$3,500 Main Event Day 1 | 2022 BetMGM Poker Championship

06-23-2022 10:45 UTC-7

Inaugural BetMGM $3,500 Poker Championship Kicks Off at 12 P.M. PDT

Calum Grant

Welcome to Day 1 of the first-ever $1 million guaranteed BetMGM $3,500 Poker Championship, which begins at 12 p.m. at the ARIA Resort & Casino.

The BetMGM Poker Championship is scheduled to take place over four days (June 23-26) and has one starting flight, which is then followed by Days 2, 3 and 4. The event itself is also the headliner for the currently underway 2022 ARIA Poker Classic.

Days 1, 2, and 3 all kick off at 12 p.m. The Day 4 Final Table will be streamed from the PokerGO Studio, and the start time for that will be determined based on the Day 3 end time.

BetMGM ambassadors Darren Elias and Matt Berkey will be in attendance along with a host of the biggest names poker has to offer.

For the $3,500 buy-in, players receive a 50,000 starting stack and will need to navigate nine 60-minute levels to advance to Day 2. The tournament has unlimited reentries and registration will be open through the break after Level 10 on Day 2 (approximately 1:15 p.m.) on Saturday, June 24. Players will receive a 15-minute break every two levels.

Day 1 will play nine-handed while from Day 2, all tables will be eight-handed. The unofficial final table will start when nine players remain but that will become the official final table when the tournament is down to its last six entrants.

A 30-second shot clock will be introduced one full table outside the posted payouts. The number of time extensions given to the players will be based on field size. Approximately 1 in 8 entries (12.5%) will make the money.

BetMGM Poker Championship Day 1 Schedule

LEVEL	DURATION	BLINDS	BIG BLIND ANTE
1	60	100/200	200
2	60	200/300	300
		15-minute break
3	60	200/400	400
4	60	300/500	500
		15-minute break
5	60	300/600	600
6	60	400/800	800
		15-minute break
7	60	500/1,000	1,000
8	60	600/1,200	1,200
		15-minute break
9	60	800/1,600	1,600

As always, keep it locked it with PokerNews to keep up with all the latest action from this brand-new event.

Tags: Darren Elias Matt Berkey

06-23-2022 12:16 UTC-7

BetMGM Poker Sends 68 Qualifiers into Poker Championship

Calum Grant

Level 1 : 100/200, 200 ante

A whopping 68 players have been able to get into BetMGM $3,500 Poker Championship for a fraction of the price thanks to BetMGM poker running online events in Michegan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

For just $500, these lucky players have won packages worth $6,000 which includes a five-night stay at the Aria Casino and Resort.

Some notable names from the qualifiers include Vineet Pahuja, Corey Paggeot and Ryan Hagerty.

Player	Chips	Progress
Vineet Pahuja	50,000 50,000	50,000

Corey Paggeot	50,000 50,000	50,000

Ryan Hagerty	50,000 50,000	50,000

Tags: Corey Paggeot Ryan Hagerty Vineet Pahuja

06-23-2022 13:19 UTC-7

Carapella Flops Set to Eliminate One

Connor Richards

Level 2 : 200/300, 300 ante

David Carapella had raised on a flop of before his opponent three-bet all-in for nearly starting stack. Carapella snap-called.

Opponent:
David Carapella:

Carapella had flopped a set to have his opponent drawing nearly dead with top pair, but the on the turn gave the opponent outs to stay alive.

"Get outta here!" Carapella moaned when he saw the turn card.

Nonetheless, the river was a safe and he scooped the big pot to send the opponent to the rail early.

"That would've been pretty sick," said table mate Darren Elias about the avoided runout.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Carapella	110,000 45,000	45,000

06-23-2022 14:51 UTC-7

Alexander Catches a River Bluff to Eliminate Daniels

Connor Richards

Level 3 : 200/400, 400 ante

Dejuante "DJ" Alexander was in a heads-up pot against Jake Daniels on a board of with around 5,000 in the middle.

Alexander bet 7,500 for a more than pot-sized river bet and Daniels responded by moving all in for around 32,000. Alexander went in the tank and eventually found a call.

Daniels tabled for a pair of fives and a missed flush draw, while Alexander showed for two pair to win the pot and eliminate Daniels early in the day.

Daniels was seen buying back into the tournament shortly after.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dejuante Alexander	85,000 85,000	85,000

Jake Daniels	50,000 -7,000	-7,000

06-23-2022 15:04 UTC-7

Sixes Full for Carapella

Connor Richards

Level 3 : 200/400, 400 ante

BetMGM Poker qualifer David Carapella has been running up his stack as of late and recently eliminated in an opponent in an all-in cooler.

The opponent held on a board of for the nut flush, but it was no good against the full house of Carapella with to mark the second time today that Carapella has sent an opponent to the rail after flopping a set.

At the same table, Darren Elias has built up a similarly sized stack of around 140,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Carapella	150,000 40,000	40,000

Darren Elias	140,000 91,000	91,000

06-23-2022 15:53 UTC-7

Farrell Downs Opponent

Calum Grant

Level 4 : 300/500, 500 ante

Niall Farrell opened to 1,200 from under the gun and action folded around to the big blind who raised to 3,000.

Farrell called and then called a bet of 5,000 on the flop. The big blind, with around 9,000 behind, then checked on the turn. Farrell put his opponent all-in and he began to writhe in his seat.

The big blind eventually flicked in the rest of his chips and tabled his but saw he was behind Farrell's .

The river confirmed the big blind's exit and Farrell raked in the pot.

Ludovic Geilich, who joined the event at the same time as Farrell has had a better start than his fellow Scotsman and his seen his stack soar to 85,000.

Geilich seems to be enjoying himself with table mate Matthew Wantman.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ludovic Geilich	85,000 35,000	35,000
Niall Farrell	45,000 -5,000	-5,000

06-23-2022 15:54 UTC-7

Berkey Busted By Wigg; Returns to Table

Connor Richards

Level 4 : 300/500, 500 ante

Anton Wigg was seen stacking a pile of chips after busting BetMGM Poker ambassador Matt Berkey, who left the table and went straight to the payout counter.

Before another hand could be dealt, Berkey was back at the table after buying back in on a second bullet and, by the luck of the draw, he was seated to the immediate left of Wigg.

"Did you choose that seat?" someone at the table laughed.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anton Wigg	140,000 55,000	55,000

Matt Berkey	50,000 11,000	11,000

06-23-2022 17:46 UTC-7

McKeehen Cracks Queens for Chip Lead

Calum Grant

Level 6 : 400/800, 800 ante

For a pot worth around 50,000, Joe McKeehen had the button player all in and at risk preflop from the big blind.

Button Player:
Joe McKeehen:

McKeehen was the underdog but immediately leapfrogged his opponent following the flop. McKeehen secured the elimination after the runout.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joe McKeehen	150,000 93,000	93,000

06-23-2022 18:17 UTC-7

Carapella Doubles Through Elias

Connor Richards

Level 6 : 400/800, 800 ante

David Carapella was in a three-way pot against Darren Elias and Dejuante Alexander on a board of .

Elias bet 1,200 on the flop and Alexander called. Carapella moved all-in for around 35,000 and only Elias called.

David Carapella:
Darren Elias:

Elias' top pair was no good against the trips of Carapella, whose hand held up as the board ran out to improve Elias to a worthless two pair.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dejuante Alexander	120,000 5,000	5,000

Darren Elias	80,000 -40,000	-40,000

David Carapella	80,000 -45,000	-45,000

06-23-2022 19:48 UTC-7

Bursavich Busts Schulman

Connor Richards

Level 7 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Nick Schulman moved all-in with his remaining stack of around 26,000 and Austin Bursavich re-shoved as one of the tournament chip leaders to get the hand heads-up.

Nick Schulman:
Austin Bursavich:

Schulman needed an ace or a king to stay alive and he couldn't hit as the board ran out to mark his elimination.