Two weeks of excitement came down to one Sunday evening when Derby Lane crowned a new Ante Up Poker Tour champion on Nov. 16, and his name is Gerald Silva. The 69-year-old Tampa resident showed the patience of a seasoned veteran en route to a $26K payday over a staggering field of 2,325 entrants in the $150 buy-in tournament.
He squared off with David Muscarella heads-up for the title for nearly two hours as Muscarella displayed just as much patience as Silva, even doubling through the chipleader once. But he succumbed to Silva’s 10-10 when his K-9 could only pair the nine on the river on the all-in preflop final hand at the poker room in St. Petersburg, Fla.
“Typically, I’m more aggressive, but I noticed he was passive so I wanted to be careful,” Silva said of Muscarella, who got as close as a 3-to-1 chip deficit before finally falling. “I thought he was waiting for me to make a mistake. So I wanted to be cautious and not make any huge bets and get into trouble.”
The final eight players agreed to a chip-equity chop, with Silva, who has been playing poker for about eight years, getting the most and the rest earning about $15K each. But that still left up for grabs the $1,650 Ante Up World Championship Main Event seat at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in California, a Ante Up Poker Cruise package for two, a custom AUPT champion’s jacket and a spot on the cover of Ante Up’s December issue. And just like he did during chop negotiations, Silva landed on top, winning the packages.
The seven-event Derby Lane Fall PokerFest series culminated with the accumulator main event, which was dubbed the Best Little Tournament in the USA and combined 18 Day 1 flights into 197 players for Day 2 and 37 players then returned for Day 3 to battle for the $52K first-place prize.
The accumulator is a unique concept where players can play as many flights as they want but unlike a traditional re-entry tournament, when they bag, players could combine their five biggest stacks for Day 2. Every player who advanced from one of the Day 1 flights was immediately paid $150 from the prize pool, allowing them to re-enter another flight or bank their money.
“It was so unique and one of the best I’ve played,” said Silva, who tried six times to advance to Day 2, bagging 74K chips from one flight.
The 2,325 entries generated a prize pool of $327,340 from a $150 buy-in, easily surpassing the $250K guarantee. The player reaction was incredibly positive.
One of the chipleaders entering Day 2, Matthew Musset, said he was a fan of the play and the ability to get back cash and play again. Jean Miccio, a member of the Derby Lane Poker League, bagged four out of seven attempts. She rode the 700K stack to a 10th-place finish and loved the idea of playing multiple times to come back to a larger stack. Other players traveled to St. Petersburg, getting hotel rooms so they could make multiple attempts to increase their stacks.
Some of the players who started Day 2 on the short stack played their way to the final table. Muscarella started Day 2 with 28K and Bret McCown with 106K. These two turned those short stacks into five-figure paydays.
Six undercard events tested players in a number of different formats, including six-max, high roller, pot-limit Omaha and Open Face Chinese Pineapple. They attracted big names such as John Dolan, Justin Zaki and John Racener and great locals such as Chris Hyden and Michael Raimon.
“I looked to make sure that all players not only got value in the first days of the tournament, but also when they came back,” said Jeff Gamber, Derby Lane director of poker operations. “We didn’t want a traditional payout structure that you felt was unworthy of what you already did. I wanted to make sure everyone got the best they could.”
DERBY LANE FALL POKERFEST – Main Event
$150 buy-in, 2,325 entries
181-197 $300
197 Srikanta Kowtha
196 James Patterson
195 Andrew Malabaun
194 Jody Philip
193 Marjorie And Mickelson
192 Freddie Kirkland
191 Douglas McDonald
190 Jeffry Gaudet
189 Christopher Williams
188 Frederick Atterbury
187 Robert J Tagler
186 Charles Ohlmiller
185 Clayton Thompson
184 Andrea Grutman
183 Stuart Phillips
182 Craig W Bozza
181 Richard Hope
180-161 $350
180 Christopher Williams
179 Jerry Hurst
178 Melba Rubio
177 Alice Bozza
176 Dawn Butterbaugh
175 Holly Hettenberger
174 Andrew Butte
173 Hedlar Junior
172 Memsio Lebrilla
171 Amanda Huber
170 Patricia Rowley
169 John Zambito
168 David Twible
167 Gregory Fahr
166 Patricia Chan
165 Randolph Spain
164 Thomas Values
163 Jeremy Jennings
162 Jacob Joey Zherzhi
161 Mark Ritter
160-141 $400
160 Jimmy Baize
159 George Sokolewicz
158 Ryan Alan North
157 Susan Berman
156 James Mori
155 Marco A Canvalto
154 James Palmer
153 Brian Lawandus
152 Harry Johnson IV
151 Michael Wagner
150 Patrick Allen Hoben
149 Frederick Miller Jr
148 Robert Lent
147 Richard Petrovic
146 Alfredo Martires
145 Sean Wall
144 Sourinary Chandra
143 Jennifer Mejias
142 Scott Underkoffter
141 Peter Andrews
140-121 $450
140 Marc Senac
139 Dakota Hale
138 Mowafaq Abunda
137 Richard Posada
136 Daniel Beckworth
135 Daniel Thomas Carter
134 Karen Longfellow
133 Spiro Kochovos
132 Thomas A Bosco
131 Nicholas Koulouvaris
130 Charles Nickum
129 Andre Papangelou
128 Elbert Craig Jr
127 Gerald Panagrossi
126 Leandro Peiranes
125 Vincent Rowley
124 Curtis Smith
123 John Santone
122 Dave Phillips III
121 Jack Hettenberger
120-101 $500
120 Michael Laudani
119 Randolph Crowrher
118 Eugene Gillespie
117 Charlie Miller Jr.
116 Zachary Kaufman
115 Eloy Ronduelas
114 Michael Berkstresser
113 Michael Halprin
112 Steve Dinwiddie
111 William Bottom
110 Thad Loudenbach
109 Paul Clouther
108 John Jones
107 John Pappas
106 Kyle Stepehens
105 Michael Zinger
104 Garfield Cummings
103 Peter Dalcomo
102 Robert Villaneva
101 Kenneth Alt
100-91 $550
100 Charles Gill
99 Clinton Dunn
98 Anthony Pellegrini
97 John Fasso
96 Angel Serrallrs
95 Steven McKittrick
94 Tony Kim
93 Kenneth O’Donnell
92 Andre Charles
91 John Carmello
90-81 $625
90 Joshua Boxer
89 Patrick Hamilton
88 Steven Zaritsry
87 Robert Smith Jr.
86 Kurt Williams
85 David Bennett
84 Jordan Wonder
83 John Acrey
82 Andrew Rowland
81 Elie El Makdissi
80-71 $700
80 Howard Rosetsky
79 Joesph Parrish
78 Arturo Del Curado-Calzadilla
77 Vincent Ferri
76 John Krstra
75 Gregory Berry
74 Matthew Mussett
73 Alec Bradlow
72 Myron Howard
71 Shannon Stash
70-61 $775
70 Filipp Khavin
69 Vitor Coelho
68 Maldel Valbiuia
67 James Springer
66 Alan Korpi
65 Najib Zidduhia
64 Eric Mishkin
63 Christobal Tuchbaum
62 Daniel Did a
61 Thuy Beltran
60-51 $900
60 Edmund O’Brien
59 Michael Tran
58 Michael Samuel
57 Andrew Personette
56 Zachary Bird
55 Vincent Lobue
54 Gerald Cantrell
53 Tan Trinh
52 Harriet Epstein
51 Dale Wagner
50-41 $1,225
50 John Beaufait
49 Jon Bears on
48 Patrick Lee Sparks
47 Mark Joseph Senac
46 William Linderman
45 Richard Hogan
44 Richard Bratter
43 Cindy Chyle
42 William Hood
41 Carlos Loving
40-31 $1,525
40 Jason Barnett
39 John Gordon
38 Oliver Agostini
37 Greg McNealy
36 Jason Andrzjewski
35 John McMillian
34 Arthur Agostini
33 April Friedman
32 Dave Miller
31 Gil Levy
30-21 $1,850
30 Paul Stanchewski
29 Raymond Gallagher
28 Terry Beavers
27 Ching Lo
26 Ron Hollis
25 Michael Bojkovic
24 Carmine Chioccariello
23 Jacob Nauman
22 Nicholas Williams
21 Hugh Mays
20-16 $2,225
20 Julio Novo
19 Douglas Arcardi
18 Robert O’Rourke
17 Matthew Queior
16 Mauro Page
15-13 $2.595
15 Denise Tuck
14 Garth Fundes
13 Grant Missions
12-10 $3,200
12 Derek Csansadi
11 James Robinson
10 Jean Miccio
9th: $3,925 Terry Smith
8th: Raymond Del Cueto ($16.5K)
7th: Bret McCown ($16.5K)
6th: Michael Dalton ($16.5K)
5th: Stanley Holly ($16.5K)
4th: Chad Pease ($16.5k)
3rd: Demarco Dennison ($16.5K)
2nd: David Muscarella ($16.5K)
1st: GERALD SILVA ($16.5K)
