Poker Night in America at Golden Nugget

$1,675 No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1a
Event Info

Poker Night in America at Golden Nugget

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
kq
Prize
$56,366
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,675
Entries
136
Level Info
Level
27
Blinds
25,000 / 50,000
Ante
5,000

Panzica Leads After Final Six Bag Early

Level 15 : 1,500/3,000, 500 ante
Sam Panzica
Sam Panzica

Poker Night in America's $1,675 Main Event, a collaboration with the Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas, kicked off Friday morning and saw six players bag up chips for Monday's Day 2.

Foremost among them is Sam Panzica, recent European Poker Tour Dublin €10,000 High Roller winner. He finished with 199,500 from a 30,000 starting stack, good for a small lead over Matt Glantz (183,000).

The others who made it through were Jake Daniels (160,000), Chan Pelton (142,500), David Morton (116,000), and Matt Davenport (99,000). They did so at the expense of recent PokerStars Caribbean Adventure ninth-place finisher David Eldridge, who ran up a big stack but ultimately hit a downward spiral to end the night on the outside looking in.

When the tournament was getting underway, Chilean Nick Yunis was the star of the show, playing seemingly every other pot and showing down some big hands on the way to racking up a stack of over 170,000 in Level 9 (400/800/100). However, the late arrival of Eldridge signaled the end of that hot streak for Yunis, and Eldridge was ultimately the one who busted Yunis after the final 10 players combined to one table.

That only happened after the likes of Niall Farrell, Sergio Aido, Terrance Eischens, and Ryan Van Sanford busted.

When the big clash did go down, the final board had come {4-Clubs}{k-Clubs}{2-Hearts}{9-Hearts}{j-Spades} and Yunis bet-called for his stack with {k-Spades}{2-Spades} against the {k-Diamonds}{j-Hearts} of Eldridge, which left the latter with 213,000 at 800/1,600/200.

However, Daniels doubled through him with {a-Diamonds}{k-Diamonds} against {a-Hearts}{q-Clubs} and then Pelton later won back-to-back pots against him to drop him to 69,000. A visibly frustrated Eldridge then sent the last of his stack to Panzica to wrap up the night with 24 minutes left in Level 15 (1,500/3,000/500).

Players will have another opportunity Saturday, as the second of two flights runs starting at 11 a.m. with coverage again here on PokerNews.

Tags: Sam Panzica

Eldridge Busts Yunis for Big Lead

Level 12 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
David Eldridge
David Eldridge

Nick Yunis checked a flop of {4-Clubs}{k-Clubs}{2-Hearts} out of the big blind, and Sam Panzica bet 4,500. David Eldridge called in the cutoff on his left, and Yunis called. The turn was a {9-Hearts} and Yunis came alive with 13,000. Only Eldridge called. The river was a {j-Spades} and Yunis bet 27,400. Eldridge thought a long while and moved all in.

"Queen-ten of clubs?" Yunis asked, seeming distressed. After about three minutes, he called off his last 40,000 or so.

Eldridge showed {k-Diamonds}{j-Hearts}, and Yunis just nodded. The dealer turned over his cards: {k-Spades}{2-Spades}.

Player Chips Progress
David Eldridge us
David Eldridge
213,000 102,000
Nick Yunis cl
Nick Yunis
Busted

Tags: David EldridgeNick Yunis

Glantz Busted

Level 8 : 300/600, 75 ante
Matt Glantz
Matt Glantz

Matt Glantz put his last 4,000 or so in from the button at the previous level, and Brian Yoon put in a call from the small blind.

Yoon: {k-Hearts}{q-Clubs}
Glantz: {a-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}

Glantz held the lead but it was short-lived as {10-}{7-}{q-} flopped to give Yoon a leading pair. That changed on the turn as Glantz hit two pair when an {a-} fell, but a river {j-} gave Yoon a straight.

Player Chips Progress
Brian Yoon us
Brian Yoon
WSOP 5X Winner
33,100 2,000
Matt Glantz us
Matt Glantz
Busted

Tags: Brian YoonMatt Glantz

Welcome to Day 1a of Poker Night in America at Golden Nugget

Poker Night in America
Poker Night in America

The Poker Night in America crew is most famous for their televised cash games, but that could be changing as they jump into the tournament scene. Summers in Las Vegas are prime territory for drawing players, and that's what PNIA hopes to do, teaming up with the Golden Nugget for a $1,675 PNIA Main Event.

Things kick off at 11 a.m. local time in lovely downtown Las Vegas with the first of three starting flights. After the two that take place the following days, everyone who punched a Day 2 ticket will convene and play down to a televised final table. Players may reenter until the start of Level 11.

Players begin with hefty starting stacks of 30,000 and blind levels are 40 minutes throughout Day 1. Blinds begin at 50/100 and then progress to 2,500/5,000/500 by the time the night is over at the end of Level 17. Stay tuned on PokerNews as we bring you all of the live updates throughout the action.