Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Grabel Grabbing Pots

Level 11 (Blinds 800/1,600/200)
Total Day 1A Entries: 239

Kevin Grabel (Southampton, PA)

Kevin Grabel (Southampton, PA) already has history bagging chip leads for a bonus, having succeeding in just that last series during this exact event.  Grabel was already up to 150,000 and had an opportunity to collect 40,000 more, having an opponent at risk:

Flop: J♠ 8♣ 4♠

Grabel: J♦ 10♣

Player X: A♠ 5♠

Turn: A♣ 

River: 10♥

Grabel would outflop his opponent to be ahead when the chips got in on the flop, but he'd have to fade an ace or a spade.  The ace on the turn was going to make it difficult for Kevin, now needed a non-spade jack or ten...and that's exactly what he got.  Grabel would send his opponent to the rail, while scooping in the pot and reaching 195,000.

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): New Names Chipping Up

Level 11 (Blinds 800/1,600/200)
Total Day 1A Entries: 237

Jonathan Borenstein's once insurmountable lead had already been eclipsed, as a handful of players are beginning to amass well above average stacks.  One name in particular sticks out, as Robert Boyko (Yonkers, NY) handles his top ten stack at the moment.  Boyko is a New York City police officer and part-time professional player, who also happened to co-win the first event Big Stax $1,500 Main Event.  Boyko chopped the event with Patrick Halter (Narberth, PA), each taking home over $134,000 for their efforts.  Here are some of the other names jumping up the leaderboard:

Adam Larkin - 296,000
Joel Frank - 245,000
Robert Boyko - 210,000
Eug Zas - 205,000
DJ MacKinnon - 195,000

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Only A Few Of Ladies Remain

Level 10 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Day 1A Entries: 222

Esther Taylor (Havertown, PA)

The Day 1A field is already down to just three women remain, with two sitting at the same table.  Esther Taylor (Havertown, PA)  is currently sitting with a well above average stack (126,000), while Nancy Martin (Washington Crossing, PA) hovers around the 60,000 mark.  Across the room sits Megan Millburn, on the shorter side at the moment with just over 20,000.

The ladies are trying to follow in the footsteps of Maggie Morris, the first female player to win a Big Stax event.  Jamie Kerstetter went the furthest of the ladies in the Big Stax 300, finishing in 42nd place for $1,938.

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Back From Dinner

Level 10 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Entries: 224

Players are allowed back into the tournament area, and the cards will be back in the air in just seconds.  The trend of players entering the tournament for the first time post-dinner break continues, with more than a handful of new entrants taking their seats.  One notable in particular to show up just moments ago was Mike Linster (Levittown, NY).  Linster was also here during the Big Stax 300, finishing in 95th place for $843.  Mike needs a cash over $5,000 to push his career earnings over $1,000,000, a goal for many professional tournament players on the circuit.

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Chip Count Updated Via Twitter

Level 10 (Blinds 600/1,200/200)
Total Day 1A Entries: 219

Players are going to be back in action in just over ten minutes, but a handful have posted chip counts while away from the tables:

101k on dinner @parxpokerroom #ParxBigStax
— Jake Perry (@JakePerry12) August 7, 2014

107,500/40kss on dinner. Coming back to 1200/200. #ParxBigStax
— Michael Marder (@MMarder86) August 7, 2014

137K on dinner break @parxpokerroom #ParxBigStax
— Alan Kraut (@AlanKrautPoker) August 7, 2014

82.2K on dinner coming back to 1200BB in 75 minutes
— Dan Sewnig (@RedsoxNets5) August 7, 2014

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Dinner Break

(Dinner Break)

Total Day 1A Entries: 217

Players are currently on dinner break from 6:20pm-7:35pm, with players returning to Level 10 and blinds of 600/1,200/200.  Live coverage of Day 1A will resume once the cards are back in the air.

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Updated Chip Counts Before Dinner

Level 9 (Blinds 500/1,000/100)
Total Day 1A Entries: 217

Players are about half the way through Level 9, with dinner break beginning at the conclusion of this level.  Players will go on dinner from 6:20pm-7:35pm, and will return to finish out the final six levels (play ends after Level 15 is finished).  Here are some updated chip counts from the midway point of Level 9:

Jonathan Borestein - 275,000
Rocco Luciano - 205,000
Moje Laska - 185,000
Joel Frank - 150,000
Frankie Flowers - 120,000
Malik Saunders - 118,000
Jonas Wexler - 105,000
Kevin McColgan - 105,000
Michael Sandler - 98,000
Joe Cappuccio - 85,000
DJ MacKinnon - 70,000
Kyle Bowker - 60,000
Jake Perry - 48,000

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): "Pools" Triples Up

Level 9 (Blinds 500/1,000/100)
Total Day 1A Entries: 210

Walking over to Table 78, there would be a three-way all-in pre between Eric "Pools" Siegel, Alan Kraut, and Vinny Pahuja.  Siegel was the shortest of the three with 11,600 in front of him, with Vinny holding the most and having both players at risk (27,000):

Siegel: 7♣ 7♠        Kraut: A♦ 8♦       Pahuja: A♣ K♠

Flop: 3♥ 3♣ 3♠

Turn: 10♠

River: 6♥

Siegel's pair of sevens would hold against the overs, and Eric would chip back up to the 40,000 starting stack with the main pot.  Pahuja would win the side pot, and although he recouped some chips, he still lost 7,000 total in the hand.  Kraut would bust in the hand and head to the tournament cage to re-enter.

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Flowers Chipping Up...Borenstein Running Away

Level 8 (Blinds 400/800/100)
Total Day 1A Entries: 199

Frankie Flowers (Pleasant Valley, NY)

The value and structure of this tournament continues to attract players from all over the East Coast, as Foxwood's reg Frankie Flowers (Pleasant Valley, NY) shows up in the tournament area for the first time tho series.  Flowers has over $120,000 in career earnings, including a win in the most recent Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge.  Flowers is off to a solid start, having already doubled his starting stack, and sitting with just under 90,000.

Jonathan Borenstein (Teaneck, NJ) was mentioned earlier as the chip leader, and he's looking to go wire to wire for the end of day bonus.  Jonathan is over 270,000 at the moment, with no other player currently active over 200,000.

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Updates From The Twitter World

Level 8 (Blinds 400/800/100)
Total Day 1A Entries: 196

After a round of golf to clear the mind (or put someone on full tilt), Parx regular Sean Wallace (Horsham, PA) has just taken his seat in the field.  Wallace bagged a top ten stack going into Day 2 of the Big Stax 300, but could not find traction in the later stages and ended up finishing in 50th place ($1,676).

There has not been as much Twitter buzz from players in the current field compared to that of the Big Stax 300, but a small handful of players are keeping it up:

Had it just under 100K after TT>77 then got AK in vs KK button vs cutoff for 26K each. I've been aggro enough that I think it was fine. 67K.
— Dan Sewnig (@RedsoxNets5) August 7, 2014

Big Stax VII ($340 Deep Stack Turbo No Limit Hold'em): Final Results

Big Stax VII
August 5, 2014

$340 Deep Stack Turbo No Limit Hold'em

Total Entries: 155
Total Prize Fund: $45,405

Final Results:

Place	Player Name	Hometown	Prize
1	Oleg Yavorovskiy	Brooklyn, NY	$10,299
2	Willie Chang	Elmhurst, NY	$7,000
3	Tam Nguyen	Harrisburg, PA	$7,000
4	Alexander Berdichevskiy	Huntingdon, PA	$5,000
5	John Reshaw	Ewing, NJ	$5,000
6	Tony Tran	Charlotte, NC	$2,314
7	Michael Cannon	Harrisburg, PA	$1,894
8	Steven Tague	Philadelphia, PA	$1,579
9	Martin Overline	Philadelphia, PA	$1,353
10	Daniel Sztenderowicz	Feasterville, PA	$1,164
11	Thomas Slyman	Staten Island, NY	$843
12	Glenn Macartyney	Philadelphia, PA	$834
13	Allan Lubin	Watchung, NJ	$834

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Model Of Consistency

Level 7 (Blinds 300/600/100)
Total Day 1A Entries: 190

Vinny Pahuja (New York, NY)

One of the last entrants to join the field prior to break was Vinny Pahuja (New York, NY), a well known tournament professional with a voice in the community.  Pahuja's last cash before leaving for the WSOP came in March, when he final tabled the Big Stax 1500, finishing in 4th place for $44,682.

Vinny then went on to the WSOP and cashed in eight events during the series.  His cashes totaled over $100,000, and included a final table during Event #33 ($1,000 No Limit Hold'em).  Pahuja also bubbled two other final tables, finishing 12th place in both Event #9 ($1,000 No Limit Hold'em) and Event #44 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em).

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Break Time/Updated Chip Counts

Level 6 (Blinds 250/500/50)
Total Day 1A Entries: 184

Players are about to head on their second break of the day, and they will be returning to Level 7 and blinds of 300/600/100.  Here are some updated chip counts of players heading to break:

Jonathan Borestein - 185,000
Kevin Grabel - 117,000
Michael Sandler - 105,000
Greg Pogarsky - 95,000
Kevin McColgan - 93,000
Joe Cappuccio - 90,000
James Sloat - 64,000
Jonas Wexler - 55,000
Kyle Bowker - 50,000
Alan Kraut - 48,000
Joe Palma - 42,000

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Fashionably Late Crowd

Level 6 (Blinds 250/500/50)
Total Day 1A Entries: 169

Jonas Wexler (Southhampton, PA)

Players continue to file in as tables begin to open up in the outer tournament area. Former Big Stax 1500 co-winner Jonas Wexler (Southhampton, PA) is one of those to fill one of the newer tables.  Wexler chopped the Big Stax 1500 during the Big Stax II series in May of 2013.  Wexler would earn $101,800 as his part of the deal, an even chop with Mike Dentale (Brooklyn, NY).  Jonas is coming off a WSOP where he reached one final table, finishing in 10th place during Event #26 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em).

Other players to take their seats over the last level include:

Kyle Bowker
Esther Taylor
Joel Frank
Joe Cappuccio

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Updated Chip Counts

Level 5 (Blinds 200/400/50)
Total Day 1A Entries: 158

The day is still early, but it's alway san appropriate time to mention the end of day chip lead bonus.  The player to bag the largest stack at the end of each starting day will earn themselves $1,500, and depending on how many bullets were fired, will essentially be free rolling this event.  Here are some of the counts taken from the midway point of Level 5:

Bill Sanford - 128,000
Jonathan Borenstein - 115,000
Kevin Grabel - 70,000
Bo Toft - 70,000
Rocco Luciano - 60,000
Michael Marder - 42,000
Justin Liberto - 38,000
Alex Rocha - 27,000
Nancy Martin - 18,000

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Early Leader/Level Up

Level 5 (Blinds 200/400/50)
Total Day 1A Entries: 148

Jonathan Borenstein (Teaneck, NJ)

The tournament supervisor has just announced the beginning of Level 5, with blinds going up to 200/400/50.  The early leader in the field is Jonathan Borenstein (Teaneck, NJ), who sits with just over 110,000 (almost triple the 40,000 starting stack).  Borenstein has three recorded cashes lifetime, with his first coming during the first ever eerie aran at Parx.  Borenstein final tabled the $300 No Limit Hold'em event during the Parx Open Poker Classic, way back in 2011.  Most recently, Jonathan took down the $350 No Limit Hold'em Saturday Series at Borgata, his largest ever score for $41,892.

New names continue to enter the field, as Matt Glantz joins the play at Table 81, and DJ MacKinnon doing the same at Table 55.

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): On A Solid Pace

Level 4 (Blinds 150/300/50)
Total Day 1A Entries: 139

One of the reasons that the Big Stax series has improved consistently over time is the attention to detail from the "powers that be."  Bill Entenman (Director Of Poker Operations) and Tom Martucci (Tournament Director) work very closely with Matt Glantz to make everything from integral to simple changes each series.  A key piece of information that is used it the numbers from each series, and where they stand compared to those prior.  The numbers that are seen right now (139 entries at 1:30pm) is right on pace to see a field for this event anywhere between 575-800.  The key day usually ends up being Saturday, which tends to attract the largest turnout of the three starting days.

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Notables Continue To Arrive

Level 3 (Blinds 100/200/25)
Total Day 1A Entries: 118

Baruch Thaler (Brooklyn, NY)

Player have under ten minutes until their first break of the day (which lasts 15 minutes), and they will return to blinds of 150/300/50.  There was a strong rush of recognizable players to enter the field towards the mid way point of Level 3:

Nancy Martin
Baruch Thaler
Alex Rocha
Megan Millburn
Greg Fishberg
Joe Palma
James Brady
Aaron Freese
Michael Sandler
Robert Boyko

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): ICYMI: 2014 WSOP Bracelet Winner Takes Down Omaha 8B

Level 3 (Blinds 100/200/25)
Total Day 1A Entries: 105

Nicholas Kost (Chicago, IL)

The $340 Omaha Hi/Lo 8B event ran concurrent with Day 3 of the Big Stax 300, but that doesn't mean that the story coming out of the event was overlooked.  When scanning the results over first glance, the thing that may stand out is Jason Rivkin (Tinton Falls, NJ) finishing in second place.  Jason has (53) recorded results to his name, with his largest coming from his win at the first ever Big Stax event (Big Stax 300 - February 2013).  Rivkin has since made numerous deep runs in non-no limit hold'em events, specializing in the hi/lo variations.

It wasn't until about three hours after the tournament ended that Jason himself did a little research on the player he fell to heads-up.  Prior to this year's WSOP, Nicholas Kost (Chicago, IL) was a relative unknown in the tournament poker world.  That was until he won the $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo (Event #14) at this year's WSOP for over $283,000.  Kost then went on to final table the very prestigious $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. (Event #22) only a week later.  Clearly Kost is at the top of his game at the moment, as he bested the 99 player field, and one of the better local mixed game players in the area.

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Bad Beat Highest Yet At Parx

Level 2 (Blinds 75/150)
Total Day 1A Entries: 91

While the Big Stax events are going on, the cash game in the poker room never stops.   Since implementing the Bad Beat Jackpot earlier this year, it has hit five times, with the most recent coming July 5th.

With a full month passing without the bad beat being reached, the jackpot number has soared higher than ever before.  At this current moment, the number sits at $203,922, meaning the player to having the "losing" hand of the bad beat will be receiving over $80,000.

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Making Up The Field

Level 2 (Blinds 75/150)
Total Day 1A Entries: 79

Those players seated have just entered the second level of the day, with blinds going up to 75/150.  Today's field is one of the more intimate seen since the start of the series, but these usually end up being the days the surprise people the most.  Here are some of the faces to grace the field early:

Jake Perry
Bo Toft
Jonathan Borenstein
Kevin McColgan
Frankie Flowers
Jame Sloat
Vincent Caesar
Michael Matrone
Jesse Cohen
Eric Rivkin
Ken Silberstein
Igor Rabinovich
Gordon Eng
David Heck
Jeffrey Spence
Kevin Grabel

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Fun Starting Table

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

Keeping up with the Twitter world, two notable players were spotted mentioning each other at their first table of the day.  Alan Kraut (Doylestown, PA) and Michael Marder (Sewell, NJ) are both regulars during all of the Big Stax series, with Kraut returning last week after a short hiatus from poker to concentrate on business.  The two made deep runs in the Big Stax 300, finishing in the top fifty, but falling short of Day 3.

Big Stax 500 (Day 1A): Cards In The Air Shortly

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

The tournament supervisor is making the rules announcement for players already seated at their tables, and in just moments the cards will be in the air.  There is a buzz on Twitter surrounding players heading in for the first of three starting days, and once players settle in, a post will be published with some of the notables making up the early field.

Big Stax VII: Big Stax 300 Recap (Final Table Results)

There aren't many poker tournaments out there that are accessible to the budding recreational player, while offering a structure and value that attracts some of the top professionals in the community.  With 1,848 total entries, a $526,680 prize fund, and a first place prize over $108,000, the Big Stax 300 has reached a "must play" status.  Giving just enough time for players to recharge from the WSOP grind, along with local buzz leading up to the series, it was clear from the first starting day that this was going to be a special event.

Jason Paster

The initial story beyond the numbers was the Parx Poker representation at the WSOP.  The three starting days saw two players who fell one spot short of a bracelet, as Jason Paster (2nd Place Event #4 - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em) and Joseph McKeehen (2nd Place Event # 51 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Monster Stack) both returned to a chorus of congratulations from staff and fellow players alike.  The field also saw it's newest bracelet winner try to make another deep Big Stax run, as Jared Jaffee (Brooklyn, NY) returned to Parx off the heels of winning Event #58 ($1,500 No Limit Hold'em  Mixed-Max).  

Once the play started though, the focus was strictly on poker, and trying to reach Day 2 with some chips in the bag.  The $1,000 end of day chip lead bonus was back, with former Parx dealer Phuc Hoang (Day 1A), notable high stakes cash game player Dan Wach (Day 1B), and Neal Gay (Day 1C) all bagging the on their respective starting days.  Other notables to bag top five stacks moving forward towards Day 2 included Jason Rivkin, Joe Reddick, Sean Wallace, Scott Blackman, and Jonathan Borestein.  

One of the biggest questions coming into Day 2 was whether or not this field was going to reach the record number of 1,857 set back in February.  The trend of buying in the morning of Day 2 has become a very popular one, especially with the recent success of players doing just that.  Once the cards were in the air and registration was closed, the final number would fall just short, but very healthy 1,848 total entries.  The field reached the money bubble fairly quickly, as the elimination of Charles Welch (Baltimore, MD) in 198th place meant those remaining would be cashing.  The early story of the day was Juan Valdez (Philadelphia, PA), who was steam rolling his table on his way to becoming the first player over 1,000,000 in chips.  Day 2 was scheduled to play to the conclusion of Level 24 (or final table), with deep runs made by Joe Mckeehen (81st place), Trevor Deeter (73rd place), AJ DeNicco (61st place), Michael Marder (47th place), and Jamie Kerstetter (42nd place).  When the day was done though, there would be 28 players going forward to Day 3, with a list of big names still in the running (Scott Blackman, Dan Wach, Justin Liberto, Kevin Tran, Jose Montes, Trevor Savage, David Kim, Mike Azzaro, Daniel Chan, and Jeffrey Spence).

Sentiments on Twitter and social media clearly showed Justin Liberto as one of the favorites coming

Justin Liberto

back to Day 3.  Many would ask the question why not him, coming off Big Stax VI were he chopped the Big Stax 300 and 1500, and finished 18th in the Big Stax 500.  It looked as if those premonitions were coming true, and Liberto sent home Richard Lipson minutes into the day (28th place - $2,252), sending the field into a redraw.  Although Trevor Savage (Mantua, NJ) would be eliminated next, he had to be positive about his first live tournament played in over a year.  The notables would continue to fall, as Mike Azzaro (24th place), Daniel Chan (20th place), David Kim (19th place), Justin Liberto (18th place), Jeffrey Spence (17th place), and Juan Valdez (14th place) all fell short of the final table.

Scott Blackman

The final table was reached at about 7:45pm, with players heading to dinner before returning to finish out the tournament.  It's unlikely anyone would be cognizant of what was to follow, as play stood with a chip average over 50 big blinds deep the rest of the way out.  Players were able to absorb huge losses without being forced into "shove-mode," leaving quality play the entire night into the morning.  The names would start falling one by one, as Kevin Tran (10th place - $4,608), Dennis Thurman (8th place - $8,012), and Dan Wach (6th place - $13,616) lasted well into the night.  After the elimination of Wach, it would be close to two hours before Sergio Loureiro busted in 5th place ($17,805), and another two hours for Jose Montes to depart in 4th place ($23,042).  It was now 5:00am, but the three players remaining (Frederick Ferrell, Michael Jelaso, and Scott Blackman) weren't about to end it there.  The marathon Day 3 ended almost twelve hours after reaching the final table, with Scott Blackman (Egg Harbor Township, NJ) getting his hands on the trophy and over $108,000.  

Final Table Results:

1. Scott Blackman (Egg Harbor Twp., NJ) - $108,035
2. Michael Jelaso (Long Beach, NY) - $64,936
3. Frederick Ferrell (Philadelphia, PA) - $33,516
4. Jose Montes (Bronx, NY) -$23,042
5. Sergio Loureiro (Wayne, NJ) - $17,805
6. Dan Wach (Boonton, NJ) - $13,616
7. Richard Guadagnino (Beachwood, NJ) - $10,474
8. Dennis Thurman (Fisk, MO) - $8,012
9. Craig Lozak (North Wales, PA) - $6,284
10. Kevin Tran (Center Valley, PA) - $4,608

Big Stax VII (Big Stax 300): Final Results

Big Stax VII
July 31-August 4, 2014

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

Total Entries: 1,848
Total Prize Fund: $524,162

Final Results:

Place	Player Name		Prize
1	Scott	Blackman	$108,035
2	Michael	Jelaso	$64,936
3	Frederick	Ferrell	$33,516
4	Jose	Montes	$23,042
5	Sergio	Loureiro	$17,805
6	Dan	Wach	$13,616
7	Richard	Guadagnino	$10,474
8	Dennis	Thurman	$8,012
9	Craig	Lozak	$6,284
10	Kevin	Tran	$4,608
11	William	Strong	$4,608
12	A	Nonymous	$4,608
13	Stephen	Press	$4,189
14	Juan	Valdez	$4,189
15	Joseph	Nichols	$4,189
16	Sean	Wright	$3,823
17	Jeffrey	Spence	$3,823
18	Justin	Liberto	$3,823
19	David	Kim	$3,456
20	Daniel	Chan	$3,456
21	Charles	Urrutia	$3,456
22	Robert	Sembler	$3,037
23	Adam	Sanders	$3,037
24	Michael	Azzaro	$3,307
25	Horatio	Hu	$2,618
26	Edward	Blount	$2,618
27	Trevor	Savage	$2,618
28	Richard	Lipson	$2,252
29	Alan	Kraut	$2,252
30	Joshua	Lehrman	$2,252
31	David	Heck	$2,252
32	Hermenegildo	Trillo	$2,252
33	James	Nguyen	$2,252
34	Neal	Gay	$2,252
35	Brian	Santiago	$2,252
36	Tony	Cheng	$2,252
37	Chris	Curtin	$1,938
38	Anthony	Garofalo	$1,938
39	John	Disante	$1,938
40	Jesse	Mercado	$1,938
41	Vincent	Caesar	$1,938
42	Jamie	Kerstetter	$1,938
43	Kenneth	Goodkind	$1,938
44	Robert	Paventi	$1,938
45	Armine	Mandjian	$1,938
46	Bartholomew	Golik	$1,676
47	Michael	Marder	$1,676
48	Andrew	Lydon	$1,676
49	Alek	Givotovsky	$1,676
50	Sean	Wallace	$1,676
51	Dominick	Giovanniello	$1,676
52	Timothy	Cook	$1,676
53	Andrew	Mullens	$1,676
54	Patrick	Chan	$1,676
55	Joseph	Mancini	$1,676
56	Anthony	Arnieri	$1,414
57	Jeremy	Hendricks	$1,414
58	Byung	Yoo	$1,414
59	Tam	Le	$1,414
60	Dennis	Lisovskiy	$1,414
61	Anthony	DeNicco	$1,414
62	Jeremy	Brown	$1,414
63	Matteo	Menna	$1,414
64	Joshua	Albright	$1,152
65	Terrence	Marchio	$1,152
66	Ferdinand	Chong	$1,152
67	Matthew	Giametta	$1,152
68	Jamar	Ross	$1,152
69	Joe	Reddick	$1,152
70	Sing	Cen	$1,152
71	John	Broetz	$1,152
72	Hal	Neeman	$1,152
73	Trevor	Deeter	$995
74	Alex	Queen	$995
75	Joseph	Mosca	$995
76	David	Reilly	$995
77	Shane	Clements	$995
78	Brent	Baumeister	$995
79	Tim	Bryan	$995
80	Ken	Silberstein	$995
81	Joe	McKeehen	$995
82	Jonathan	Borenstein	$943
83	Anna	Khait	$943
84	Richard	Rodrigo	$943
85	Richard	Devivo	$943
86	Kent	Wuethrich	$943
87	Paul	Antzoulis	$943
88	John	Banh	$943
89	Duane	McCrory	$943
90	Deding	Xu	$943
91	Gretchen	Sonne	$843
92	Chris	Csik	$843
93	Adam	Lagreca	$843
94	Eugene	Gorelik	$843
95	Mike	Linster	$843
96	Rocco	Luciano	$843
97	Robert	Murphy	$843
98	Jay	Frey	$843
99	Kevin	Johnson	$843
100	Tim	Little	$843
101	Stephen	Ricchini	$843
102	Christopher	Horter	$843
103	David	Pollack	$843
104	Jason	Rivkin	$843
105	Christopher	Palmieri	$843
106	Joe	Wertz	$843
107	Milton	Jaffee	$843
108	Adir	Davidov	$843
109	Ray	Ross	$790
110	Milos	Scekic	$790
111	Anthony	Tonzelli	$790
112	Frank	Ingardia	$790
113	Segui	Cecoltan	$790
114	Jesse	Willgruber	$790
115	Glenn	Macartney	$790
116	Ragavan	Thiagarajah	$790
117	Joe	Palma	$790
118	Tuan	Vuong	$790
119	Gianni	Arcuri	$790
120	Derek	Staib	$790
121	Bryant	Dewayne	$790
122	Glenn	Brechemin	$790
123	Ahmad	Azmi	$790
124	Joseph	Agron	$790
125	Colbert	Silva	$790
126	Christopher	Larrea	$790
127	James	Ingram	$790
128	Scott	Blumstein	$790
129	Bo	Toft	$790
130	Anirban	Roy	$790
131	Joakim	Brochard	$790
132	David	Wheeler	$790
133	Vincent	Napolitano	$790
134	Scott	Blumenfeld	$790
135	Mike	Cannon	$790
136	Nikola	Curanovic	$790
137	Bharatkhu	Ramanna	$790
138	Philip	Glass	$790
139	Justin	Dodds	$790
140	Rocardo	Franco	$790
141	Criag	Mason	$790
142	Daniel	Dizenzo	$790
143	Kyle	Norton	$790
144	Jaosn	Oury	$790
145	Steven	Krasner	$685
146	Michael	Reno	$685
147	Russell	Bisker	$685
148	Qi	Ha	$685
149	Ariel	Albillia	$685
150	Venkata	Potluri	$685
151	James	Reilly	$685
152	Robert	O'Rourke	$685
153	Anthony	Velocci	$685
154	Todor	Blazevski	$685
155	Anthony	Anatasi	$685
156	Andrew	Zhu	$685
157	Bryant	Garrett	$685
158	Brittany	Paige	$685
159	Gene	Raman	$685
160	Pearson	Potter	$685
161	John	Robinson	$685
162	Adam	Hueber	$685
163	Vito	Sparacio	$685
164	Scott	Fitz-Gerald	$685
165	Tim	Ward	$685
166	Deeneash	Krishnanand	$685
167	Antonio	Schiro	$685
168	Kirkor	Tekneci	$685
169	Patrick	Halter	$685
170	Alex	Rocha	$685
171	Philip	Marino	$685
172	Brian	Nuegeboren	$685
173	Lewis	Saxon	$685
174	Cary	Poulos	$685
175	Bill	Sanford	$685
176	Maurice	Lightner	$685
177	DeeAngelo	Seng	$685
178	Jeff	Wicker	$685
179	Nicholas	Marino	$685
180	Steven	Juricek	$685
181	Jake	Perry	$685
182	Matthew	Silberzweig	$685
183	Anthony	Potis	$685
184	Dominic	Lopresti	$685
185	Eric	Orstein	$685
186	Sarah	Mihalik	$685
187	Jacob	Neff	$685
188	Mohammed	Farah	$685
189	Luis	Rodriguez	$685
190	Dan	Sewnig	$685
191	Steven	Efferin	$685
192	Yuriy	Kalantarov	$685
193	Joshua	Gilkerson	$685
194	Hee Jong	Im	$685
195	William	Pastorick	$685
196	Jon	Peterson	$685
197	Joseph	Montervino	$685

Big Stax VII ($340 Limit Omaha 8B): Final Results

Big Stax VII
August 4, 2014

$340 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 8B

Total Entries: 99
Total Prize Fund: $28,809

Final Results:

Place	Player Name	Hometown	Prize
1	Nicholas Kost	Chicago, IL	$9,219
2	Jason Rivkin	Bensalem, PA	$6,050
3	Mike Matheny	Mason, MI	$3,601
4	Erving Edelman	Bloomfield, NJ	$2,593
5	Joel Frank	Rocky Hill, NJ	$2,161
6	Donald Jacoby	Philadelphia, PA	$1,729
7	Blake Kantor	Fort Lee, NJ	$1,440
8	Daniel Hofer	Ossining, NY	$1,152
9	Michael Drabot	Riverside, NJ	$864

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): 1st Place - Blackman ($108,035)

Level 36 (Blinds 300,000/600,000/100,000)
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 55,000,000

Scott Blackman (Egg Harbor Twp., NJ)

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): 2nd Place - Jelaso ($64,936)

Level 36 (Blinds 300,000/600,000/100,000)
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 55,000,000

Mike Jelaso (Long Beach, NY)

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): 3rd Place - Ferrell ($33,516)

Level 35 (Blinds 250,000/500,000/50,000)
Players Remaining: 2
Chip Average: 27,500,000

Frederick Ferrell (South Philadelphia, PA)

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): 4th Place - Montes ($23,042)

Level 34 (Blinds 200,000/400,0000/50,000)
Players Remaing: 3
Chip Average: 1,848

Jose Montes (Bronx, NY)

Just busted 4th my aj vs ak sb vs bb thanks for the sweats!
— Jose Montes (@suganills) August 5, 2014

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): Break Time/Updated Chip Counts

Level 33 (Blinds 150,000/300,000/50,000)
Players Remaining: 4
Chip Average: 13,900,000

Players are headed on a (10) minute break and will return to blinds of 150,000/300,000/50,000 in Level 33.  Here are the up to the moment chip counts:

1. Scott Blackman - 14,000,000
2. Frederick Ferrell - 13,600,000
3. Jose Montes - 9,200,000
4. Michael Jelaso - 16,700,000

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): Ferrell Joins The Fun

Level 32 (Blinds 100,000/200,000/25,000)
Players Remaining: 4
Chip Average: 13,900,000

After Scott Blackman opened the button, Frederick Ferrell three-bet out of the small blind to 950,000.  Blackman made the call and the two would see a flop of 2♦ 5♠ K♥.  Ferrell led out for 675,000 and was called by Scott after a few moments of thought.  Frederick then checked-called a 1,300,000 bet after the 8♦ hit the turn.  With the pot close to 5,000,000, the dealer would place the Q♥ on the river.  The action would go check-check, and Ferrell would immediately show regret in checking, as he tabled K♠ K♣.  Ferrell would chip up to 16,300,000 with the pot, while Blackman dropped down to 5,400,000.

It was only two hands later though that Blackman would double through Michael Jelaso, once again evening the playing field a little more.  After Jelaso bricked a flush draw and had to ship the double to Blackman, the counts for the two would be as such:

Michale Jelaso - 11,700,000
Scott Blackman - 10,100,000

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): 5th Place - Loureiro ($17,805)

Level 32 (Blinds 100,000/200,000/25,000)
Players Remaining: 4
Chip Average: 13,900,000

Sergio Loureiro (Wayne, NJ)

Sergio Loureiro's (Wayne, NJ) bust out hand wasn't his true undoing, it was the hand prior.  On a board of Q♣ Q♥ 8♦ 9♣, Loureiro would get it in with Jose Montes, who was just reeling from the pot lost to Jelaso moments before:

Montes: J♦ 10♠ (turned straight)
Loureiro: K♠ Q♠ (flopped trips)

River: 6♠

Sergio would be left with just over 600,000 after losing said pot, and he'd be eliminated the next hand by Frederick Ferrell (K♥ 9♥ < A♠ Q♠).

Montes would chip back up to 11,000,000 with the referenced pot, recouping all the chips lost to Jelaso.

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): Montes Losing Ground

Level 32 (Blinds 100,000/200,000/25,000)
Players Remaining: 5
Chip Average: 11,000,000

The momentum is beginning to shift towards the side of Michael Jelaso.  He's been the chip leader the past to updates, and he is only increasing his lead.  The action between Jelaso and Jose Montes was caught on the river of a board reading K 6 7 Q 6.  Jelaso had already checked to Montes (pot over 3,000,000), and Jose would announce a bet of 2,800,000.  Michael tossed some chips in signifying a call, and Montes told him, "you got it."  Jelaso turned over K 10, with Montes looking back at his cards once more before mucking.

Michael Jelaso - 21,000,000
Jose Montes - 6,200,000

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): Updated Chip Counts

Level 32 (Blinds 100,000/200,000/25,000)
Players Remaining: 5
Chip Average: 11,000,000

Here are updated chip counts one-third of the way through Level 32:

1. Scott Blackman - 11,500,000
2. Frederick Ferrell - 10,200,000
3. Sergio Loureiro - 5,800,000
4. Jose Montes - 10,800,000
5. Michael Jelaso - 16,00,000

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): Break Time/Updated Chip Counts

Level 32 (Blinds 100,000/200,000/25,000)
Players Remaining: 5
Chip Average: 11,000,000

Players are currently going on a (10) minute break and will return to blinds of 100,000/200,000/25,000 (Level 32).  Here are the up to the minute chip counts from break:

1. Scott Blackman - 6,400,000
2. Frederick Ferrell - 9,100,000
3. Sergio Loureiro - 7,300,000
4. Jose Montes - 14,200,000
5. Michael Jelaso - 17,900,000

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): 6th Place - Wach ($13,616)

Level 31 (Blinds 75,000/150,000/25,000)
Players Remaining: 5
Chip Average: 11,000,000

Dan Wach (Boonton, NJ)

Dan Wach watched as the two players in front of him folded, and he then proceeded to shove his remaining 2,050,000.  Michael Jelaso called from the button, and the blinds folded behind:

Wach: A♦ 2♦
Jelaso: A♠ J♥

Flop: 5♦ 8♥ 3♠
Turn: K♦
River: Q♠

Wach would flop a wheel draw and then turn a diamond draw, giving him a lot of outs going to the river, but the black queen was not one of them.  He falls short of his best Big Stax finish (5th in the Big Stax V 1500), but adds $13,616 to his lifetime earnings of $631,000.

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): All the Kings

Level 31 (Blinds 75,000/150,000/25,000)
Players Remaining: 6
Chip Average: 9,200,000

Jose Montes and Frederick Ferrell would just play a pretty sizable pot, with the action beginning on the flop of K♠ 10♠ 7♥.  Montes led for 775,000 (this was a raised pot pre), with Ferrell making the call.  Jose led once again after the K♣ on the turn, this time for 925,000, with Frederick making the call once again.  Montes fired a third time after the 6♥ on the river, picking things up to 2,300,000.  Ferrell was talking to himself while making his decision, eventually verbalizing a call.  "All the kings," Jose said as he tabled K♥ K♦, winning the pot and chipping up to 17,700,000.  Ferrell would drop down to 3,500,000, but in an up to the minute update, Frederick doubled right back through Jose the next hand (Qx Qx > Ax Jx).

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): Wach Getting Very Short

Level 31 (Blinds 75,000/150,000/25,000)
Players Remaining: 6
Chip Average: 9,000,000

After losing a sizable pot moments ago to Jose Montes, Dan Wach is now the shortest stack at the table, sitting below the (20) big blind mark.  Wach would open the pot to 400,000, with Montes the only player to call, defending his big blind.  The flop would come out 7♠ Q♣ 8♦, and the action would go check-check.  After the 9♣ on the turn, Montes would lead for 650,000, and Dan pushed across a call.  The dealer would place the J♠ on the river, and Jose would check to Wach, who put out a bet of 1,400,000.  Jose looked at his cards, capped them once again, and verbalized a call.  Dan would ask Montes if he had a ten, which he showed (Q♥ 10♦), and Wach tossed his 7♦ 7♣ (bottom set) into the muck. Dan was left with 2,500,000 after losing the hand, just over (16) big blinds.

Big Stax 300 (Day 3): Break Time/Updated Chip Counts

Level 31 (Blinds 75,000/150,000/25,000)
Players Remaining: 6
Chip Average: 9,200,000

Players are headed on a (10) minute break, while the tournament floor colors off the grey (5,000 denomination) chips.  When players return to Level 31, the blinds to be posted will be 75,000/150,000/25,000.  Here are the up to the minute chip counts:

1. Scott Blackman - 6,300,000
2. Frederick Ferrell - 6,400,000
3. Sergio Loureiro - 12,400,000
4. Jose Montes - 11,800,000
5. Dan Wach - 5,100,000
6. Michael Jelaso - 8,800,000