Steven Tabb Gives Himself a Shot at Redemption on Day 1 of the $1,200 New England Poker Championship
Steven Tabb finished second in the $1,650 High Roller last April here at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Milford. Today on Day 1 of the $1,200 New England Poker Championship, he put himself in position to do one better.
Tabb ended the day with 2,130,000, putting him atop the leaderboard as 15 players bagged up for the night. Tabb earned a double knockout of Justin Carey and another opponent when he made the nut flush on the river, then coolered his fellow finalist from a year ago Mike LaMontagne with the nut straight for another massive pot. The local Massachusetts native has more than $1.2 million in live earnings, including the $27,000 he earned for his runner-up finish to Jordan Fishman, and will look to add the $30,000 top prize and the Jordan Fishman Cup tomorrow.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steven Tabb | United States | 2,130,000 | 85 |
| 2 | Andrew Camacho | United States | 1,315,000 | 53 |
| 3 | Kevin Cronin | United States | 1,300,000 | 52 |
| 4 | Glen Thompson | United States | 890,000 | 36 |
| 5 | Steve Quillian | United States | 815,000 | 33 |
| 6 | Jason Kuperschmid | United States | 795,000 | 32 |
| 7 | Rick Ziegler | United States | 680,000 | 27 |
| 8 | Patrick Lohnes | United States | 645,000 | 26 |
| 9 | Rob Keizo | United States | 515,000 | 21 |
| 10 | Tom Magee | United States | 340,000 | 14 |
Andrew Camacho is his closest challenger with 1,315,000. Camacho jumped up the leaderboard in the closing moments of the day in spectacular fashion. He was all in for 300,000 with two kings against Rick Ziegler’s nines, but Ziegler hit a set on the flop to leave Camacho at risk of elimination. The turn, though, brought a king to give Camacho a set and the double up. He then turned a set of deuces against Darrell Blodgett’s two pair to double up yet again for 550,000.
Kevin Cronin (1,300,000), Glen Thompson (890,000), and Steve Quillian (815,000) round out the top five. Ziegler, the reigning Eastern Poker Tour champion, ended up with 680,000, while Marisa Hancock, who was the first player to eclipse the 1,000,000-chip mark earlier today, slid down to 245,000 to end the day.
A total of 104 players entered by the time late registration closed. Linda Swears, the partner of the late defending champion, took her shot at writing a fairy tale story but was eliminated early in the day. WPT Ladies champion Lily Lotfy, last year’s finalist Adam Johnson, 2024 champion Brian Haughey, 2024 Bar Poker Open Florida Champion John Germano, and Vaughn Steeves were also among those sent to the rail. The plan was to play down to a final table today, but with the clock going past midnight, tournament officials brought the day to an early end.
Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | 7 | $6,000 |
| 2 | $20,000 | 8 | $5,100 |
| 3 | $13,000 | 9 | $4,300 |
| 4 | $9,960 | 10 | $3,560 |
| 5 | $8,100 | 11 | $2,900 |
| 6 | $7,000 | 12 | $2,400 |
The remaining 15 players will return tomorrow at noon local time. The action picks up on Level 18 with blinds of 10,000/25,000 and a 25,000 big blind ante. Only the top 12 will finish in the money and secure a min-cash of $2,400, while the champion will take home $30,000 out of the $112,320 prize pool. The final table will be streamed on the Eastern Poker Tour’s official YouTube channel.
The focus tomorrow shifts to the $35,000 Championship, open to qualifiers from the past season of the Eastern Poker Tour, but PokerNews will also be following along as the New England Poker Championship plays down to a champion.