2021 Colorado Poker Championship

$3,000 High Roller
Day: 1
Event Info

2021 Colorado Poker Championship

Event Info
Buy-in
$3,000
Entries
39
Players Left
4
Average Chip Stack
390,000
Total Chips
1,560,000
Level Info
Level
19
Blinds
6,000 / 12,000
Ante
12,000

Hart Over 200K

Level 9 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Al Hart
Al Hart

Al Hart opened in the hijack and saw Michael Giardina three-bet jam for around 20,000 on the button. Hart called.

Michael Giardina: [as9s
Al Hart: {j-Diamonds}{j-Clubs}

Hart's hooks held through the runout {k-Hearts}{k-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}{4-Clubs}{9-Spades} and he scored the pot and the knockout, bringing him over 200,000 in the process. Moments later, Jay Jesse was also eliminated while both Giardina and John Beauprez re-entered, bringing the field up to 37 entries with 18 players currently remaining.

Player Chips Progress
Al Hart us
Al Hart
204,500
138,500
138,500
Michael Giardina us
Michael Giardina
40,000
-39,000
-39,000
John Beauprez us
John Beauprez
40,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Jay Jesse us
Jay Jesse
Busted

Tags: Al HartJay JesseJohn BeauprezMichael Giardina

Konarske Continues Climbing

Level 8 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Eddy Konarske
Eddy Konarske

Josh Williamson's seat was just seen vacated and Eddy Konarske confirmed with PokerNews that he did the deed.

According to Konarske, action folded to Williamson in the small blind and he raised. Konarske defended and called another continuation-bet on {5-}{5-}{8-}. The turn came {k-} and Williamson bet another 6,000. Konarske raised to 16,000 and Williamson three-bet jammed for his remaining stack, which Konarske called.

Josh Williamson: {7-}{6-}
Eddy Konarske: {j-}{5-}

Williamson's open-ended straight draw was up against Konarske's flopped trips and he was unable to complete it on the river {3-}, spelling the end of his tournament. Meanwhile, Konarske now has close to 200,000, making him the largest stack in the room among the 22 players currently in the tournament.

Player Chips Progress
Eddy Konarske us
Eddy Konarske
194,500
Josh Williamson us
Josh Williamson
Busted

Tags: Eddy KonarskeJosh Williamson

Big Slick Doesn't Do the Trick for Le Peau

Level 7 : 400/800, 800 ante
Steve Le Peau
Steve Le Peau

Steve Le Peau open-shoved for his last 8,500 in middle position and Sherman Wu announced a three-bet to 20,000 on the button, forcing the two players behind him to fold.

Steve Le Peau: {a-Spades}{k-Clubs}
Sherman Wu: {a-Diamonds}{q-Diamonds}

"Nice hand," said Wu.

"Not yet," retorted Le Peau.

Le Peau picked up a sweat on the flop {4-Diamonds}{3-Clubs}{6-Diamonds} as Wu found himself with nine new additional outs to the nuts. None came on the turn {a-Clubs}, but the river {5-Diamonds} filled up his draw and spelled disaster for Le Peau, who was eliminated as a result.

Player Chips Progress
Sherman Wu us
Sherman Wu
86,000
Steve Le Peau us
Steve Le Peau
Busted

Tags: Sherman WuSteve Le Peau

Aweida and Rule Out; Wu and Reinbold In

Level 5 : 300/500, 500 ante
Sammy Aweida
Sammy Aweida

"Alternate seat on Table 9!" was overheard from the dealer as Sammy Aweida found himself becoming the second player eliminated in the day. According to tablemates Jason Welch and Vincent Griboski, Aweida got his stack of around 16,000 in preflop over a few limpers and saw Griboski give him action behind.

Sammy Aweida: {a-Spades}{q-Hearts}
Vincent GriboskI: {a-Hearts}{k-Hearts}

Aweida, who earned his seat via a top-five finish in the CPC Points Leader Board, was unable to hit a three outer on the runout and was knocked out as a result. Sherman Wu then took the vacant seat, becoming the 27th player to enter the tournament.

Moments later, Steven Rule was eliminated on Table 8 as well, with Zachary Reinbold filling his seat to take the field up to 28.

Player Chips Progress
Sherman Wu us
Sherman Wu
40,000
40,000
40,000
Zachary Reinbold us
Zachary Reinbold
40,000
40,000
40,000
Vincent Griboski us
Vincent Griboski
39,400
3,200
3,200
Sammy Aweida us
Sammy Aweida
Busted
Steven Rule us
Steven Rule
Busted

Tags: Jason WelchSammy AweidaSteven RuleVincent GriboskiZachary Reinbold

The Ladies Love Eddy Konarske

Level 4 : 200/400, 400 ante
Eddy Konarske
Eddy Konarske

Eddy Konarske opened to 1,200 in early position and saw calls from Salim Wahdan in the hijack, Steven Rule in the cutoff, and Ben Keeline in the small blind as action made its way around the table.

The dealer fanned a flop of {9-Diamonds}{6-Spades}{4-Hearts} and Keeline checked to Konarske, who continuation-bet 3,000. Wahdan folded and Rule called, sending action back to Keeline, who check-raised to 9,400. Konarske came over the top, three-bet jamming for 20,300 and got a fold from Rule after some deliberation. Keeline then thought for a few moments himself and put out chips to call.

Eddy Konarske: {q-Spades}{q-Clubs}
Ben Keeline: {k-Clubs}{9-Clubs}

Konarske's queens were ahead of Keeline's top pair and he was able to fade the five outer on the turn {7-Diamonds} and river {10-Diamonds} to secure the double.

Player Chips Progress
Eddy Konarske us
Eddy Konarske
49,100
23,100
23,100
Salim Wahdan us
Salim Wahdan
47,300
-8,600
-8,600
Steven Rule us
Steven Rule
32,600
2,900
2,900
Ben Keeline us
Ben Keeline
11,000
-29,000
-29,000

Tags: Ben KeelineEddy KonarskeSteven Rule

Nut Flush Gives Giardina a Stack This Time

Level 3 : 200/300, 300 ante
Michael Giardina
Michael Giardina

After running an ace-high flush into a straight flush, Michael Giardina found himself in a three-handed pot on his new table with 3,400 in the middle and a board reading {7-Hearts}{5-Diamonds}{j-Clubs}. Steven Rule was first to act in early position and bet 1,600, with both Giardina in middle position and Kane Lai in the hijack finding calls

Three-way action continued to the turn {9-Hearts}, Rule and Giardina checked again. Lai bet 5,200 and Rule folded, with Giardina calling behind to take action heads up to the river {2-Hearts}. Giardina checked again and Lai bet 11,600.

"All in," said Giardina, announcing a check-shove after a few moments in the tank. Lai immediately called.

Michael Giardina: {a-Hearts}{3-Hearts}
Kane Lai: {k-Hearts}{q-Hearts}

Giardina had made his second nut flush in the first two hours of the day, and this time found himself besting Lai's second nuts to take his stack and send Lai to the rail.

Player Chips Progress
Michael Giardina us
Michael Giardina
75,300
35,300
35,300
John Beauprez us
John Beauprez
40,000
40,000
40,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Steven Rule us
Steven Rule
22,200
-17,200
-17,200
Kane Lai us
Kane Lai
Busted

Tags: Kane LaiMichael GiardinaSteven Rule

"Set or Two Pair"

Level 2 : 100/200, 200 ante
Todd Sprague
Todd Sprague

Todd Sprague made a pot-sized bet of 2,200 in the big blind on {4-Diamonds}{8-Hearts}{a-Spades}{10-Diamonds} into two opponents. Roman Mai folded under the gun to send action over to Jay Teel, who was on the button and called.

The river came {3-Clubs} and Sprague bet another 6,100 with Teel calling once more to take the hand to showdown.

"Set or two pair," predicted Mai correctly as Sprague tabled {8-Diamonds}{8-Spades} for a set of eights. Teel mucked.

"I had top-top," added Mai. "Ace-king."

Player Chips Progress
Roman Mai us
Roman Mai
49,700
Todd Sprague us
Todd Sprague
47,700
Jay Teel us
Jay Teel
13,200

Tags: Jay TeelRoman MaiTodd Sprague

2021 Colorado Poker Championship $3,000 High Roller Begins at 11 a.m.

Bally's Colorado Poker Championship
Bally's Colorado Poker Championship

Bally's Black Hawk has officially reached the final day of a successful 2021 Colorado Poker Championship (CPC) series, playing host to nearly 30 events across 22 days. Wednesday marks the final event on the schedule in the $3,000 High Roller, set to begin at 11 a.m. local time.

The CPC High Roller has long been known to be one of the most attractive events to its local constituents and has produced plenty of well-known winners to the Colorado poker community in players such as Matt Livingston, Jason Vanstrom, Rich Dixon, Jason Dennis, and Danny Gonzales.

This year's event sees a bump in buy-in from its previous $2,000 and $2,500 versions. Nonetheless, 40,000 starting stacks and 40-minute levels all tournament long will surely provide players plenty of room for play and ensure they get their money's worth in this single-day format.

Blinds begin at 100/100/100 for the day. Ten-minute breaks will occur at the completion of every three levels, or two hours of play, with a 40-minute dinner break after Level 9 (600/1,200/1,200). Unlimited re-entries are available through that time, with registration closing at the beginning of Level 10 (1,000/1,500/1,500). Play will then conclude until a winner has been determined, however long that may take.

The top five finishers from the overall 2021 CPC Points Leader Board have already earned their way into the CPC High Roller in Jason Welch, Bobby Sanoubane, Sammy Aweida, CPC Main Event Winner Jason Dennis, and Aaron Frei, who narrowly beat out Mansour Alipourfard and CPC Main Evenet fourth-place finisher Dwane Collard for the final spot. A look at the top 10 finishers from the leader board have been provided below, with Welch also earning an additional $10,000 for a WSOP Main Event Seat for his top finish in the series.

2021 CPC Points Leader Board

PlacePlayerTotal Points
1Jason Welch*525
2Bobby Sanoubane*391
3Sammy Aweida*313
4Jason Dennis*300
5Aaron Frei*253
6Mansour Alipourfard252
7Dwane Collard250
8Josh Saltz228
9Phil Gioia185
10Salim Wahdan168

*Denotes top-five finish, good for a seat to the 2021 CPC $3,000 High Roller

Who will take down the final event of the 2021 CPC? PokerNews will be providing updates from the floor until that question is answered, so be sure to stick around.

Tags: Aaron FreiBobby SanoubaneDanny GonzalesDwane CollardJason WelchMansour AlipourfardMatt LivingstonRich DixonSammy Aweida