. Stephen Ricchini (Philadelphia, PA)
102. Christopher Horter (Bensalem, PA)
103. David Pollack (Levittown, NY)
104. Jason Rivkin (Bensalem, PA)
105. Christopher Palmieri (Hoboken, NJ)
106. Joe Wertz (Absecon, NJ)
107. Milton Jaffee (Staten Island, NY)
108. Adir Davidov (Parts Unknown, USA)

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Csik Flopped Thin

Level 21 (Blinds 8,000/16,000/2,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 91

Armine Mandjian

After an open at Table 47 from big stack Steven Press, Chris Csik shoved his remaining ten bigs (120,000).  Armine Mandjian would be next to act, and she would shove as well for 200,000.  The action would fold around to Press, who would push his hand towards the muck and the two players would table their hands:

Mandjian: K♣ K♥
Csik: K♠ J♣

Runout: 9♥ 9♦ 9♣ 10♦ 8♣

Armine would have Csik drawing to just running jacks, and when the ten was placed on the turn, the day would be over for Chris.  Mandjian would chip up to 380,000 with the pot and become second in chips amongst the ladies left.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): The Final Four

Level 20 (Blinds 6,000/12,000/2,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 94

Jamie Kerstetter

With (93) players still active in the field, just four or those players are ladies.  Big Stax saw its first female champion earlier this year, when Maggie Morris won the Big Stax 300 for $90,000 (three-way chop with Morris receiving for highest amount).

Here are the ladies still playing along with their chip counts:

Jamie Kerstetter - 450,000
Gretchen Sonne - 290,000
Anna Khait - 270,000
Armine Mandjian - 210,000

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): 109th-144th Places ($790)

Level 20 (Blinds 6,000/12,000/2,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 108

The following players have cashed in the Big Stax 300 for $790:

109. Ray Ross (Glen Mills, PA)
110. Milos Scekic (North Massapequa, NY)
111. Anthony Tonzelli (Philadelphia, PA)
112. Frank Ingardia (Monroe Township, NJ)
113. Sergio Cecoltan (Glen Rock, NJ)
114. Jesse Willgruber (Philadelphia, PA)
115. Glenn Macartney (Phildelphia, PA)
116. A. Nonymous (Parts Unknown, USA)
117. Joe Palma (Bensalem, PA)
118. Tuan Vuong (Reading, PA)
119. Gianni Arcuri (Staten Island, NY)
120. Derek Staib (Wilmington, DE)
121. Eddie Bryant (New Elleton, SC)
122. Glen Brechemin (Wilmington, DE)
123. Ahmad Amzi (Parts Unknown, USA)
124. Joseph Agron (Langhorne, PA)
125. Colbert Silva (Paterson, NJ)
126. Christopher Larrea (Philadelphia, PA)
127. James Ingram (Trenton, NJ)
128. Scott Blumenfeld (Rockville, MD)
129. Bo Toft (Yardley, PA)
130. Anirban Roy (Bethlehem, PA)
131. Roakim Brochard (Wantaugh, NY)
132. Dave Wheeler (Hamilton, NJ)
133. Vinny Napolitano (Williston Park, NY)
134. Scott Blumstein (Morristown, NJ)
135. Mike Cannon (Harrisburg, PA)
136. Nikola Curanovic (Bronx, NY)
137. Bharathku Ramanna (Dayton, NJ)
138. Phil Glass (Philadelphia, PA)
139. Justin Dodds (Philadelphia, PA)
140. Ricardo Franco (Philadelphia, PA)
141. Craig Mason (Levittown, NY)
142. Dan Dizenzo (Vernon, NJ)
143. Kyle Norton (Stony Point, NY)
144. Jason Oury (Fairview, NJ)

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Break Time Chip Counts

Level 19 (Blinds 5,000/10,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 113

Players are about to head on their second break of the day, and they will return to Level 20 and blinds of 6,000/12,000/2,000.  Here are some updated counts as players head to break:

Bartholomew Golik - 1,600,000
Juan Valdez - 1,500,000
Neal Gay - 1,400,000
Richard Guadagnino - 1,300,000
Mike Azzaro - 1,200,000
Justin Liberto - 1,200,000
Alex Queen - 1,200,000
Alek Givotovsky - 1,200,000
Ferdinand Chong - 1,100,000
Josh Lehrman - 1,100,000
David Kim - 1,000,000
Steven Press - 990,000
Ken Silberstein - 950,000
Scott Blackman - 900,000
Sergio Loureiro - 900,000
Ed Blount - 850,000

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Familiar Territory For Liberto

Level 19 (Blinds 5,000/10,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 123

Justin Liberto (Baltimore, MD)

Justin Liberto (Baltimore, MD) and Joe McKeehen were at adjacent tables, with a lot of talking going on between the two when they weren't in hands.  Things just got a little easier on the vocal chords as McKeehen's table just broke, and he ended up at Table 80 with Liberto.

Justin is looking to make back-to-back final tables (Big Stax), finishing runner-up to Adity Prasetyo in last series Big Stax 1500.  Liberto has put himself in solid position to make Day 3, currently sitting with 1,260,000 (over 120 big blinds).

If there was a "player of the series" title given away during Big Stax VI, it would of surely been Liberto.  Justin chopped the Big Stax 300 with Alex Queen ($61,000), finished 18th in the Big Stax 500 ($2,920), and ended it off with a 2nd place finish in the Big Stax 1500 ($70,845).

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): 145th-197th Place ($685)

Level 19 (Blinds 5,000/10,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 144

The following players have cashed in the Big Stax 300 for $685:

145. Ragivan Thiagarjah (Marlton, NJ)
146. Michael Reno (Morgantown, WV)
147. Russell Bisker (Annandale, VA)
148. Qi Ha (Millburn, NJ)
149. Ari Albilia (Syosset, NY)
150. Venkata Potluri (Middletown, NJ)
151. James Reilly (Easton, PA)
152. Robert O'Rourke (West Long Branch, NJ)
153. Anthony Velocci (Little Falls, NJ)
154. Todor Blazevski (Wayne, NJ)
155. Anthony Anastasi (Glen Mills, PA)
156. Andrew Zhu (South Plainfield, NJ)
157. Bryan Garrett (Havertown, PA)
158. Gene Raman (Mt. Laurel, NJ)
159. Pearson Potter (Philadelphia, PA)
160. John Robinson (Philadelphia, PA)
161. Adam Hueber (Chalfont, PA)
162. Vito Sparacio (Lansdale, PA)
163. Scott Fitz-Gerald (Philadelphia, PA)
164. Tim Ward (Bridgewater, NJ)
165. Deeneash Krishnanand (Kew Gardens, NY)
166. Antonio Schiro (Ridgewood, NJ)
167. Brittany Havern (New York, NY)
168. Kirkor Tekneci (Whitestone, NY)
169. Patrick Halter (Bryn Mawr, PA)
170. Alex Rocha (South Setauket, NY)
171. Philip Marino (Fredericksburg, VA)
172. Brian Neugenboren (New York, NY)
173. Lewis Saxon (Philadelphia, PA)
174. Cary Poulos (Feasterville, PA)
175. William Samford (Mt. Vernon, NY)
176. Reece Lightner (Philadelphia, PA)
177. DeeAngelo Seng (Sicklerville, PA)
178. Nicholas Marino (Haverford, PA)
179. Jeff Wicker (Bristol, PA)
180. Steven Juricek (Waldwick, NY)
181. Jake Perry (Branchville, NJ)
182. Matthew Silberzweig (Elmont, NY)
183. Anthony Potis (Philadelphia, PA)
184. Dominick Lopresti (Randolph, NJ)
185. Eric Ornstein (Centereach, NY)
186. Sarah Mihalik (Bordentown, NJ)
187. Jacob Neff (Philadelphia, PA)
188. Mohammed Farah (Bensalem, PA)
189. Luis Rodriguez (Philadelphia, PA)
190. Dan Sewnig (Yardville, NJ)
191. Steven Efferin (Bayonne, NJ)
192. Yuriy Kalantarov (Rego Park, NY)
193. Josh Gilkerson (Huntingdon, WV)
194. Hee Im (Flushing, NY)
195, William Pastorick (Rydal, PA)
196. Jon Peterson (Bethlehem, PA)
197. Joe Montervino (Yardville, NJ)

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Updated Chip Counts

Level 18 (Blinds 4,000/8,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 149

We are close to the first pay jump of the day, as the first (52) players to cash receive $685.  A lot of large stacks are taking shape across the room, with many notables towards the top of the list:

Juan Valdez - 1,450,000
Ferdinand Chong - 1,300,000
Patrick Chan - 1,000,000
Steven Press - 950,000
Johnathan Borenstein - 900,000
Alek Givotovsky - 880,000
Dan Wach - 860,000
Scott Blackman - 775,000
Mike Azzaro - 770,000
Joe McKeehen - 740,000
Foster Haines - 710,000
Sean Wallace - 705,000
Joe Black - 690,000
Paul Antzoulis - 590,000
Tevor Deeter - 510,000
Justin Liberto - 400,000

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Lots Of Heroes Still Alive

Level 18 (Blinds 4,000/8,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 168

With the first rush of players making their way towards the cage to get paid, it's time to recognize the players that are still alive in the field (not all the heroes are listed):

Dan Wach
Mike Azzaro
Trevor Savage
Sean Wallace
Jeffrey Spence
Scott Blumstein
Ray Ross
Rocco Luciano
Bo Toft
Joe McKeehen
Joe Black
Trevor Deeter
Anna Khait
Dan Dizenzo
Alex Queen
Joe Palma
David Kim
Gretchen Sonne

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Break Time

Players are currently on a (15) minute break, and when they return to Level 18, the blinds will have gone up to 4,000/8,000/1,000.  The Twitter-verse is pretty alive with updated on this first break of the day:

605k 4k/8k/1k when we resume 183 left avg 302k
— Matteo Menna (@matteo__menna) August 3, 2014

111k coming back 4k/8k @parxpokerroom 189 left
— Eddie Bryant (@imonfreelunch1) August 3, 2014

Turned my 6bb in to at least a min cash! Now ITM and holding hands under the table with @JamieKerstetter . Lets build (our life together).
— alex rocha (@THE_ALEX_ROCHA) August 3, 2014

In the money @parxpokerroom #ParxBigStax. 277,000 coming back to 8k/1k. Let's make a run here?
— Michael Marder (@MMarder86) August 3, 2014

ITM @parxpokerroom Horrific last level to go from 400k to 180k. Heading back to 4k-8k
— Jake Perry (@JakePerry12) August 3, 2014

On break, ITM. Rough first level... Lost 200k pot early on with set vs running 4 card straight.. but built it back up to starting stack #lfg
— Anna Khait (@Annakhait) August 3, 2014

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Welch's Bustout Bursts Bubble

Level 17 (Blinds 3,000/6,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 197

Charles Welch was one of the players to buy-in for the six blinds at the beginning of the day today, but his dream run just ended on the stone bubble.  Welch shoved his ten big blind stack from middle position and was called by Paul Antzoulis.  Charles ran his pocket tens into the pocket jacks of Antzoulis, and with no help during the runout, Welch would bust in 198th place (one short of the money).

The remaining players will all earn their respective piece of the prize fund, and get a (20) minute break in just a few moments while the tournament floor colors off the purple (500 denomination chips).  Once each pay jump is reached, the full list of players to cash will be posted.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Play Enters Hand-For-Hand

Level 17 (Blinds 3,000/6,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 198

The clock is now paused with 19:00 showing, as the tournament supervisor announces that players are now hand-for-hand.  The next player to be eliminated from the field will be the only person of those remaining to walk away without getting paid.  The min-cash in this event is $685, with a handful of players to buy-in this morning still alive.  Table 71 has just been broken, and once those players find their new homes, the cards will be in the air.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Approaching The Bubble

Level 17 (Blinds 3,000/6,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 209

With 197 players getting paid in this event, and 209 now remaining, the field is creeping close to the money bubble.  Seth Zimmerman's (New York, NY) bubble sweat is no longer alive, as action at Table 45 was picked up on the flop of 2 3 5.  Seth would be up against Andrew Zhu, who had just checked from the big blind.  Zimmerman was all-in for 138,000 and Andrew was contemplating his decision.  After about three minutes, Andrew would announce a call and the hands would be tabled:

Zhu: A♦ 5♦         Zimmerman: 9♣ 9♦ 

Flop: 2♠ 3♥ 5♥

Turn: 5♠

River: J♥

Seth took a second to stare over at Zhu's hand, almost in shock that not only did he get called, but that he lost the hand.  Other names to fall short of the money include Jason Paster, Joe Cappuccio, and Katie Stone.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): First Over 1,000,000

Level 17 (Blinds 3,000/6,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 221

Juan Valdez

"Did you see the guy who won the million chip pot," one of the railbirds asked the media.  In a short recap, Juan Valdez got it in aces versus kings on a king high flop, but Juan would run out a flush to win the pot (putting him over one million).

Walking over to confirm the exact count for Valdez, he'd be on the river of a pot against Dan Sewnig.  There would already be close to 170,000 in the pot, on a board of Q♥ 9♥ 3♦ 2♣ K♠.  Valdez would have a river bet of 140,000 in front of him, and Sewnig would be deep in the tank.  Sewnig would eventually decide to make the call, and Juan would show 2x 2x (bottom set), which would go for the pot and would bring Valdez up to 1,450,000.

Valdez is the clear chip leader early in Day 2, and is looking to best his largest career score to date of $5,187.  That cash came two series ago when he finished 9th at the Big Stax 300 (Big Stax V) final table.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): "Just Running Hot"

Level 17 (Blinds 3,000/6,000/1,000)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 252

David Kim (Flushing, NY)

David Kim bagged 331,500 on Day 1A, before heading home to Brigantine for the weekend to partake in some cash game and relaxation.  Kim would return in a big way as he turns his Day 2 starting stack into 570,000.  David would just turn around with a rye smile and say, "I'm just running hot."  Kim has Big Stax series success, having chopped the Big Stax 1000 a year ago during the Big Stax III series ($39,828).

Notables continue to drop from the field as well, including last nights story Anna Antimony.  Anna would win one of the biggest pots yesterday, as her aces held in a multi-way all-in pot, but she would end up bagging less than (30) big blinds.  Antimony busted just moments ago, joining Asher Conniff and Matthew Kustafik, two others to bust in the first level of Day 2.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Field's More Compact

Level 16 (Blinds 2,500/5,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 270

The tables that were situated in both the high limit area and outer tournament area (primarily cash game tables) have all been broken, which means the field of 270 players remaining is now in the roped off tournament area for the first time.  The field lost about (20) players over the first thirty minutes of the day, including the likes of:

Jeff Gross
Benny Bianco
Chris VanDuersen

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): The Stories Keep Popping Up

Level 16 (Blinds 2,500/5,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 279

As the first level of the day is just about half the way through, more stories of players buying in this morning are showing up on Twitter.  It will be interesting to note who this series "story" will be, building up the six blinds into mountains:

@parxpokerroom 2nd hand guy opens to 13,I jam 29,blinds fold,he calls.My KK>44.Full dbl +.1 more n I'm table chip leader #wow #ParxBigStax
— Charles Welch (@CamIsTheMan718) August 3, 2014

Stole the blinds then doubled! 87k and a dream! #parxbigstax
— Jason Paster (@JasonPaster) August 3, 2014

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Payouts

Level 16 (Blinds 2,500/5,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 288

Big Stax VII 
August 1-4, 2014

Big Stax 300 ($300 + 30 No Limit Hold'em)
$150,000 Guarantee

Total Entries: 1,848
Total Prize Fund: $526,680

Payouts:

1. $108,035
2. $64,996
3. $33,546
4. $23,063
5. $17,822
6. $13,628
7. $10,483
8. $8,020
9. $6,290

10-12. $4,613

13-15. $4,193

16-18. $3,826

19-21. $3,459

22-24. $3,040

25-27. $2,621

28-36. $2,254

37-45. $1,939

46-54. $1,677

55-63. $1,415

64-72. $1,153

73-81. $996

82-90. $943

91-108. $839

108-144. $786
145-197. $681

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): The Success Stories Start

Level 16 (Blinds 2,500/5,000/500)
Total Entries: 1,848
Players Remaining: 290

Alex Rocha (South Setauket, NY)

These stories are not much of a surprise anymore, as players buying in with (6) big blinds have actually found some success in this event.  Alex Rocha (South Setauket, NY) grinded an average stack throughout the entire day yesterday, but ended up failing to bag any chips.

Rocha bought in this morning and sat down with the 30,000 starting stack.  The action would fold to him the first hand of the day (Rocha on the button), and he would shove his stack.  Both blinds would call, and after action checked through the runout, Rocha's A 5 was good for the win (ace high), and he triples up the first hand to over 90,000.

We've also seen the other side of the spectrum, as a handful of players busted the first few hands, including Jeff Gross (who bought in today), who was just seen leaving the tournament area.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Let's Have A Good Clean Fight

Level 16 (Blinds 2,500/5,000/500)

Total Entries: 1,847

Players have taken the last few moments to get their chips out of the bag and get settled in their seats.  The rush of players to enter prior to cards in the air has been steady, but the window is about to close.  Tournament supervisor David Rolo will be making the rules announcement in just a second and the cards will be in the air.

Big Stax 300 (Day 2): Table Draw

		DAY 2	Table Order
		Total Players:	1825	290
		Total Chips:	54,750,000	189,000
1	30	Brian	Dougherty	86,500
2	30	Kenneth	Muntz Jr	99,000
3	30	Kyle	Norton	186,000
4	30	EMPTY
5	30	EMPTY
6	30	BW	Garrett	218,000
7	30	Dan	Dizenzo	269,000
8	30	Keung	Tsui	81,500
9	30	Chris	Curtin	300,000
1	31	Timothy	Cook	97,000
2	31	David	Mileaf	162,000
3	31	Matthew	Silberzweig	56,000
4	31	EMPTY
5	31	EMPTY
6	31	Sing	Chen	193,000
7	31	Scott	Blumenfeld	211,000
8	31	John	Robinson	274000
9	31	Sergio	Loureiro	628,500
1	32	Jason	Rivkin	478,500
2	32	Alan	Kraut	184,500
3	32	Kevin	Tran	284,000
4	32	EMPTY
5	32	EMPTY
6	32	Robert	Paventi	103,000
7	32	Joe	Agron	302,000
8	32	Matt	Glantz	146,500
9	32	Chris	Csik	258,000
1	33	Gregory	Fishberg	75,000
2	33	Chris	Vandeursen	30,500
3	33	James	Lillis	153,500
4	33	EMPTY
5	33	EMPTY
6	33	Phuc	Hoang	553,000
7	33	Pearson	Potter	206,000
8	33	Juan	Valdez	284,000
9	33	Steven	Tague	88,500
1	34	Sumeet	Wayachal	47,000
2	34	Rich	Devivo	108,000
3	34	Kyle	Donahue	74,500
4	34	EMPTY
5	34	EMPTY
6	34	Dick	Carson	61,500
7	34	Frank	Ingardia	344,000
8	34	Hua	Wei	259,000
9	34	Matthew	Rebisz	56,000
1	35	Andrew	Carnevale	129,000
2	35	Dennis	Lisovskiy	399,000
3	35	Patrick	Chan	293,000
4	35	EMPTY
5	35	EMPTY
6	35	Dan	Wach	693,000
7	35	Alexander	Bernard	61,500
8	35	Nick	Marino	192,000
9	35	John	Wells	127,000
1	45	Daniel	Santiago	208,500
2	45	Byung	Yoo	74,000
3	45	Anthony	Garotalo	248,500
4	45	Jacob	Perry	275,500
5	45	EMPTY
6	45	Steven	Krasner	266,000
7	45	Seth	Zimmerman	112,000
8	45	Megan	Milburn	164,000
9	45	Pradeep	Deshpande	75,000
1	46	Joe	Mosca	162,000
2	46	Jeremy	Brown	153,000
3	46	Scekic	Milos	139,000
4	46	William	Pastorick	366,000
5	46	EMPTY
6	46	Tahir	Patankar	115,000
7	46	Mohammad	Farah	146,000
8	46	Michael	Azzaro	327,000
9	46	Billy	Sanford	149,000
1	47	Cary	Poulos	163,500
2	47	Kent	Wuethrich	193,500
3	47	Todor	Blazevski	51,000
4	47	Sergiu	Cecoltan	165,500
5	47	EMPTY
6	47	Ragavan	Thiagarajay	294,500
7	47	Akib	Ali	50,500
8	47	Adam	Hueber	76000
9	47	Philip	Cirotti	76,000
1	48	Jonathan	Borenstein	451,000
2	48	Marc	Bozzacco	47,000
3	48	Josh	Albright	221,000
4	48	Daniel	Bak	197,500
5	48	EMPTY
6	48	Deon	Nossel	34,500
7	48	Sarah	Mihalik	34,500
8	48	Jamie	Kerstetter	342,500
8	48	Tony	Potis	559,500
9	48	Anthony	Velocci	82,000
1	49	Antonio	Walker	96,500
2	49	Petar	Mudrinic	125,000
3	49	Hal	Neeman	48,500
4	49	H	Trillo	310,500
5	49	EMPTY
6	49	Andrew	Lydon	83,500
7	49	David	Pollack	81,000
8	49	Venkata	Potluri	129,000
9	49	Jose	Montes	173,500
1	50	Michael	Goldberg	346,500
2	50	Sean	Wright	213,000
3	50	Tuan	Vuong	380,500
4	50	Craig	Lozak	263,500
5	50	EMPTY
6	50	Kirkor	Tekneu	208,000
7	50	Danilo	Nenezic	375,500
8	50	Fred	Weingart	230,000
9	50	Ozea	Ingram	192,000
1	51	Daniel	Chan	363,500
2	51	Scott	Blumstein	184,500
3	51	Bryan	Garrett	172,000
4	51	James	Reilly	76,000
5	51	EMPTY
6	51	Richard	Gaudagnino	236,500
7	51	Colbert	Silva	169,000
8	51	Ahmad	Azmi	372,500
9	51	Casey	Passmore	145,000
1	52	Martino	Scaturro	388,000
2	52	Steve	Ricchini	268,500
3	52	David	Heck	201,000
4	52	Antonio	Schiro	309,000
5	52	EMPTY
6	52	Dave	Pone	86,000
7	52	Daniel	Sewnig	212,500
8	52	Ray	Ross	202,000
9	52	Frederick	Ferrey	171,500
1	53	Michael	Jablonsky	24,000
2	53	Justin	Dodds	243,500
3	53	Vito	Sparacio	99,000
4	53	Rocco	Luciano	203,500
5	53	EMPTY
6	53	Shingfung	Har	151,500
7	53	Micheal	Cannon	307,000
8	53	Eric	Elliott	145,000
9	53	Rich	Lipson	76,000
1	54	Derek	Staib	397,000
2	54	Rob	O'Rourke	102,500
3	54	Michael	Jelaso	105,000
4	54	Terry	Marchio	222,000
5	54	EMPTY
6	54	Scott	Fitzgerald	254,500
7	54	Srini	Yarlagadda	485,000
8	54	Ferdidnand	Chong	451,000
9	54	David	Wheeler	182,000
1	55	Qi T	Ha	180,000
2	55	Krysztof	Mochol	250,000
3	55	Fritz	Stoner	165,500
4	55	Ken	Goodkind	261,000
5	55	EMPTY
6	55	Lewis	Saxon	154,500
7	55	Tim	Bryan	227,000
8	55	Rich	Rodrigo	225,000
9	55	Adam	Sanders	299,500
1	56	Shane	Clements	136,500
2	56	Jon	Peterson	113,000
3	56	Joe	Nichols	145,000
4	56	Mike	Lavenburg	75,000
5	56	EMPTY
6	56	Daniel	Rosenberg	121,000
7	56	Michael	Elsier	150,000
8	56	Ariel	Albilia	193,500
9	56	Micheal	Haberman JR.	94,500
1	62	Brett	Baumeister	94,000
2	62	Brian	Williams	182,500
3	62	Armine	Mandjian	396,500
4	62	EMPTY
5	62	EMPTY
6	62	Joseph	Wertz	118,000
7	62	Nathan	Baum	81,500
8	62	Joseph	Mancini	87,000
9	62	Bill	Strong	177,500
1	63	Russel	YoungKen	63,500
2	63	Amber	Merefield	91,500
3	63	David	Bierstein	124,500
4	63	EMPTY
5	63	EMPTY
6	63	Gretchen	Sonne	59,500
7	63	Stephen	Press	195,500
8	63	Ken	Silberstein	269,500
9	63	Tony	Tonzelli	175,500
1	64	Scott	Blackman	390,000
2	64	Greg	Millo	77,500
3	64	Duane	McCrory	363,500
4	64	EMPTY
5	64	EMPTY
6	64	Anthony	Arnieri	101,500
7	64	Joseph	Cappuccio	119,500
8	64	Michael	Reno	384,000
9	64	Matt	Blumenfeld	190,000
1	65	Rob	Gisondi	80,000
2	65	Craig	Bateman II	94,000
3	65	Charles	Urrutia	73,000
4	65	EMPTY
5	65	EMPTY
6	65	DeeAngelo	Seng	413,000
7	65	Mike	Linster	76,500
8	65	Alek	Givotovsky	204,500
9	65	Aaron	Shapiro	52,500
1	66	Neal	Gay	575,500
2	66	Matteo	Menna	165,000
3	66	Jeffrey	Spence	237,500
4	66	EMPTY
5	66	EMPTY
6	66	Sean	Wallace	378,500
7	66	Andrew	Zhu	269,500
8	66	Adam	Lagreca	76,500
9	66	Ze	Chen	318,500
1	67	Jay	Sharon	320,500
2	67	Paul	Antzoulis	383,000
3	67	Jamar	Ross	173,500
4	67	EMPTY
5	67	EMPTY
6	67	Patrick	Halter	270,000
7	67	Tyler	Rohde	199,500
8	67	Chrisopher	Lamboy	109,500
9	67	Vincent	Caesar	69,500
1	68	Ulises	Roman	46,000
2	68	David	Kim	331,500
3	68	Jesse	Willgruber	115,000
4	68	EMPTY
5	68	EMPTY
6	68	Joshua	Lehrman	192,500
7	68	Milton	Jaffee	223,500
8	68	Taemee	Ferer	82,500
9	68	Ed	Blount	460,000
1	69	Jay	Frey	68,500
2	69	Matt	Vitale	102,000
3	69	Anthony	Anastasi	100,000
4	69	EMPTY
5	69	EMPTY
6	69	Earnest	Whistler	209,500
7	69	Josh	Gillcerson	72,000
8	69	Steven	Thorton	167,500
9	69	Joakim	Brochard	179,000
1	70	Jesse	Mercado	390,000
2	70	William	Walchek	91,000
3	70	Ronald	Tuczak	123,500
4	70	John	Banh	447,000
5	70	EMPTY
6	70	Brian	Santiago	144,500
7	70	Bharathku	Ramanna	359,000
8	70	Vinny	Napolitano	364,500
9	70	Alexander	Queen	221,000
1	71	Scott	Love	156,500
3	71	Bobby	Sembler	37,000
2	71	Katie	Stone	56,000
4	71	Deeneash	Krishnanand	263,000
5	71	EMPTY
6	71	Trevor	Deeter	193,500
7	71	Dennis	Thurmaz	218,500
8	71	Aileen	Freifeld	168,500
9	71	Kevin	Johnson	383,500
1	72	Vernon (Uncle)	Bludson	196,000
2	72	Trevor	Savage	175,000
3	72	Deding	Xu	333,500
4	72	Asher	Conniff	82,500
5	72	EMPTY
6	72	Nikola	Curanovic	248,500
7	72	Rob	Murphy	242,000
9	72	Tony	Cheng	293,000
1	73	Matthew	Zambanini	170,000
2	73	Kevin	Grabel	141,000
3	73	Chris	Horter	159,500
4	73	Glen	Brechemin	287,500
5	73	EMPTY
6	73	John	Kroetz	110,500
7	73	Jeff	Gross	69,000
8	73	Steven	Edwards	44,000
9	73	Jeremy	Hendricks	84,500
1	74	Michael	Collins	135,000
2	74	Paul	Donovan	41,500
3	74	Jason	Oury	159,000
4	74	Timothy	Little	130,000
5	74	EMPTY
6	74	Gauthien	Rozenblat	41,000
7	74	Matthew	Giametta	79,000
8	74	Mark	Perry	67,000
9	74	Raymond	Ferretti	215,500
1	75	Andrew	Mullens	150,500
2	75	Justin	Liberto	271,500
3	75	Timothy	Ward	160,000
4	75	Yuri	Kalantanov	183,000
5	75	EMPTY
6	75	Kieth	Deangelis	118,000
7	75	Chris	Palmieri	128,000
8	75	Steve	Juricek	136,500
9	75	Anna	Khait	353,500
1	76	Bo	Toft	82,000
2	76	Harrison	Byck	43,000
3	76	Eric	Most	86,000
4	76	Bartholomew	Golik	441,000
5	76	EMPTY
6	76	Joesph	Cohen	103,000
7	76	Brittany	Paige	182,000
8	76	Phil	Glass	187,000
9	76	Joe	Palma	67,500
1	77	Tyreem	Williams	117,000
2	77	DJ	LoPresti	112,500
3	77	Geno	Raman	132,000
4	77	Richard	Franco	98,000
5	77	EMPTY
6	77	David	Reilly	94,000
7	77	Glenn	Macartney	266,000
8	77	Michael	Marder	117,500
9	77	Anna	Antimony	147,000
1	78	John	Disante	112,500
2	78	Jason	Gardner	66,500
3	78	Reece	Lightner	264,000
4	78	Luis	Rodriquez	83,500
5	78	EMPTY
6	78	Joe	Reddick	393,500
7	78	Gianni	Arcuri	116,500
8	78	Martin	Labriola	68,500
9	78	Eugene	Gorelik	197,500
1	79	Hee Joong	Im	101,000
2	79	Adir	Davidov	324,000
3	79	Philip	Marino	278,500
4	79	John	Finn	143,500
5	79	EMPTY
6	79	Eric	Ornstein	203,500
7	79	Horatio	Hu	185,000
8	79	Eddie	Bryant	91,500
9	79	Joseph	McKeehen	181,500
1	80	Dominick	Giovanniello	78,500
2	80	Bryan	Kelly	119,000
3	80	James	Nguyen	226,000
4	80	Christopher	Larrea	221,500
5	80	EMPTY
6	80	Anirbun	Roy	275,500
7	80	Steven	Efferin	173,000
8	80	Russell	Biher	227,000
9	80	Chris	Lee	218,000
1	81	Matthew	Kustafik	27,500
2	81	Craig	Mason	102,500
3	81	Robert	Deans	73,500
4	81	Mark	Pisaeno	95,500
5	81	EMPTY
6	81	Nicolas	Machalani	228,500
7	81	Tam	Le	111,500
8	81	Jake	Nerf	136,500
9	81	AJ	DeNicco	103,000