Aug 23 2011
WPT and Parx Open Poker Tournaments Underway
written by: James under News Comments: Comments Off
The latest event on the World Poker Tour tournament circuit is currently underway at the Hard Rock Hollywood in Southern Florida. The lengthily-titled WPT Regional Seminole Hard Rock Summer Splash attracted a total of 391 players over the course of two separate Day 1s, each of whom paid a buy-in of $2,200 to create a $782k prize pool. Organizers were clearly expecting fewer players, as the guarantee was set to just $250k.
A number of big-name high stakes poker pros were placed throughout the field, including Brian Hastings, Thayer Rasmussen, Jason Mercier and Darryll Fish. The first and last players mentioned earned their way into the Top 16. Hastings took the chip lead going into the final table, and there’s no doubt that his eyes are firmly planted on the $214k top prize.
Meanwhile in Philadelphia, 181 players paid their $2,000 buy-ins into the Parx Open Poker Classic Main Event. Fighting for the $325k prize pool were Matt Stout, McLean Karr, Matt Giants, Mike Matusow, Michael Mizrachi, Tristan Wade, Joe Palma and Lou Santoro.
Most of the biggest names were eliminated relatively early in the event. Joe Palma and Lou Santoro made it to the final table before being knocked out in 9th and 10th place, respectively.
The tournament concluded with heads up play between McLean Karr and Dan Smith. Karr’s pocket aces looked strong against Smith’s A-J offsuit, and it held up well with an A-8-7 flop. A 3 on the turn and a 4 on the river secured the win for Karr, who ended up with roughly 150,000 more chips than Smith. Karr earned a tidy first-place prize of just under $75k, along with a very special diamond bracelet from a local jeweler. Smith received a respectable $52k for his efforts.
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