$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

Level 12:  Blinds 1k/2k/300 ante

With on the board, Paul DeRosa (Lutz, FL) was all-in got ~60k and had Rolando Vargas in the tank.

Rolando was covered, so the call for him would be all-in.  He agonized over the decision as the two bantered.  “Show me one if you fold,” said Paul.  “Do you really have Ace-ten?”.

Rolando eventually decided to call and really did have .  He saw the bad news when Paul tabled .  Rolando needed a Ten to survive.

The last two peeled off and did not help.  Rolando was busted.  “Two hands….I had 100k and it was gone in two hands!” he said as he walked away.   Paul chipped up to about 140k.

The field has dropped to only 21 players, making the average stack 65k.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

Level 11:  Blinds 800/1,600/300 ante

Nick Tzoumas (Tampa, FL) doesn’t usually play poker.  “I play BlackJack.  This is only my third tournament ever,” he said.

His two friends/coworkers “dragged” him here today to play and now all three are seated at the same table.  Nick is a freight broker and during our chat, a discussion broke out with his friends over who was the best seller among them.  Nick had to concede that point, I believe.

When Nick found out they will not quit for the night until the end of level 14, about 2am, he said “I’ve got to work tomorrow!”   If he survives until the bag & tag, he’s going to have to cut his night’s rest short to be at work on time.

With 25 players remaining, the average stack is 54k.  Nick’s doing well with about 80k.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

Level 10:  Blinds 600/1,200/200 ante

Peter Walsworth shared his story from an earlier level.  After several limpers,  he made it 6k to play from the big blind and got several callers.

He flopped the nuts holding when hit the felt.   He checked and it was checked around.

When the came on the turn, Peter bet, the player in seat 1 shoved and got one caller before Peter called as well.   The river was a double-pairing the board and the two remaining players checked the dry side pot.

His opponent showed for sixes-full to crack Peter’s nut flush.  He’s still in, but riding a short-stack with only about 20k.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

Level 9:  Blinds 500/1,000/100 ante

Players have returned from their second break and registration is now  closed for Flight C.   There were unofficially 113 entries in this flight.

Only 39 of those are still on the felt.

Rolando Vargas (Weslaco, TX) is the current chip leader and the first to reach the 100k mark.  He’s in town for some medical services training at the Convention Center and came to Seminole Hard Rock Tampa to enjoy some poker in his spare time.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

Level 8:  Blinds 400/800/75 ante

Before the blinds went up, Ellianne Munoz (Tampa, FL) had to race for her tournament life.

She was under-the-gun and shoved her last 7,100 over the line.  Action folded to Marvin ‘the flying duckman’ Karlins in the cutoff, who called.

Ellianne had pocket 6s and was was flipping against Marvin’s .  The board came clean for Ellianne as is fell and she doubled up.

On the next hand, the small blind raised to 1,300 and Ellianne (bb) 3-bet to 5,100.  After a brief pause for thought, the small blind called.

When the flop fell Ellianne moved her chips in and quickly pulled them back, since it was not yet her turn to act.  After surveying her remaining stack, the small blind checked and she then moved all-in.  He folded.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

Level 7:  Blinds 300/600/75 ante

Joe Gibbons and the player on his right in seat 4 got to the turn with a board of and seat 4 bet 3k.  Joe tossed in his last ~4,500 chips and got the call.

Joe showed for the flush draw.  His opponent was ahead with .

Then the obliging dealer burned and rivered the , giving Joe the flush and the double-up instead of a trip back to the cage to re-enter.  Joe’s double-up brought his stack up to about 11k, below the 12k starting stack.

Joe won the $1,650 Purple Chip Bounty NLH event during the 2014 Summer Poker Open here in Tampa, cashing for $14,625.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed

Level 6:  Blinds 200/400/50 ante

There are 95 entries in this flight already with two more levels and a break before registration closes.

Some of the frequent fliers spotted in the crowd:

John Pappas
Tim Harrell
Richard Clayton
Marvin Karlins
Oscar Lindo
Peter Walsworth
Marc Lowe

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed

Level 5:  Blinds 150/300/25 ante

Players in Flight C have returned from their first break, but for some players it is their third or fourth break of the day.

Tom Nguyen is back in Flight C, trying again after busting out of Flight B near the end.

Tom’s coming off his success in the $150,000 Guaranteed opening event, in which he made the final table.  In a ten-way chop, he collected $8,470 for 9th place.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

End of Level 14: Blinds 1,500/3,000/400 ante

There were 14 players remaining at the end of level 14 and they were rewarded with a plastic bag to hold their chips until Day 2.  Average stack for this flight is 94k.

Here are their chip counts:

Randy Spain 230,000
David Lawrence 173,500
Max Deitke 148,000
Dana Chamberlain 103,000
Douglas Claybrook 101,000
Julio Novo 94,000
Tony March 80,500
Ronen Semel 61,000
Eugene Stone 59,000
Marcus Seitz 57,000
Jordan Cannatella 55,000
Eric Moffett 51,500
Eric Kappel 35,000
Robbie Godbey 32,000