The next Big Stax series at Parx Casino in Philadelphia will feature the usual $300, $500 and $1,500 events. For the first time, these tourneys will be using the increasingly popular big-blind-ante format, where the player in the big blind puts up an ante for the table.
Much like the past couple series, events will be split between locations, with the larger Day 1 flights and Day 2 sessions at Parx East, the old poker room. Final days, as well as most undercard events, will be in the new room in the main casino building.
The series begins Aug. 1 with Day 1A of the Big Stax 300. Big Stax 500 begins Aug. 9. The Big Stax 1,500 main event is Aug. 16. Other Big Stax events run throughout August.
SANDS BETHLEHEM: The $400 Black Chip Bounty runs Aug. 12 and Aug. 24 is the $325 deepstack. These events, and all Sunday and Friday tournaments, will use the big-blind-ante format. Daily tourneys run Tuesday nights at 7:15 and Wednesday, Friday and Sunday mornings at 11:15.
BORGATA: The June DeepStacks Challenge Series was a huge success. The schedule of 13 events over 13 days carried $330K in guarantees, all of which were covered. There also were some noteworthy accomplishments during this series.
Mickey Carr became the first player to win two events in one DeepStacks Challenge Series, winning Events 1 and 8. Chuck Bryant is the first to win the same event in back-to-back years (Event 2, $150 deepstack).
Julie Fine is the first woman to take first place in this series since October 2016.
In the main event, it took 16.5 hours of play, but Harry Weingord earned the victory and his first tournament title, good for $17,726 and the coveted “Baby Borgata” trophy. Weingord, of Ft. Lee, N.J., works in financial services, so he’ll know what to do with his winnings.
Jason Morman of New York was second ($9,915), followed by Ken Han of College Point, N.Y., ($6,009), Vito Deleonibus of Marlboro, N.J., ($4,807) and Rich Rossetti of Ventnor, N.J., ($3,606.).
The event drew 177 entrants and was one of only two in the series to play to conclusion. The prize pool of $62K went to the final 18 players.
GOLDEN NUGGET ATLANTIC CITY: The room hosts Saturday night tournaments at 7:15. They carry a $1,500 guarantee, will have a turbo format and cost $50. Sunday tournaments begin at 6:15.
Connecticut
FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO: The World Series of Poker Circuit returns Aug. 16-27 with $1.35M in guarantees. Two tournaments, Event 2 and the main event, will have $500K guarantees. Event 2 is a $600 no-limit hold’em ring event that has four starting flights across three days (Aug. 16-18) with the final day Aug. 19.
The main event costs $1,700 with a pair of starting flights (Aug. 24-25, noon) with Day 2 Aug. 26 and the final day Aug. 27. The 13-event series also has satellites. Call the poker room for more information.
Delaware
Dover Downs Hotel and Casino hosts the Delaware Poker Championship, which has eight events Aug. 29-Sept. 3. The $100K Delaware Championship runs Aug. 31-Sept. 2 and guarantees for the weekend of events are at least $160K.
The championship costs $550 and features two starting flights. Flight A is Aug. 31 at 10:15 a.m. and Flight B is Sept. 1 at 10:15 a.m. Players get 30K chips and blinds are 30 minutes. Day 2 is Sept. 2.
Six $65 satellites are scheduled for players to win their way into the event, One out of every 10 participants win a seat into Flight A. Here’s the satellite schedule: Aug. 19 and Aug. 26 at 11:15 a.m.; Aug. 27-30 at 7:15 p.m. Six tournaments, including a $10K guarantee Black Chip Bounty event and a pot-limit Omaha tourney, will run during the championship weekend.
The schedule includes a Beat the Boss Kickoff on Aug. 29 at 11:15 a.m. It has a $5K guarantee for $120 and features a $500 bounty for the player who knocks the boss out of the event. The PLO championship is Aug. 30 at 11:15 a.m. and has a $10K guarantee for $140. The Black Chip Bounty is Aug. 31 at 7:15. It carries a $10K guarantee and $10K in bounties for $230.
There’s a turbo Sept. 1 at 7:15 p.m. ($10K guarantee, $130), a survivor on Sept. 2 at 11:15 a.m. ($5K guarantee, $120) and a deepstack Sept. 2 at 7:15 p.m. ($10K guarantee, $130).
The finale is Sept. 3 at 11:15 a.m. ($10K guarantee, $75).
And don’t forget the next “tournament weekend” that runs Aug. 10-12. Here’s the schedule: Aug. 10, 11:15 a.m., $7,500 guarantee, $100 buy-in, 25-minute blinds; Aug. 11, 11:15, $15K guarantee, $125, 30-minute blinds; Aug. 12, 11:15 a.m., $2K guarantee, $35, 15-minute blinds.
Maryland
MGM NATIONAL HARBOR: The Potomac Open is Aug. 3-13.
LIVE CASINO: Mondays in August mean an hourly descending mini-bad-beat qualifier.
New York
TURNING STONE: John Bieber outlasted 324 players to win the opener of the Summer Poker Classic in Verona. The victory in the $250 tournament paid $10K from a $63K prize pool. Jonathan Jones earned $9,937 for second. Kladji Lika of Syracuse was third, which added $8,866 to his bankroll, Alex Conklin was fourth ($8,865) and Randy Cattelane was fifth ($3,481).
Alfonso Santana of New York won Event 2 ($115 deepstack bounty) for $1,100, beating runner-up Albert Roback ($640).
The Empire State Championship is Aug. 9-19.
RIVERS CASINO: Vito Masi earned $15,811 after winning the Capital Region Classic in Schenectady. Steven Posa finished second ($15,200) and Flynn Kroft was third ($14,237). The $260 event attracted 665 entrants for a $160K prize pool.
SENECA NIAGARA: Canada’s Rong Xu edged David Scott to prevail in the $300 Summer Slam Warmup. Xu earned $26,623 and Scott, from Rochester, N.Y., banked $16,427. Chris Damick was third ($10,762), followed by Matthew Devins ($7,477), Pat Tigheo of Niagara Falls ($5,551) and Keith Mueller ($4,305).
The tourney had a prize pool of $113K with 450 players.
Meet Mike Linster
New York’s Mike Linster has been playing poker for about decade, but he’s been a pro for the past seven years.
What games and tourneys do you usually play? I play all no-limit tourneys from $300-$10K buy-ins that I can manage to fit in. I mostly target main events and sprinkle in some of the preliminary events.
Where do you usually play? Mostly East Coast, such as Borgata and Parx, and I travel to Florida, Montreal and Vegas for most of the good events.
What are some of your greatest achievements in your career? I won the WPT bestbet in Jacksonville. In 2013, at a Borgata series, I finished first, first and second in consecutive tournaments and last year had a nice run in the WSOP main where I finished 47th.
What would you say is one of the greatest lessons you’ve learned and how have you applied it to your game? This answer is easy. Bankroll management is easily the hardest and most important lesson I have learned. When you’re winning, you feel invincible and can’t imagine being on the bad side of things. Tournament poker will quickly humble you and force you to be smarter with your financial decisions or you simply will fail. — Jo Kim
