Main Event Day 1ab | 2019 Ante Up Poker Tour Spring Poker Classic

03-29-2019 08:53 UTC-7

The $360 Main Event of the Ante Up Poker Tour Spring Poker Classic Starts at 11 a.m.

Sandra Barbour

The Ante Up Spring Poker Classic kicked off earlier this week at the Gila River Hotels & Casino Vee Quiva with ten events on schedule. The much awaited $360 Main Event is the last event of the series and will get underway today at 11 a.m. local time with the first of four starting flights.

There is a $75,000 guarantee in the prize pool and there will be a 120 player maximum starting field for each day 1. The survivors of the four flights will combine for the second and final day on Sunday March 31st at 11:00 a.m. and will play down to a winner.

Apart from earning a nice payday, the winner will also appear on the cover of the March 2019 issue of Ante Up Magazine and will secure a spot in the Ante Up World Championship Main Event. He will also take home a personalized Tour Champion jacket.

When the action gets underway, players will start with 25,000 in chips with the blinds at 100/100. A big blind ante will be introduced in the fifth level and will continue throughout. Levels will be of 30 minutes and play will end for the day once 15% of the field has been reached.

Late registration and unlimited re-entries will be available for the first six levels.

Day	Date	Time	Entries	Advanced
Day 1A	Friday, March 29th	11 a.m.	-	-
Day 1B	Friday, March 29th	6 p.m.	-	-
Day 1C	Saturday, March 30th	11 a.m.	-	-
Day 1D	Saturday, March 30th	6 p.m.	-	-
Day 2	Sunday, March 31st	11 a.m.	-	-

The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on the floor for the entire Main Event to provide you with all the updates so stay tuned!

Tags: Ante Up Poker Tour Spring Poker Classic;

03-29-2019 12:28 UTC-7

Harvey Wins Three-Way All In; Eliminates Two Opponents

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Sandra Barbour

The player in early position opened to 1,200. The player in middle position called. The hijack three-bet to 4,800. Bill Harvey, in the small blind, four-bet to 10,000. The original raiser folded. The player in middle position added the remainder to call. The hijack responded by moving all in for about 35,000. Harvey called. The player in middle position called as well, putting at risk his last 19,000.

Bill Harvey:
Player in middle position:
Player in the hijack:

The board ran and Harvey made aces full of sevens to win the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bill Harvey	95,000 95,000	95,000

Tags: Bill Harvey

03-29-2019 15:04 UTC-7

Perry Eliminates an Opponent

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Sandra Barbour

The player on the button opened to 2,000. Brady Perry, in the small blind, called, along with the big blind.

Players saw a flop of . Perry bets 4,000. The big blind called. The button folded.

The dealer burned and turned the . Perry continued with a bet of 4,000. His opponent moved all in for 4,700 and Perry added the remainder to call.

Brady Perry:
Opponent:

The river completed the board and Perry won the pot, eliminating his opponent.

Player	Chips	Progress
Brady Perry	92,000 92,000	92,000

Tags: Brady Perry

03-29-2019 16:12 UTC-7

Day 1B Gets Underway at 6 p.m. Local Time

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Sandra Barbour

The second flight of the Main Event kicks off at 6:00 p.m. While Day 1A is still running, late registration has closed with a total of 77 entries.

When cards get in the air for Day 1B, players will start with 25,000 in chips with the blinds at 100/100. A big blind ante will be introduced in the fifth level and will continue throughout. Levels will be 30 minutes in length and play will end for the day once 15% of the field has been reached.

Late registration and unlimited re-entries will be available for the first six levels.

Day	Date	Time	Entries	Advanced
Day 1A	Friday, March 29th	11 a.m.	-	-
Day 1B	Friday, March 29th	6 p.m.	-	-
Day 1C	Saturday, March 30th	11 a.m.	-	-
Day 1D	Saturday, March 30th	6 p.m.	-	-
Day 2	Sunday, March 31st	11 a.m.	-	-

03-29-2019 18:45 UTC-7

Joe Villhauer Leads the Day 1A Pack With 461,000

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Sandra Barbour

Level 2 : 100/200, 0 ante

Day 1A of the 2019 Ante Up Poker Tour Spring Poker Classic $360 Main Event is in the books.

This first flight drew 77 entries, creating a total prize pool of $23,100. After 13 levels of play, only 12 players remained. They will be returning to the tournament area for Day 2, on Sunday March 31st at 11 a.m. to continue to battle it out with the survivors of the other flights.

Leading the Day 1A pack is Joe Villhauer with an impressive stack of 461,000 in chips. Villhauer was responsible for the elimination of multiple players throughout the day, including the last elimination of the day. He found aces in a blind versus blind situation to eliminate Bill Harvey, narrowing the field to 12 players and concluding play for Day 1A. Villhauer is followed by Steven Howard (226,000). James Propes rounds up the top three with 217,000.

Players who took a shot at this flight of the Main Event but couldn’t find a bag at the end of the night include Earl Barron, Mantas Stikelis, John Bolender, Stephen Hilligas and Jeffrey Musiello. They will have the option to play again in any of the three remaining flights.

Tags: Earl Barron Jeffrey Musiello Joe Villhauer John Bolender Mantas Stikelis Stephen Hilligas

03-29-2019 21:03 UTC-7

Smith's Shove Gets Through

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Sandra Barbour

Level 6 : 400/800, 800 ante

The player in middle position opened to 2,000. The small blind called, along with Mikal Smith in the big blind.

The dealer spread a flop of . The small blind and Smith checked. The player in middle position bet 3,000. The small blind check-called. Smith check-raised to 13,000. The player in middle position added the remainder to call. The small blind folded.

The turn came the . Smith moved all in for 9,000. His opponent went deep into the tank, but decided to let it go.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mikal Smith	49,000 49,000	49,000

Tags: Mikal Smith

03-29-2019 23:18 UTC-7

Barron Eliminates Mendonza

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Sandra Barbour

Level 10 : 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Emiliano Mendoza raised under the gun. The player on the button called. Earl Barron, in the big blind, three-bet to 25,000. Mendoza four-bet shoved for about 35,000. The button folded. Barron called, and the cards were tabled.

Earl Barron:
Emiliano Mendoza:

The runout came and Barron made queens full of sevens to win the pot, eliminating Mendonza.

Player	Chips	Progress
Earl Barron	140,000 53,000	53,000
Emiliano Mendoza	Busted

Tags: Earl Barron Elimiliano Mendonza

03-30-2019 02:04 UTC-7

Basketball Star Earl Barron Bags Chip Lead on Day 1B With 535,000

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Sandra Barbour

Level 13 : 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

A field of 71 players on Day 1B of the 2019 Ante Up Poker Tour Spring Poker Classic $360 Main Event was whittled down to just 11 players after 13 levels of play.

The first two flights of the Main Event combined brought the current field up to 148 players. Two additional flights will be taking place tomorrow.

Leading the way at the end of the day is Earl Barron with 535,000. The battle for the chip lead was a close one during most of the day between Barron and Mantas Stikelis. However, Barron managed to take down a couple of more significant pots at the end of the day to take the lead of Day 1B in the end with 535,000, as well as the overall chip lead of the first two flights. Mantas Stikelis (312,000) and Mikal Smith (266,000) are the only two other stacks above the 200,000 mark for the second flight.

Some of the players who hit the rail on Day 1B include Ken Sumner, Greg Orlick, David Domanski, and Alfonso Luna. They can still take a shot at tomorrow’s flights.

The 11 players advancing from Day 1B will join the rest of the survivors from the starting flights on Day 2 which will take place on Sunday March 31st at 11 a.m. local time.

Tags: Alfonso Luna Earl Barron Greg Orlick Ken Sumner Mantas Stikelis Mikal Smith