All posts by BJ Nemeth

Event 6, Day 1C: 44 More Players Survive to Day 2

The third flight of players for Event 6 ($125 No-Limit Hold’em w/ $150,000 Guarantee) started with 397 players, and finished with 44 survivors heading into Day 2.

Combine those numbers with the first two flights that played earlier today and you get 115 survivors from a field of 1,029 entrants. But this is only the first of three starting days, and each day has three flights starting at 11:00 am, 3:00 pm, and 7:00 pm. Players can play as many starting flights as they’d like, but they can only carry over a single surviving chip stack.

There were three players in Flight C that finished above 200,000 in chips:

1.  Mark Zand  –  225,800
2.  Ryan Gunderson  –  212,300
3.  Devin Delatorre  –  196,400

Event 6, Day 1C: Mark Zand Leads With One Hour Left

Flight C of Event 6 ($125 NLHE w/ $150K Guarantee) started at 7:00 pm ET with 397 players, and when they took their final break of the day at 1:30 am ET, there were 64 players remaining.

There were seven players with more than 100,000 in chips at the break, so here is the updated leaderboard with blinds at 1,000-2,000 and a 200 ante:

1.  Mark Zand  –  226,900  (113 bb)
2.  Shawn Busse  –  161,000  (80 bb)
3.  Jon Gottlieb  –  155,400  (77 bb)
4.  Ryan Gunderson  –  137,600  (68 bb)
5.  Devin Delatorre  –  132,000  (66 bb)
6.  Max Loveland  –  119,600  (59 bb)
7.  Friday Santos  –  108,900  (54 bb)

With 64 players remaining, the average chip stack is about 62,000 (31 big blinds). The field will play two more levels tonight, and action should end around 2:40 am ET.

Event 6, Day 1C: 77 Players Remain

The tournament poker room is mostly empty here at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which is a big change from earlier today. There were four tournaments that played their final tables today, and three staggered starting flights for Event 6 ($125 NLHE w/ $150K Guaranteed Prizepool).

But everything has wrapped up except for the third starting flight in Event 6, which we’re calling Day 1C. There are currently 77 players left from the 397 who started this third flight.

Event 6 needs to attract 1,500 players to meet the $150,000 guaranteed prizepool. There have already been 1,029 entrants here today, and there will be three more starting flights tomorrow, and another three on Wednesday. Players can enter as many flights as they’d like, so the guarantee won’t just be reached, it will likely be crushed.

There is an hour and a half of play left for the Day 1C players tonight.

Event 1: Derek Buonano Wins $90,000 in a 9-Way Chop

After nearly two levels without a bustout at the final table of Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em), the final nine players took their scheduled break and came back talking about a chop scenario.

Everyone counted their chip stacks and entered the numbers into an online ICM calculator. (ICM calculations are designed to split a prizepool based on a player’s reasonable expected value rather than a straight % based on chip counts.)

The primary holdout was chipleader Derek Buonano, who had a big chip lead, while everyone else had fewer than 25 big blinds. The ICM calculation would award him $81,702, which was about third-place money, and he wasn’t happy with that since he had a big chip lead.

Eventually, a deal was reached for other players to kick in enough money to award Buonano an even $90,000 for first place.

Their finishing places were determined by the agreed-upon payouts:

1st:  Derek Buonano  –  $90,000
2nd:  Steven McKoy  –  $64,001
3rd:  Jaime Campos  –  $58,418
4th:  Zack Goodman  –  $58,323
5th:  John Liu  –  $57,557
6th:  David Diaz  –  $50,047
7th:  Jeff Yeh  –  $42,742
8th:  Kevin Ho  –  $41,000
9th:  Daniel Navarrete  –  $38,787

Derek Buonano, 1st Place ($90,000)
Derek Buonano, 1st Place ($90,000)
Steven McKoy, 2nd Place ($64,001)
Steven McKoy, 2nd Place ($64,001)
Jaime Campos, 3rd Place ($58,418)
Jaime Campos, 3rd Place ($58,418)

 

Zack Goodman, 4th Place ($58,323)
Zack Goodman, 4th Place ($58,323)

John Liu, 5th Place ($57,557)John Liu, 5th Place ($57,557)

 

David Diaz, 6th Place ($50,047)
David Diaz, 6th Place ($50,047)

Jeff Yeh, 7th Place ($42,742)Jeff Yeh, 7th Place ($42,742)

Kevin Ho, 8th Place ($41,000)
Kevin Ho, 8th Place ($41,000)
Daniel Navarrete, 9th Place ($38,787)
Daniel Navarrete, 9th Place ($38,787)

Event 1: Possible Chop in Progress

The final nine players return from break in Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em) to find increased blinds of 200,000-400,000 and a 50,000 ante. The average stack is about 7.5 million, worth about 18 big blinds.

Before play began, they started talking about possible deals. Everyone counted up their chip stacks and entered the numbers into an ICM calculator to look at a possible chop scenario.

Here are the updated chip counts from the table:

Seat 1.  Derek Buonano  –  15,400,000 (38 bb)
Seat 2.  David Diaz  –  5,750,000 (14 bb)
Seat 3.  Daniel Navarrete  –  3,875,000 (9 bb)
Seat 4.  Jeff Yeh  –  4,675,000 (11 bb)
Seat 5.  John Liu  –  7,800,000 (19 bb)
Seat 6.  Kevin Ho  –  3,600,000 (9 bb)
Seat 7.  Zack Goodman  –  8,125,000 (20 bb)
Seat 8.  Steven McKoy  –  9,850,000 (24 bb)
Seat 9.  Jaime Campos  –  8,150,000 (20 bb)

And here are the ICM calculations:

1st:  Derek Buonano  –  $81,702
2nd:  Steven McKoy  –  $66,388
3rd:  Jaime Campos  –  $60,302
4th:  Zack Goodman  –  $60,206
5th:  John Liu  –  $58,940
6th:  David Diaz  –  $50,046
7th:  Jeff Yeh  –  $44,626
8th:  Daniel Navarrete  –  $40,162
9th:  Kevin Ho  –  $38,530

Note: All of these numbers and calculations are still unofficial.

There is talk about modifying the pure ICM calculations a bit, because Buonano has such a big chip lead and would like $90,000, and another player or two are still uncertain.

Event 1: David Diaz Doubles Thru Derek Buonano

With nine players left in Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em), David Diaz is all in from the cutoff for about 2.1 million with AdAh against Derek Buonano’s As9d in the hijack.

The board comes QsJh7s10s2h, and Buonano turns a spade flush draw with an open-ended straight draw, but he improves no further. Diaz wins the pot to double up in chips.

David Diaz  –  5,050,000  (16 bb)
Derek Buonano  –  13,250,000  (44 bb)

The short stacks continue to run well in these final table all-in situations, which is why there are still nine players remaining.

Event 1: John Liu Doubles Thru David Diaz

With nine players left in Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em), John Liu moves all in preflop from the small blind with 7d7s. David Diaz asks for an exact count before he calls from the hijack with QsJd.

The board comes 6s5s5c6d9c, and Liu’s pocket sevens hold up to win the pot and double up his chip stack.

John Liu  –  4,920,000  (16 bb)
David Diaz  –  2,875,000  (9 bb)

There are still nine players remaining, guaranteed at least $12,095. First place will win $138,952.

Event 1: Steven McKoy Doubles Thru Kevin Ho

With nine players left in Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em), Steven McKoy is all in preflop from the button for 5,050,000 with AcAd. He’s a dominant favorite to double up against the 9c9d of Kevin Ho in the hijack.

The board comes 7c5d4cKh7h, and the pocket aces hold up for McKoy to win the pot and double up in chips.

Steven McKoy  –  10,910,000  (36 bb)
Kevin Ho  –  5,875,000  (19 bb)

There are still nine players remaining, guaranteed at least $12,095. First place will win $138,952.

Event 1: Steven McKoy Triples; Alcides Gomez Out 10th

At the final table of Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em), Steven McKoy raised from the hijack, and Alcides Gomez moved all in from the small blind for about 2.2 million.

Then David Diaz moved all in over the top from the big blind for about 7 million. McKoy called.

Here were their cards, in descending order of chip counts:

David Diaz:  10D10H
Alcides Gomez:  5c5s
Steven McKoy:  QCQD

McKoy had just lost a pot with pocket queens to Diaz, and he joked about it before the dealer put out the flop.

The board came JS6S6D9H6H, giving all three players full houses, but changing nothing. McKoy tripled up, and Diaz won a small side pot to eliminate Gomez in 10th place.

Steven McKoy  –  5,680,000  (22 bb)
David Diaz  –  5,670,000  (22 bb)
Alcides Gomez  –  Out in 10th Place  ($9,766)

The final nine players are now at the official final table, and guaranteed at least $12,095. First prize is worth $138,952.

Event 1: David Diaz Doubles Thru Steven McKoy

There are still 10 players remaining in Event 1 ($350 No-Limit Hold’em), with $138,952 waiting for the winner.

David Diaz is likely the most familiar name at the table to most of the poker world, and he just cracked pocket queens to double up.

With the blinds at 125,000-250,000 (25,000 ante), Steven McKoy raised from UTG+1 to 525,000, and Diaz moved all in from the hijack for 3,425,000.

McKoy called with QCQH, and Diaz turned over ASJD. Diaz would need to improve to stay alive.

The board came 10H5S4CACKD, and Diaz paired his ace on the turn to win the pot and double up in chips.

David Diaz  –  7,475,000  (29 bb)
Steven McKoy  –  2,350,000  (9 bb)