Craig “@ChipsMaxwell” Stout had been waiting a long time for this day.

The Sheridan, Indiana native had been playing on Global Poker since the social poker site launched and had won 13 trophies. He has $17,466 in live tournament earnings, including winning three tournaments in less than two weeks in January at the Horseshoe Indianapolis. But he had never enjoyed a day quick like this one, and he dreamt it was coming.

Stout earned his tournament entry for the semi-final of the inaugural PokerNews Cup on Global Poker in the first qualifier. He won the semi-final last night to secure his spot in the SC250,000 Final. And then he had a bold prediction.

“I called my shot and said I was going to win this,” Stout told PokerNews’ Jesse Fullen on Twitch shortly after he defeated “Thunder2007” to win the PokerNews Cup and earn the SC100,000 first-place prize along with the Global Poker x PokerNews Cup trophy.

“I am stoked. I’ve been looking forward to this day for, I don’t know, 25 years, I guess,” he said. “I’ve been playing tournament poker, I feel like, my whole adult life. It’s been a long time coming to get this. I’ve won some decent tournaments, but this is my first six-figure score. So I’m thrilled right now.”

Final Table results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Craig “@ChipsMaxwell” Stout	SC100,000
2	“Thunder2007”	SC40,000
3	“PeanutFlush”	SC25,000
4	“Penneltenn”	SC15,000
5	“Jayz4dayz72”	SC10,000
6	“hhella Tight”	SC6,000
7	“cgoated”	SC4,000
8	“Brrrr”	SC3,000
9	“HippyMike”	SC2,000

Event Recap

The SC250,000 Final began at 5 p.m. ET with 54 players making it through the qualification rounds. PokerNews Stream Team member Anthony “Acepoker444” Caldiero and WSOP bracelet winner David “RUeTaMa” Moses were among them but fell in 33rd and 21st place, respectively.

Once the field had been whittled down to the final three tables, Stout lost a large portion of his stack when he shoved the turn with a pair of jacks and “Brrrr” called with two pair. He began climbing back up the leaderboard after knocking out “Morgilicous” with pocket aces, then taking out “LambdaLambdaLambda” in 11th place when the board counterfeited his opponent’s pocket pair.

Stout began the nine-handed final table in third chip position with 103,504, behind only “Thunder2007” (137,309) and “PeanutFlush” (132,893). On the first hand, “HippyMike” moved all in for 5,596, less than three big blinds, and “hhella Tight” called in the big blind. “hhella Tight” turned a flush to beat pocket nines, making “HippyMike” the first casualty of the final table.

Stout’s former nemesis “Brrrr” was eliminated in eighth place, losing a race with ace-king to jacks when “Thunder2007” flopped top set. “cgoated” then moved all in for 7,540 and received three callers. The board was checked down and “PeanutFlush” won the pot with king-high to knockout “cgoated” in seventh.

From there, the tournament was all Stout. He called an all-in shove for 19,909 from “hhella Tight” on a five-high board with pocket eights and beat a pair of fives to earn the knockout. In a blind versus blind confrontation, Stout put “jayz4dayz7” all in for 22,882 and won with ace-queen against ace-seven as he took the lead with more than half the chips in play four-handed.

Stout wasn’t done dominating the table. He made a running straight to win a big pot off “PeanutFlush,” then cracked pocket kings with ace-queen, hitting an ace on the turn, to bust PokerNews contest winner Penneltenn in fourth place.

PeanutFlush was knocked out in third place when Stout got them to call off their last 44,388 on the river with a pair of eights. Stout showed down a rivered pair of aces as he eliminated his fourth consecutive opponent at the final table to take a 377,145 to 162,855 chip lead over “Thunder2007” into heads-up play.

“Thunder2007” doubled up once to draw closer, but on the last hand, they moved all in on the flop for 93,910 with a straight draw. Stout called with a pair of sixes and held on to secure the title and become the first-ever PokerNews Cup champion.

Global Poker emphasizes the social aspect of the game. It allows players to enjoy the experience in a fun, friendly atmosphere for free with no purchase or downloads necessary. Stout has been a loyal player on the social poker site from the beginning, and he was well-rewarded today. But he doesn’t have too many big plans just yet.

“I got to go to work tomorrow and then we’ll go from there,” he said.

That concludes PokerNews’ coverage of the inaugural PokerNews Cup on Global Poker. Stay tuned for more action from tournaments around the world.

Prior to the start of the heads-up poker match, Nikhil “Nik Airball” Arcot talked the talk. Slightly over halfway through the high-stakes competition and it’s been Matt Berkey who has been walking the walk.

The $200/$400 no-limit hold’em contest has been taking place at Resorts World in Las Vegas since early April. In the weeks prior, Airball took shots at Berkey, referring to the Solve for Why poker training site founder as a “scammer” and talked down on his poker skills.

Berkey’s reputation within the poker community has never been that of a scammer and there are many Solve for Why customers who have stood up for the Only Friends podcast host following Airball’s repeated attacks. Still, Airball’s had an opportunity to back his mouth up on the felt by dominating the supposed “scammer.” Thus far, it’s been the other way around.

Berkey Proving His Poker Skills?

The heads-up battle between the feuding poker players is scheduled to last 100 hours or until one player is down $1 million, if that player decides to quit. Following Sunday’s session, the two have played 55 hours and Berkey is up $659,800, per Landon Tice’s Twitter reports.

There isn’t a live-stream or any video of the action, which makes it difficult for poker fans to truly determine just how much of the score differential is due to skill and how much is due to variance — 55 hours of live poker isn’t exactly some massive sample size.

Early in the match, it appeared that Nik Airball might make the game more competitive than some anticipated. At the quarter pole, he held a $90,000 lead and was riding high. His friends on Twitter, most notably Eshaan “Brownballa” Bhalla and Lynne Ji, were celebrating like Airball had already pulled the upset.

Since then, however, Berkey has dominated to the tune of a profit exceeding $750,000 over the past five sessions. On one hand, that’s a bad sign for Airball. But on the other, it just goes to show how quickly things can turn around in heads-up no-limit hold’em, which means he’s far from down and out.

Of course, another brutal session for Airball would help Berkey reach the $1 million mark before they play 100 hours.

The LIPS Nevada State Ladies Championship, which took place at South Point Casino in Las Vegas April 19-23, included six events with Tammy Ehrhart being the biggest winner of them all.

Play began on the 19th with the $200 Mini Main Event, a no-limit hold’em tournament. There were a total of 208 entrants in the field and it came down to a two-way chop between Marsha Adams and Svetlana Gromenkova, each receiving $5,809.

In Event #2: $200 Team Championship, the winning team — The Portland Punters — had some familiar faces, including the reigning GPI Female Player of the Year, Angela Jordison, along with Jacki Burkhart, Devin Sweet, Jennifer Bernard, and Christina Gollins.

Each player from the squad that hails from Oregon collected $1,650 for their efforts. The champs beat out another talented team — The Stackers — in heads-up play, which included Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) champion Kyna England and the two-time Nevada State Ladies Champion, Ruth Hall.

Jordison Recognized as GPI Female Player of the Year

There’s a New Champion

Hall was the defending champion in the Main Event, a tournament she also won in 2015. Despite battling through some serious health conditions, she had a title to defend and made the trip to Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, for Hall, who lives in Texas and grew up in Urbandale, Iowa, she ran her pocket queens into pocket kings and was eliminated short of the money. That meant a new champion would be crowned, and that individual is Tammy Ehrhart, who won via a three-way chop along with Joan Short and Evangeline Ayed. Each player collected $14,134 in the chop.

The series included a mix of poker variants, including no-limit hold’em and Omaha/8. It also featured a fun $180 buy-in Pajama Jam event where the players were encouraged to dress in pajamas. Nooria Miskell won that tournament, which attracted 69 entrants, for $2,797.

LIPS Nevada State Ladies Championship Full Results

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Eligible Slots for the Free Spins Burst Promotion

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After 14 qualifying events, 54 players took their virtual seats in the Global Poker x PokerNews Cup GC Final. Once the dust settled after a fast paced four hours, it was none other than “Allhustlenoluck” who emerged triumphant, taking home GC40,000,000 along with the trophy and title of champion for their efforts.

“LBgaming” battled hard to secure a second-place finish, while “Regs1” rounded out the top three.

Final Table Action

There was no bubble in this event as all players entered the day having secured GC400,000. The first prize jump, however, came at the final table, with all those able to navigate their way to the final nine guaranteed GC800,000.

The player to secure that initial prize jump but no more was “Scoobydubious” who got it in preflop with a dominated ace and failed to improve. Next to go was “FelicisSuerte” after they put their last chips into the middle on the turn needing to find a club on the river but failing to do so.

“LBgaming” continued their hot run by scoring a fortunate double knockout to send “BoltAction” and “Ormageddon” to the rail in seventh and sixth place respectively.

Eliminations continued at a breakneck pace, with “F4RTF4CE”, “SomeDumbFish”, and “Regs1″ sent out in short order to setup a heads-up showdown between “LBgaming” and “Allhustlenoluck”. The contest did not last long as “Allhustlenoluck” limp-called a jam from “LBgaming” having their opponent dominated. The best hand held up, crowning “Allhustlenoluck” as the first ever Global Poker x PokerNews Cup GC Final champion.

On Sunday, April 30, PokerStars guaranteed $1.5 million in prize pools to United States players. That’s because it was Million Dollar Sunday for players in the merged market of New Jersey and Michigan, meaning $1 million in GTDs were offered across 10 tournaments. As if that wasn’t enough, players in Pennsylvania will enjoy $500,000 in GTDs over nines tournaments..

Since early April, PokerStars had been qualifying players for various Million Dollar Sunday events via Spin and Go’s, All-in Shootouts, Depositor Freerolles, and other PokerStars exclusive promotions.

The headline event in both markets was the two-day $200 buy-in Sunday Special, which was a $500K GTD tournament in NJ/MI and a $250K GTD event in Pennsylvania.

Best Online Poker Sites for US Players

Korby & Halter Both Nab Titles on Sunday

The merged market of New Jersey and Michigan set a lofty $1 million in combined guaranteed prize pools across 10 events, and they squeaked by it as a combined 11,708 entrants competed for $1,017,547 in prize money was awarded.

“It was a magical way to end an amazing day of tournaments put on by PokerStars.”

Andrew “autokorekt” Korby was a big winner topping a massive field of 5,333 runners to take down the $10 Million Dollar Sunday Monster for $13,181.10, while Jared “beamdoctor” Halter, who has established himself as one of Michigan’s best online poker players, bested a 1,073-entry field to win the $50 Million Dollar Sunday Mini Special for $8,034.36.

“I am very grateful for being able to maximize the positive variance to win the Million Dollar Sunday Mini Special,” Halter told PokerNews. “It had been a really rough session and I was quite frustrated a few hours earlier. To shake off the frustration and find some heat was incredible. It was a magical way to end an amazing day of tournaments put on by PokerStars.”

In the $200 Million Dollar Sunday Special, 1,989 entrants competed for a $500,000 prize pool, which was reserved for the top 287 finishers. Among those to make deep runs were “NoEndgame” (37th – $1,310.55), “Pennies444” (27th – $1,508), “LucyCallsMePops” (17th – $1,806.30), “shivadadi” (10th – $3,554.80), “Dublistic” (6th – $13,767.90), and “DLBTheShow7” (3rd – $38,010.40).

In the end, it was “oleironhelm” defeating “Tagubhai” in heads-up play to win the tournament outright for $74,804.20.

NJ/MI Million Dollar Sunday Special Final Table Results

Pennsylvania Surpasses Half Million Guarantees

In Pennsylvania’s nine tournaments, a combined 6,351 entrants competed and it just snuck by the $500,000 in guarantees as $518,630 in prize money was awarded.

The $1,000 Half Million Dollar Sunday High Roller attracted 101 runners and saw “PokerkingAAfold” take it down for $23,043.48, while “JoeyBets68” bested a 269-entry field to win the $50 Half Million Dollar Sunday Adrenaline for $2,714.72.

In the $200 Half Million Dollar Sunday Special Main Event, 1,205 entrants competed for their piece of a $250,000 prize pool, which was paid out to the top 175 finishers. Among those to make deep runs were “saulgoodman2011” (50th – $773.37), “bigcuban72” (40th – $913.25), “SFC41377” (27th – $1,078.45), “TryptophanMan” (17th – $1,273.47), and “fan_buzgon” (13th – $1,503.80).

At the final table, “CleggsOnGG” defeated “sloyer57” in heads-up play to claim the title and $39,316.07 first-place prize. If the champion sounds familiar, that’s because back on January 21, “CleggsOnGG” topped a field of 225 runners to win the PSPC Online Event #35: $100 NLH [Deepstack Turbo] for $4,028.

PA Half Million Dollar Sunday Special Final Table Results

Million Dollar Sunday Winners

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Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

On Monday, the World Poker Tour (WPT) $3,500 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown saw 107 players return to action. By the end of the night, just 16 players from the 2,290-entry remained in contention for the $1,128,250 top prize.

Sridhar Sangannagari (lead picture) holds the chip lead with 18,125,000 while James Anderson isn’t far behind with 16,925,000. Others still in contention include Bin Weng (10,575,000), Andrew Moreno (7,125,000), Gal Yifrach (5,550,000), Dylan Smith (2,925,000), and Jeff Madsen (1,675,000).

End-of-Day-3 Chip Count

Check out the WPT Hub on PokerNews here!

Among those to fall on Day 3 were Alex Jim (17th – $46,200), Natasha Mercier (18th – $46,200), Taylor von Kriegenbergh (22nd – $38,000), Ryan Riess (28th – $31,500), Steve “Cuz” Buckner (33rd – $26,400), Frank Lagodich (54th – $19,100), Raminder Singh (59th – $16,500), Ethan “Rampage” Yau (64th – $16,500), Kristen Foxen (70th – $14,400), Day 1b chip leader Akash Seth (88th – $11,300), and Chance Kornuth (105th – $9,050).

The night ended after a pair of eliminations. First, in Level 28 (75,000/125,000/125,000), Naing Thu raised to 250,000 from the button only to have Weng three-bet to 875,000 from the small blind. Natasha Mercier then four-bet jam for 1,825,000 from the big, Thu folded, and Weng called.

Natasha Mercier: 4♠4♦
Bin Weng: A♥6♥

It was a flop and Mercier held on the K♣K♦3♥ flop. Unfortunately for her, the A♠ appeared on the turn to give Weng the lead. The {Kh| river was no help to Mercier and the last woman in the field took her leave from the tournament.

Not long after in Level 29 (75,000/150,000/150,000), Clemen Deng raised to 375,000 under the gun and Alex Jim responded by moving all in for 1.075 million from the big blind. Deng called with the J♣9♣ and was looking to get there against the A♣5♣ of Jim.

The Q♦5♦3♣ flop didn’t do it, and neither did the Q♣ turn. However, the J♠ was just what Deng needed to drive a dagger through Jim’s heart and to put an end to the night.

The remaining 16 players are guaranteed $56,800 in prize money, though all are hoping to make their way to the final table where at least six-figure paydays await. Here’s a look at the payouts for the final nine:

Remaining Payouts

Day 4 is scheduled for Tuesday, May 2nd at 12 p.m. EST and will reach the final table, which will then be played at the Hyper X ESports Arena at the Luxor in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 25th.

_{*Images courtesy of WPT and Seminole Hard Rock.}

Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

The winner of the most expensive tournament during the 2023 Poker Dream Manila live poker stop in the capital of the Philippines has been crowned. None other than Poker Dream founder Winfred Yu defeated Triton Poker co-founder Paul Phua. It was a fiercely fought heads-up duel after which Yu claimed the bragging rights among high-stakes regulars as well as the golden dragon trophy in the PHP1,380,000 ($25,321) “White Horse Club” Short Deck Ante-Only Super High Roller.

Both received the biggest slice of the PHP55,000,000 guarantee ($1,071,273) in a field of 41 entries, which paid the top six spots. Players from two different countries returned for the live-streamed final showdown in the ballroom of the Newport World Resorts Integrated Resort and it was Yu who eventually prevailed to take home a top prize of PHP18,700,000 ($364,233).

Among the finalists was also Hong Kong’s WSOP bracelet winner Danny Tang, as well as the three Malaysians Chen Ming Kong, Jun Wah Yap, and Ming Hong Teoh.

Final Result 2023 Poker Dream Manila Short Deck Super High Roller

Yu entered the final day with a commanding lead but it wasn’t an easy ride to victory by any means, as he dropped back into the middle of the pack. Instead, it was Phua who soared to the top and entered heads-up play with the lead. However, one double-up with ace-king versus ace-queen propelled Yu back into the driver’s seat, and the fiercely contested battle ultimately ended in his favour.

The first casualty on the six-handed grand finale occurred rather swiftly as Ming Hong Teoh was ousted by Danny Tang. Having played just two hands actively, Teoh’s pocket kings couldn’t hold up against ace-king suited, and that spelled the end for the Malaysian. Phua then put a first dent into Yu’s lead when he doubled with set versus top pair before taking over the lead.

Jun Wah Yap had survived several short stack all-ins and got it in ahead with ace-queen suited against the ace-ten suited of Chen Ming Kong, but the latter flopped Broadway for the knockout. Tang’s tournament then came to a crashing end when Phua limped pocket aces and snapped off the shove by Tang with pocket queens.

Kong remained very active in three-handed play but never recovered from doubling Yu, as he doubled his short stack only once before his dominated ace came up short against Phua.

Phua and Yu, who had played against each other in numerous other high-stakes competitions already throughout the years, then battled back and forth for more than two hours. Yu gained the upper hand with a superior ace and ultimately remained ahead with jacks versus ace-eight to claim the trophy.

While this wraps up the PokerNews coverage of the Short Deck Super High Roller Event, the live reporting team will be back the following day to pick up the conclusion of the PHP500,000 Super High Roller before turning the focus on the flagship 2023 Poker Dream Manila Main Event.

While many of the biggest stars from poker’s golden era of the mid-2000s are only mentioned in “Where Are They Now?” pieces, Patrik Antonius is not one of them. In fact, the Finland all-time money leader is as relevant as ever.

Not only is Antonius still regularly competing in the televised cash games that boosted his career early on, he is also a force to be reckoned with in on the current high roller tournament scene and even won his first Triton title last year. Additionally, Antonius recently signed on as an ambassador for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Thrill Team, something he said he got involved in “accidentally” before adding that he was “happy to get invited to join the Thrill Team.”

“It’s nice,” Antonius said. “WSOP is a big brand and they have a lot of influence in the industry. And it’s nice that they have this app so a lot of new players can have an experience playing poker on an app like this for free. And if they like it they can start playing for real money and so on. So it’s nice, it’s nice that they have an app like this.”

Antonius appeared as a guest on the most recent episode of the PokerNews Podcast and spoke about winning his first Triton title, how High Stakes Poker impacted his career and representing the WSOP Thrill Team in the upcoming Main Event. The full conversation with the Finnish poker legend can be heard here.

Listen to Patrik Antonius on the PokerNews Podcast!

Big Bluff-Catch Leads to First Triton Title

Though he’s primarily a cash game player — as he put it, “cash games have always been my main thing and it will always remain to be my big thing” — Antonius has still managed to rack up $14.4 million across his poker career that has spanned more than two decades.

That includes a first-place finish in the 2005 European Poker Tour Baden Main Event for $343,365 to bring him an EPT title, as well as a runner-up finish to one Phil Ivey in the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship $250,000 Challenge for $1.3 million.

More recently, Antonius picked up a Triton title as he took down a $25,000 High Roller at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Cyprus in August 2022 for $825,000.

“It felt good,” said Antonius. “It’s always good to get a monkey off from your back when you don’t have a title. The first one is always nice to get. And I’m looking to get more, obviously. It always feels good to win a tournament. Everyone who has won one, they know the feeling that you cannot do any better and you just let things go your way.”

Not only did Antonius book the win, he did so in a rather spectacular fashion. During three-handed play at the final table, Antonius made an incredible hero call for his tournament life holding just bottom pair against Fahredin Mustafov in what commentator Henry Kilbane called the “sickest hand of the tournament.”

Antonius said making the right call in that “crucial moment” made the Triton win all the more special. “That kind of felt extra good that it came in this way instead of just winning all the flips and so on.”

He explained what his thought process was in the moment: “I mean, the hand played pretty standard until the river. I cannot fold on the turn (when I pick up a flush draw), obviously. I just, simple as that, went with my read on the river. If I have a read that my opponent is not bluffing, then I’m folding. And I had a pretty good read. But also … I had to be right a lot there with the ICM (implications) and, you know, I was right this time. It’s not so much crazy special things. It’s just one hand. It feels good to be right, that’s all I can say.”

Patrik the Star

Many poker fans know Antonius from his appearances on the iconic High Stakes Poker show back in the mid-2000s, where a younger Antonius — in a half-unbuttoned pastel dress shirt with several bricks of cash in front of him — battled against the likes of Sammy Farha, Jamie Gold and Barry Greenstein.

“I guess it’s been pretty big for me, like that’s where people know me from more than from tournament poker,” Antonius said when asked about the impact the show has had on his poker career. “That show made me quite popular, because of TV. And yeah, I managed to play a lot of interesting big pot there.”

Antonius added, “I’ve always felt very comfortable (on camera) and enjoyed playing streams (and) televised poker, especially cash games. Those are really fun things to play, what can I say.”

More than a decade later, Antonius is still a regular in the televised cash game streets. In 2022, he appeared on Season 9 of the rebooted High Stakes Poker with Jean-Robert Bellande, Tom Dwan, Daniel Negreanu and others.

“It feels like I’m getting invited all the time,” he said. “It all depends what kind of lineup and when. Like I just got invited now to play something (in the PokerGO Studio) … but I’m not able to make it in April. I’m here in Monaco and am going to play this Monaco EPT. But yeah, I’m always looking to play some high-stakes poker. That’s what I do, that’s what I prefer over tournaments.”

“I Let My Play Talk”

Most poker pros would love nothing more than an invite to the juicy televised and streamed games, which are typically filled with a mix of recreational players, celebrities and, more recently, content creators. What makes Antonius so popular on TV that he keeps getting these invites?

“I mean, I don’t really know,” said Antonius. “I cannot tell (you) what people enjoy, if people say that they enjoy watching me play. I cannot tell you that. You’d have to ask other people. I’m just myself and I like to play. And you know, I think I’m a pretty fun guy to play (with) if I’m in a good mood, which I have been lately.”

As for his presence at the table, Antonius noted that he “like(s) to have all kind of conversations” but added that “I don’t like to talk too much when I play. When you’re not in a hand, you can have conversations and so on, but I like to focus on the hand when I’m playing.”

“I kind of let my play talk,” Antonius said. “I think I give a lot of action, and like I said, I’ve played a lot of big pots, made a lot of interesting plays. And I like to keep it like that. The poker is the main thing, that you want to watch players play and not them to have a show with talking, and so on. Let’s focus on the poker, I think it’s the right way to keep it. And the commentators are really good nowadays, and they’re just getting better. But Gabe Kaplan was pretty damn entertaining.”

While they were made beforehand, Antonius’ comments seem particularly relevant after the recent live-stream offering of High Stakes Poker that featured a lineup including Nikhil “Nik Airball” Arcot, Doug Polk and Matt Berkey and was widely criticized for what many saw as prioritizing feuds and antics over poker play. Of course, there are plenty out there who have also criticized today’s televised games for not being entertaining enough.

What’s next on the busy schedule of Finland’s all-time money leader? Antonius is currently in Day 1a of the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event and said he also plans on playing the Triton Poker Cyprus series in May before “fly(ing) straight to Vegas from Cyprus” to play the WSOP Main Event as a Thrill Team representative.

And if there was any doubt, Antoninus also confirmed he will be playing plenty of high-stakes cash games during the Vegas trip.

“(I’m) looking forward for (the) Vegas trip,” he said. “Some cash games and good times and some Main Event tournament also.”

Over the weekend, the World Poker Tour (WPT) $3,500 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown attracted 2,290 entrants. The $3 million guarantee was obliterated as a $7,328,000 prize pool was created. That will be distributed to the top 287 finishers with the eventual winner taking home a $1,128,250 top prize.

That tournament is still chugging along and is slated to play down to the final table on Tuesday. At that point, the final six players will go on an approximately three-week hiatus before playing out at the Hyper X ESports Arena at the Luxor in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 25th.

Live reporters from both the WPT and Seminole Hard Rock have been capturing the action throughout, and we thought we’d share some of the biggest hands from the early stages of the tournament.

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Quad Nines Propel Debbie Lee to a Triple

On Day 1a in Level 5 (300/600/600), a player opened for 2,000 under the gun and Hitesh Patel called next to act. Action folded to Debbie Lee in the big blind and she called to see a flop of K♠9♥6♠.

Lee checked and the original raiser continued for 5,000. Patel popped it to 20,000 and Lee wasted little time in calling off her stack of 15,7000. The under-the-gun player called as well to create a main pot of 54,000 and 8,600 on the side.

The two active players checked the 9♣ turn and the 2♦ completed the board on the river. The under-the-gun player bet 40,000 and then folded when Patel moved all in for 55,200 total. Patel tabled the K♣6♣ for two pair but it was no good as Lee rolled over the 9♠9♦ for quads!

Andrews Looks to Fade Two Big Slicks

Also on Day 1a, it was Level 8 (600/1,200/1,200) when Jason Andrews raised to 2,500 and Mark Seif responded with a three-bet to 12,500. Jason Wandling then jammed the button for 53,600 and both Andrews and Seif proceeded to get it in for approximately 175,000 apiece.

Jason Andrews: 8♠8♥
Mark Seif: A♥K♠
Jason Wandling: A♦K♦

Andrews was ahead with his pocket pair while his opponents shared the same hand, although Wandling was suited. Fortunately for Andrews, the board ran out a clean 9♣6♥2♠J♠Q♦ and his snowmen held to send both Seif and Wandling to the rail.

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Hareuther Trips Up a Poker Legend

On Day 1b of the tournament it was Level 3 (200/400/400) when Ryan Hareuther raised to 1,000 under the gun and Kathy Liebert three-bet to 4,000 from the hijack.

Action folded back to Hareuther and he called to see a flop of J♥J♣10♦. Hareuther checked, Liebert bet, and woke up with a check-raise, which Liebert called.

On the 2♦ turn, Hareuther moved all in for 27,000 and Liebert called off for 24,000 with her A♠A♥. Unfortunately for the poker legend, Hareuther had flopped trips with the Q♠J♦. The 8♥ river Liebert needed and she was eliminated.

Antimony Cracks the Kings of Singh

In Level 12 (1,500/3,000/3,000) on Day 1b, 11-time SHRP trophy champ Raminder Singh raised under the gun only to bet met by an all-in three-bet to 47,500 from Anna Antimony in the small blind.

Singh quickly called with his K♥K♠ and was ahead of Antimony’s A♣J♣. Antimony was looking for some luck and she got it when the A♠8♥2♣ flop paired her ace. Neither the Q♦ turn nor 9♠ river changed a thing and Antimony scored the double.

Scott Bohlman on Bad End of a Cooler… at Least for a Bit!

On Day 2 in Level 20 (10,000/20,000/20,000), just 115 players remained when Scott Bohlman was all in from the cutoff for 990,000 and at risk against David Coleman, who was in the big blind.

Scott Bohlman: K♦K♣
David Coleman: A♦A♣

It was a cooler situation for Bohlman and he received no help on the 8♣4♥2♠ flop. The 5♥ turn changed nothing, and Bohlman needed to spike one of the two remaining kings on the river to stay alive. That’s just what he did too when the K♠ appeared to give him new life. In fact, he doubled to over two million, which was a 101-big-blind stack, while Coleman was left with 625,000.

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_{*Images courtesy of WPT and Seminole Hard Rock.}

Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.