Event 4: 1st Place - Munley

$400 + $50 Seven Card Stud        

Bill 'Bumperino' Munley (Throop, PA)

1st Place - $8,381

Rogerio Sousa (Durham, NC)

2nd Place - $4,656

'Miami' John Cernuto (Las Vegas, NV)

3rd Place - $2,794

Michael Frejka (New York, NY)

4th Place - $1,862

Jim DiCarlo (White Lake, NY)

5th Place - $931

Two more players departed out of the money.  Allyn Marshall (Elberson, NJ) and Marty Muncus (Lewisville, NC) failed to cash.

Event 3: An Unpopular Chop

John Miller, the player refusing to end play at 27 players, went all in causing the other players to watch anxiously as Vinny Pahuja quickly made the call.  Pahuja was in a dominating position holding AK vs. Miller's AQ.

But no relief was in sight for the players as the board ran 2-2-5-J-5 double-pairing the board, chopping the pot and leaving the rest of the group a little more bleary-eyed.

Play continues at Level 20 with blinds at 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante.

Quit Pushin' Me Around!

Event 1 - $500 + $60 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em

Wendy Freedman (Las Vegas, NV) is still our chip leader with just under 6 mill.  She raises from late position and her opponent calls from the big blind.  The flop comes 7♦Q♥8♠.  The big blind bets out about a 3/4 pot size bet.  Freedman tanks for a little under a minute before announcing she's all-in.  The big blind then teases Freedman about her frequent raising of  his big blind before finally releasing his hand.  Freedman now has just over 6 million in chips.  

Event 3: Rinaldi Eliminated in 27th, O'Brien Last Woman Standing

Shortly after the table consolidation, Connie Rinaldi was eliminated in 27th Place ($1,145) leaving Lana O'Brien as the last woman standing in the event.  O'Brien stands at a little over 400k.

Lana O'Brien

Ladies' Man

Event 1 - $500 + $60 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em

Blinds are now at 40k/80k/1k.  The cutoff min-raises to 160k.  Kazu Oshima (Temecula, CA) then three bets to an additional 390k on top from the big blind...almost putting the player in the cutoff all-in, but not quite.  The cutoff then slides the rest of her chips in the middle and Oshima quickly calls.  Cutoff shows A♥10♥, Oshima tables QQ.  The flop seals the deal for Oshima when the board runs out QKQ4K and Oshima makes quads to eliminate his opponent.  Oshima now has about 1.85 million and is grinding away.  43 players remain.

Event 4: 8th Place - Gagliano

$400 + $50 Seven Card Stud       

Frank Gagliano (Brooklyn, NY)

8th Place - $0

Bill 'Bumperino' Munley (Throop, PA) had already moved into the chip lead.

Then Frank Gagliano got all in against Bill.

Bill had trip 9s by 5th street, then improved to a Queen-high straight-flush on the river.

Frank as busted.  Bill increased his lead, chipping up to ~140k.

Event 3: Down to 27

Three tables remain in Event 3 and the players are getting antsy.  With one player still objecting to stop play at 27 instead of 18, play is continuing.  The decision by one player was met with a "Bounty on Seat 4!" exclamation from another table. 

All players are now guaranteed at payday of $1,145 for the efforts.

Event 4: 9th Place - Benci

$400 + $50 Seven Card Stud      

Branko Benci (W Babylon, NY)

9th Place - $0

Eight Studs remain.  Average is 72k. 

Event 2: 7th Place - Jerome

$350 + $50 HORSE             

Jeff Jerome (Philadelphia, PA)

7th Place - $2,214

Playing Stud:

Jeff Jerome got his last chips in on third street with wired 3s and a 4 in the door.

Helen Ellis was ahead with wired 6s and an Ace in the door.

Helen made Aces-up on 6th street while Jeff hadn't improved.

Only a 3 on the river would save him but he whiffed his two-outer and was busted.

Event 3: Leandrou and Schwartz Lead on Color-Up Break

The players on a 10 minute break to color up as they get ready to move to the 4,000/8,000/1,000 level.

After the elimination of Craig Feldherr, the field is down to 31 players.  George Leandrou looks to be holding the chip lead at a little over 700k trailed by Justin Schwartz at 650k.

A discussion amongst the players to stop at 27 instead of 18 was stopped by one player so unless he is eliminated, play will continue to 18 players tonight.

George Leandrou

Move Em Up, Hold Em Up

Event 1 - $500 + $60 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em

Blinds have gone up to 30k/60k/5000.  67 players remain in our exciting Event 1.  Over $300k for first place for a measly $560 investment...I'd definitely be excited if I were one of the 67.     :)  

Event 2: 9th - Fabiano; 8th - McGahan

$350 + $50 HORSE              

The 20k/40k limit and the game of Razz have claimed two victims.

Gerard Fabiano got his last chips in against Edward McGahan.  Edward made the best low hand and Gerard was busted.

Gerard Fabiano (Belleville, NJ)

9th Place - $1,245

Then Edward tangled with Kev and got all-in for his last 37k on 6th street.  Kev made a 96-low to beat Edward and take the pot.

Edward McGahan (Ridgewood, NJ)

8th Place - $1,660

Hello Wifey!

Event 1 - $500 + $60 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em

Sal Esposito would like to give a shout out to his wife.  Awww.   :)  He is sitting at around 2 million in chips.

                                                              Sal Esposito (Blue Point, NY)

A few other notable stacks around the room:

                                                      Eugene Kim (Latham, NY)    -  ~4.7million

                                                     Barry Leventhal (Brooklyn, NY) -  ~5 million

Big Blind....Special?

Event 1 - $500 + $60 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em

Action gets folded to Wendy Freedman (LAS VEGAS, NV)  on the button, who limps in with K♣7♣.  The player on the big blind raises to about 175k (blinds are at 25k/50k).  Freedman calls.  Flops comes K94 rainbow.  The big blind makes it 375k to go.  Freedman flats on the button.  The turn brings another 4.  The big blind shoves his remaining 2 million or so, and Freedman calls.  The player on the big tables 5♠9♠...perhaps trying to represent trip 4s on the turn.  The river is a 5...giving both players 2 pair, but Freedman has the higher 2 pair and doubles up her stack to about 5.6 million...making her the chip leader after a quick survey of the remaining tables.  

                                                  Wendy Freedman (Las Vegas, NV)

Event 2: Nine HORSEs

$350 + $50 HORSE              

The final 9 HORSEs have returned from a break to newly raised limits.

Now playing 20k/40k.

Russ Salzer leads with 565k.

Maksim Serebrinskiy is second with 470k.

Event 3: Roller Coaster Ride for Rail and Some Conflict at the Table

Nick Rail ends up in another big hand as a huge favorite holding AA vs. Henry Bumble of Manhattan's JJ.  Unfortunately for Rail, a J spiked on the flop and Rail got no help the rest of the way.  Bumble goes to nearly 200k with the win.

 Henry Bumble

Apparently Rail has been taking some serious beats but keeps pushing on as players at the table commented how Rail has been very unlucky all night.

Earlier, Bumble was involved in a dispute with another player who claimed when Bumble stood up after going all in that he was not allowed to stand.  The floor was called but Bumble chose to sit down to avoid the conflict before the floor arrived and a minor verbal altercation followed.

The same player then called the floor after this hand after a spectator near the table was commenting on his attempt to force Bumble to sit down demanding the spectator be moved away from the table.

It should get even more interesting as the night wears on.  

Event 4: Miami John Leads

$400 + $50 Seven Card Stud      

The Studs are down to the final nine players and have drawn seats and moved to a single table.  Average stack is 64k.

They're approaching the end level 16, limits 3k/6k.

Miami John Cernuto is the chip leader with ~125k.

Marty Muncus is second with ~110k.

Here's the new lineup:

Miami John Cernuto
Bill 'Bumperino' Munley
Michael Frejka
Jim DiCarlo
Allyn Marshall
Rogerio Sousa
Frank Gagliano
Marty Muncus
Branko Benci

They are still four away from the money.

Event 3: Blinds Keep Moving, Players Keep Dropping

With the elimination of James Ford, the field is cut to 38 players.  The tournament has reached Level 18 with blinds at 3,000/6,000 with a 500 ante.  The field will be playing down to 18 or 2am - whichever comes last.  Looks like a long night for these players.....

Event 2: Final Table Chip Counts

$350 + $50 HORSE             

Here's the final table lineup with some rough chip counts:

Seat - Player - Chips
1 - Russ Salzer - 41k
2 - Elon Diamond - 400k
3 - Nick Cochinos - 300k
4 - Gerard Fabiano - 200k
5 - Maksim Serebrinskiy - 113k
6 - Jeff Jerome - 76k
7 - Edward McGahan - 137k
8 - Kev - 460k
9 - Helen Ellis - 180

On an early hand at the final table, Jeff Jerome (Philadelphia, PA) doubled through Helen Ellis (New York, NY).

Average stack is 272k.  Play continues with Limits of 15k/30k.

Event 3: Riding the Rail

Nick Rail of Poughkeepsie, NY set the trap and pulled James Ford of Philadelphia, PA in to win a pot over 200k. 

After a flop of 8h-As-9d, the two players ended up all-in with Ford holding AJ for top pair but Rail held 89c and all the chips ended up in the middle.  Ford ends up short stacked while Rail's stacked jumped to 316,000.

Event 2: 10th Place - Stevens

$350 + $50 HORSE             

Matthew Stevens went down swinging in a hand of Stud against Kev.  Matthew came up short and was busted in 10th place.

Matthew Stevens (Brecksville, OH)

10th Place - $1,107

The final 9 drew for seats and moved to the final table.

Event 3: The Three Ladies

All three women remaining in Event 3 are amazingly seated next to each other with 44 players remaining - an unusual site in any poker tournament!

Lisa Lisberger of Baltimore, MD - Connie Rinaldi of New York, NY and Lana O'Brien of Englishtown, NY

Level Up, Chip Up!

Event 1 - $500 + $60 Deep Stack No Limit Hold'em

Levels just recently went up to 25k/ 50k/ 5k ante when this whopper of a hand happened.  I wasn't able to get the suits, but here's the 1st hand account from Richard Lardner (BROOKLYN, NY)...one of the grinders that busted from the 3-way all-in:

James Boyle (HAVRE DE GRACE, MD):  99

Richard Lardner (BROOKLYN, NY):  KJ

Unknown   :                   77

The flop came J47...placing the player with pocket 7s in great shape with flopped set.  The K on the turn gave Lardner some hope, but unfortunately the 9 on the river put the nail in the coffin for both Lardner and the player with the flopped set of 7s.  Boyle (who had both players covered) rivers the top set and now has over 3 million in chips.  Lardner is eliminated in 84th place.   

Event 2: Stuck at Ten

$350 + $50 HORSE            

The final ten players are pushing chips around the felt.

Playing Omaha H/L:

On the river with a board of J 5 4 T 3, Maksim shows AQ76 for the 7-high straight and scoops a pot from Elon Diamond.

Playing Razz:

Elon got his chips back from Maksim when he made a T84 to beat Maksim's T85.

Limits are now up to 15k/30k.

Event 2: 12th - Bueti; 11th - Winkelvoss

$350 + $50 HORSE            

Playing 10k/20k Stud H/L:

Antonio Bueti, who began the day as chip leader, tangled with Matthew Stevens.  By the river, Matthew had Kings-up and Antonio had nothing but a busted low draw.

Antonio Bueti (Mt. Kisco, NY)

12th Place - $1,107

Limits went up to 12k/24k.

Playing Hold'em:

Ron Winkelvoss got his last chips in holding AK against Edward McGahan's pocket Jacks.  The pair held and Edward chipped up to ~340k.

Ron Winkelvoss (Rose Valley, PA)

11th Place - $1,107

Ten players remain.  Average is 244k.