Main Event Day 1a | 2019 Ante Up Poker Tour Tampa Bay Downs

02-08-2019 01:29 UTC-4

Griffo Claims Event #5: $230 NLH Knockout Title

Chad Holloway

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Today's Ante Up Poker Tour Main Event in the Silks Poker Room at Tampa Bay Downs is the culmination of a six-event series that's been taking place all week long.

On Wednesday, Event #5: $230 No-Limit Hold'em Knockout ($50 bounties, $10,000 guaranteed) drew 72 entries, which meant a $13,824 total prize pool was generated. The top eight players got paid with the final four striking a deal.

As a result, Vinny Griffo was crowned champion and took home $2,299 for his performance.

Event #5 Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Vinny Griffo	$2,299*
2	Jose Colon	$1,954*
3	Shawn Barnett	$1,926*
4	Marcese Hatten	$1,854*
5	Brett Paine	$734
6	Zee Kurdi	$574
7	Kerry Hartman	$473
8	John Golota	$408

_{*Denotes four-way chop}

Tags: Vinny Griffo

02-08-2019 01:20 UTC-4

Last Break of the Night

Adam Lamers

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The remaining 26 players are heading on their last 10-minute break of the night. When they return, there will be just two more levels to play before the bagging and tagging process begins.

02-08-2019 01:20 UTC-4

Bradley Wakes Up with Kings at Just the Right Time

Chad Holloway

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

After the under-the-gun player limped, the player in the cutoff moved all in for right around 50,000. Dustin Bradley then jammed over the top for 63,000 from the small blind and the UTG limper folded.

Bradley:
Cutoff:

Bradley was way out in front and held as the board ran out .

Player	Chips	Progress
Dustin Bradley	110,000

Tags: Dustin Bradley

02-08-2019 01:16 UTC-4

Big Raise from Figueiredo Gets the Job Done

Adam Lamers

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

In a four-way limped pot, the dealer fanned the flop of . All four players checked and the landed on the turn. The action checked around to Anthony Astarita again who bet 5,900 on the button.

The big blind called and the hijack folded. Joao Figueiredo was in the cutoff and pushed in a stack of around 45,000, nearly all of the chips in front of him. Astarita gave it some thought but decided to let his hand go and the big blind followed suit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anthony Astarita	184,000 5,000	5,000
Joao Figueiredo	71,000 56,000	56,000

Tags: Anthony Astarita Joao Figueiredo

02-08-2019 00:55 UTC-4

Who Has a Bigger House?

Adam Lamers

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

On a board reading , the action was on Dalton Spinks who bet 7,000 into a pot of around 15,000. He was heads-up with Dan Dedomenico in the big blind who made the call.

A third eight, the , landed on the river and Dedomenico quickly checked again. Spinks splashed in a bet of 11,000 which left Dedomenico scratching his head. "You can't possibly have a flush," he said to himself as he tossed in the call.

Spinks turned over for a full house and Dedomenico quickly realized that he also had a full house with , one that would earn him the pot.

"I didn't see that there were trip eights on the board at first," he pointed out as the pot was shipped his way.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dan Dedomenico	98,500
Dalton Spinks	48,000 18,000	18,000

Level: 12

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

02-08-2019 00:48 UTC-4

Big Back-to-Back Hands for Challagundla

Chad Holloway

Level 11 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

John Clifford limped the lojack and Nick Kolaxis moved all in for around 9,000 from the hijack. Praveen Challagundla then moved all in over the top for roughly 20,000 from the small blind and Clifford got out of the way.

Kolaxis:
Challagundla:

Kolaxis got it in good and the flop gave him both an open-ended straight and flush draws. However, the turn paired Challagundla and the river failed to help Kolaxis to send him out the door.

In the very next hand, Michael Mattingly raised to 6,500 from the hijack and Challagundla three-bet all in for 33,400. Both blinds folded and Mattingly snap-called.

Challagundla:
Mattingly:

Challagundla was in trouble but got lucky when the flop delivered him top set. Neither the turn nor river helped Mattingly and he sent over all but 7,000 of his chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Praveen Challagundla	70,000
Michael Mattingly	7,000 -19,000	-19,000
Nick Kolaxis	Busted

Tags: Nick Kolaxis Praveen Challagundla Michael Mattingly

02-08-2019 00:40 UTC-4

Palase First Over 200K

Adam Lamers

Level 11 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

The action folded to Richie Palase on the button who made it 4,000 to go. The big blind called and the flop came . The big blind looked back at his cards and shrugged his shoulders as he slid his last 21,000 chips into the middle. Palase made a quick call and the cards were on their backs.

Richie Palase:
Opponent:

The landed on the turn and the paired the board on the river. "Straight?" the big blind questioned, but there was no straight to be had as Palase sent him to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Richie Palase	205,000 117,500	117,500

Tags: Richie Palase

02-08-2019 00:33 UTC-4

Ladies for Richards

Chad Holloway

Level 11 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

A short-stacked Sharris Richards got her stack of 13,200 all in preflop and was primed for a double.

Richards:
Opponent:

Richards was out in front but her opponent got a little help on the flop.

Fortunately for Richards, she had the only heart and locked it up when the turn gave her a flush. The meaningless was run out on the river and Richards was pushed the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sharris Richards	30,000

Tags: Sharris Richards

02-08-2019 00:25 UTC-4

Astarita Has the Goods

Adam Lamers

Level 11 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

After a couple of limps from early position, Anthony Astarita raised to 5,600 in the cutoff. The small blind ripped all in for a little over 20,000 and the action quickly folded back to Astarita who called just as fast.

Anthony Astarita:
Opponent:

Astarita was in a dominating position heading to the flop of which only narrowed his opponent's outs. The on the turn and the on the river ensured Astarita of the pot and eliminated his opponent.

Anthony Dianaty was also running up a stack early on but was seen missing from his seat on the left of Astarita on the last pass through of the tournament area.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anthony Astarita	179,000 59,000	59,000
Anthony Dianaty	Busted

Tags: Anthony Astarita