2009 Aruba Poker Classic
$5,500 Aruba Poker Classic Championship
Day: 1a
Maimone Hits the River Against Verrett
Unfortunately for her, she is now down to around 5,000 chips. Maimone is up over 32,000.
Maimone Starting Off in the Right Direction
The three players saw the flop come down . Action checked around and the turn brought the . Maimone took the lead with a bet of 575. The next player called and then button folded.
The river was the and Maimone fired the same bet of 575. His opponent hesitated, but then made the call. Maimone announced, "I have a pair of sevens." before tabling . His opponent checked his hole cards once more and then mucked.
Maimone has built up nicely in the early going and is sitting on a stack of roughly 24,000 chips.
Another Man Down Early
The turn brought the and Lemos fired 2,200. His opponent tanked over his decision before eventually moving all in. Lemos snapped, tabling . His opponent upsettingly tabled for the lower end of the straight.
The river was the and Lemos was able to bust his opponent and move to 29,000 chips.
Parker Check-Raised
The turn brought the . Action was checked to Parker and he opted to fire out a bet of 600. His opponent then check-raised to 1,700 and Parker immediately mucked, dropping to 13,000 chips.
Notables
Also in the room is two-time bracelet winner Brock Parker. Parker was one of four players to claim multiple bracelets at this past WSOP in Las Vegas.
One Down
With the flop already out on the table, the board read . Dan Goonin fired a bet from the blinds, and his opponent came over the top with a raise to 3,000. Goonin bumped it back up to 8,000 before the man across the table announced, "All in." Goonin shrugged and quickly called with his covering stack.
Showdown
Goonin:
Opponent:
The two ladies of Goonan had out-flopped aces, and the turn and river came blank-blank to seal the deal. With a handshake and an awkward smile, we've lost our first player of the day.
Shuffle Up and Deal!
It is important to note that Savage and the rest of the tournament staff have decided to remove the 75-150 blind level from play and begin the day with blinds of 25-50 to add some play early on.
Level: 1
Blinds: 25/50
Ante: 0
Welcome to Aruba!
This eighth annual installment of the Classic is being hosted at the Radisson Aruba Resort and Casino for the sixth year running. With a laid-back atmosphere permeating the tropical breeze in the air, this island paradise is a popular early-autumn tournament stop for many American Pros looking to extend their time in the sunshine a few extra weeks. The entire staffs of Team UltimateBet and Team AbsolutePoker are in the house, and they'll take to the felt alongside a whole host of online qualifiers over the course of these two Day 1 flights.
Play is scheduled to kick off at noon local time, just about 15 minutes from now. Sit tight, we'll be back with the 'shuffle up and deal' shortly.