Another four levels have come and gone and the remaining players are heading on another 10-minute break. The total number of entries has grown to 87 thus far with just 46 players still in the field. When the action resumes, late registration will officially be closed for the opening flight.
"Alright, next hand," a short-stacked Melissa Morvay said as she folded under the gun.
Fast forward to after that hand when the under-the-gun player limped, as did the players in the cutoff, button, and small blind.
Morvay was in the big and was true to her word when she raised all in for 10,400. That was enough as one by one her opponents folded to give her the pot.
"I'll take that money," she said with a smile.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
15,000 |
Five players saw a flop for 2,200 apiece and the dealer fanned the 
. The action checked to the preflop raiser who continued for 3,600. Pat Booth raised to 14,000 in the cutoff and Likang Berninger shipped all in on the button. It folded back to Booth who made a crying call to put himself at risk.
Pat Booth: 
Likang Berninger: 
The 
on the turn was safe for Berninger but the 
on the river gave Booth the nut flush. The stacks were counted and Booth was at risk for 21,500, leaving Berninger with only 1,700 behind. He would be all in the very next hand but ran into pocket aces which sent him to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
57,400 | |
|
|
Busted |
Jeff Sheldon raised it up to 3,000 from the hijack and was called by only the big blind. The flop came 
and the big blind checked to Sheldon who flicked in a bet of 3,000. The big blind called and the 
landed on the turn.
With the action checked to him again, Sheldon bet 4,000 this time and his opponent still called. The river brought the 
and the big blind checked one more time. Sheldon threw in a 5,000 chip and his opponent quickly looked him up. Sheldon tabled 
for a flush which earned him the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
50,500
-2,500
|
-2,500 |
Level: 8
Blinds: 400/800
Ante: 800
Arguably the most accomplished player in today’s 2019 Ante Up Poker Tour Tampa Bay Downs Main Event is Anthony Astarita, a Florida pro with more than $230K in lifetime earnings. Right now he's sitting with the chip lead as the only player over six figures.
More than half of his career earnings – $131,041 to be exact – came in June 2016 when Astarita topped a 538-entry field to win the WPTDeepStacks Tampa. It was a breakout performance for the man originally from New Jersey.
While he has dozens of cashes on HendonMob, his only other one over four figures came in 2016 when he finished fourth in the Fall DeepStack Poker Series Tampa Event #5: $570 NLH Deepstack for $18,090.
Astarita is in action now looking to add another trophy to his list of accomplishments.
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 Tuesday, Event #3: $130 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack drew 47 entries, which meant there was a small overlay to the $4,559 generated prize pool. Only the top six players were supposed to get paid, but with seven left they all agreed to pay the bubble $130, which went to Joao Figueiredo.
In the end, the final three ladies worked an equal chop for $1,220 apiece.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonnie Savajian | $1,220* |
| 2 | Debra Jorgensen | $1,220* |
| 3 | Sherri Wiseman | $1,200* |
| 4 | Alan Wiseman | $525 |
| 5 | Ray Lambert | $385 |
| 6 | Chris Gatis | $295 |
*Denotes three-way chop
Todd Doane opened for 2,500 from early position and John Clifford called from the hijack. Nick Kolaxis came along from the cutoff, Mike Mattingly did the same from the button, and both blinds folded to make it four-way action to the 
flop.
All four players checked and then two more checks on the turn saw Kolaxis bet just 1,500. Mattingly called, both Doane and Clifford got out of the way, and the 
complete the board on the river.
Kolaxis upped his bet to 6,500 and that did the trick as Mattingly released his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
50,000 | |
|
|
45,000
-10,000
|
-10,000 |
There was a raise to 2,100 from the hijack and James Wood defended from the big blind. The flop came 
and Wood check-called a bet of 1,500 from his opponent.
The turn was the and Wood checked again. His opponent bet 4,000 this time but Wood stuck around to see the on the river. Wood checked for the third time and was soon faced with a bet of 6,000. Wood took a moment but eventually still made the call.
"Do you have the ace?" his opponent asked. Wood turned over 
and his opponent fired his cards into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
49,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted | |
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Busted |
