Event #7: $25K GTD 6-Max PKO Bounty | partypoker US Network Online Series (Nov. 29 - Dec.6)

12-03-2020 22:42 UTC-4

Level 12 Chip Leaders

Anthony Thompson

In Level 12 with blinds of 1,800/3,600, there are 34 players remaining from 73 entries with a handful of players recently departing the tournament.

"maniacalmonk" is still atop the leaderboard with more than double the amount of Ryan “TheSims” Hohner who sits in second.

Player	Chips	Progress
maniacalmonk	554,655 164,224	164,224
Ryan “TheSims” Hohner	275,572 79,554	79,554
Rikishi	260,392 100,592	100,592
Vinny “brownmagic” Pahuja	238,300 -2,750	-2,750
pay4medsch00l	219,979 144,979	144,979
Sridhar “sri100k” Sangannagari	210,268 -101,612	-101,612
Josh “layitdown08” Rothberg	210,242 124,043	124,043
Gohednpopoff	197,342
Edsebo	196,040 -25,250	-25,250
Daniel "centrfielder23" Lupo	189,750 168,887	168,887
KevinDurant	177,497 16,123	16,123
Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken	176,447 84,332	84,332
David "TheKing411" Coleman	166,322 1,317	1,317
Cholie	150,360

12-03-2020 22:51 UTC-4

Hohner Fills Up to Take Sudell's Bounty

Anthony Thompson

In Level 13 with blinds of 1,800/3,600 and an ante of 450, Ryan “TheSims” Hohner raised to 7,200 from the cutoff, Angel "chromeking" Lopez called from the small blind and Derek "pompii" Sudell squeezed for 30,823 from the big blind.

Action was back on Hohner who isolated after he raised to 57,600 and the two players tabled their hands.

Derek "pompii" Sudell:
Ryan “TheSims” Hohner:

Sudell had Hohner in rough shape until the flop dropped to turn the tides as it gave Hohner trip fours.

The sealed the deal for Hohner on the turn and the meaningless completed the board on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ryan “TheSims” Hohner	349,442 73,870	73,870
Angel "chromeking" Lopez	161,418
Derek "pompii" Sudell	Busted

Tags: Ryan Hohner Derek Sudell Angel Lopez

12-03-2020 22:55 UTC-4

Break Time

Anthony Thompson

The remaining bounty players are on a quick five-minute break.

12-03-2020 23:01 UTC-4

PokerNews is Giving Away iPhone 12 Mini, Xbox Series X and More in December

Anthony Thompson

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12-03-2020 23:08 UTC-4

Lopez Doubles Through Chin With Rockets

Anthony Thompson

In Level 14 with blinds of 2,000/4,000 and an ante of 500, action folded around to Angel "chromeking" Lopez who raised to 12,000 from the small blind and Anthony "supremetny" Chin defended his big blind to see a flop.

Lopez immediately moved all in for his last 64,658 and Chin snap called.

Angel "chromeking" Lopez:
Anthony "supremetny" Chin:

Chin flopped bottom pair but gave Lopez a sweat after the appeared on the turn.

Lopez needed to dodge any nine, seven or six and did as the dropped on the river and secured his double-up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Angel "chromeking" Lopez	156,916 -4,502	-4,502
Anthony "supremetny" Chin	100,992

Tags: Angel Lopez Anthony Chin

12-03-2020 23:13 UTC-4

Level 15 Chip Leaders - Last Chance To Enter!

Anthony Thompson

Level 15 has begun with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and an ante of 625. This 10-minute level is the last chance to enter or re-enter for anybody still interested in doing so.

Seventy-nine entries (and counting) have been logged, and registration will close at 10:18 p.m. ET.

Player	Chips	Progress
maniacalmonk	529,354 -25,301	-25,301
Brian “TopCreature” Sherrier	451,212 349,847	349,847
Edsebo	304,758 108,718	108,718
Wyeth	278,420 58,116	58,116
Ross “thehebrewhammer” Gottleib	278,155
SharingisCaring	259,108 99,909	99,909
Gohednpopoff	256,267 58,925	58,925
David "TheKing411" Coleman	251,361 85,039	85,039
Ryan “TheSims” Hohner	241,112 -108,330	-108,330
FRIELnGood	217,977 120,965	120,965
pay4medsch00l	216,412 -3,567	-3,567
Sridhar “sri100k” Sangannagari	211,802 1,534	1,534
Angel "chromeking" Lopez	210,836 53,920	53,920
ndirish50	196,744

12-03-2020 23:17 UTC-4

Get to Know Family Man & Stock Trader Don "dhimp20" Himpele

Anthony Thompson

If you’ve ever played poker either at Borgata or online in New Jersey, there’s a good chance you’ve crossed paths with Don Himpele, who has more than $630K in online lifetime tournament earnings and $89K in live scores on HendonMob.

Himpele, a father of five who has been married for 24 years, graduated from Gettysburg College with a degree in Business and Economics, and for the last 25 years he has worked as a trader on the New York Stock Exchange as a Managing Director for Goldman Sachs and IMC Trading. So how did the professional family man find poker?

“I began playing as a teenager,” he told PokerNews. “My mother was an early influence and taught me many ‘gameplay skills.’ I have combined that and my skills as a trader to make strong decisions on the felt.”

He continued: “I consider myself a recreational player, as family and work obligations don't allow for a robust live game tournament schedule. I do play the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main yearly, and many Parx Big Stax tournaments. I am a regular online tournament player who targets buy-ins usually ranging from $200-$2,000. I play in local cash games – usually $5/$10.”

While he only plays when his schedule allows, it’s worth noting Himpele has been playing for a long time. In fact, one of his favorite poker memories stems all the way back to the 2004 WSOP Main Event.

“My most notable experience was my first WSOP Main Event in 2004 and sitting at ESPN feature TV table with top pros,” he recalled. “Also, I cashed in the 2010 WSOP Main Event after being sponsored by Absolute Poker.”

While his Absolute Poker days are behind him, Himpele does spend a fair amount of time competing on the partypoker US Network, which is comprised of partypoker US, Borgata Poker and BetMGM Poker.

“partypoker US brings a strong level of competition and I particularly like when they run a series as it brings a variety of games and a strong turnout with a commensurate prize pool,” said Himpele. “I have a lot of respect for New Jersey's top pros such as Mike Lavenburg, Mike Gagliano, Katie Stone and David Coleman. I enjoy the challenge of battling against them as a test of skill.”

Player	Chips	Progress
Don "dhimp20" Himpele	75,000

12-03-2020 23:26 UTC-4

Prize Pool and Payout Information

Anthony Thompson

The add-on period has come and gone, and a total prize pool of $40,500 ($20,250 regular prize pool & $20,250 bounty prize pool) was generated via 81 total entries.

The top 8 players will be paid out at least $658.12 with payouts increasing up to the top two, who earn $5,165.79 and $5,161.72, respectively plus all applicable bounties.

Place	Prize
1	$5,165.79
2	$5,161.72
3	$3,503.25
4	$2,176.87
5	$1,579.50
6	$1,154.25
7	$850.50
8	$658.12

12-03-2020 23:29 UTC-4

Recent Eliminations

Anthony Thompson

Player	Chips	Progress
harvgrizz	Busted
audidriver	Busted
Alex “JinYang” Butcher	Busted
Jon “Jetsfan411” Borenstein	Busted
Cholie	Busted

12-03-2020 23:35 UTC-4

Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken Looking for More partypoker US Success

Anthony Thompson

Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken is a name you should know as he's become on of the most accomplished players on the partypoker US Network.

A couple of months ago, Vanauken accomplished the incredible feat of capturing back-to-back titles not once, but twice.

In the July 6-12 series, he topped a 134-entry field to win Event #4: $15,000 GTD NLH for nearly $7,500, and then the next night bested 144 runners to win Event #5: $,7500 GTD Green Chip Bounty for $3,145. Then, at the end of July, he won the $320 buy-in Event #3: $15,000 GTD PKO Bounty for $6,393 and a day later emerged victorious in the $215 buy-in Event #4: $12,000 GTD PKO Bounty Boost for $5.691.

PokerNews recently had the chance to chat with Vanauken about his recent successes.

Money Never Sleeps

For the 43-year-old Vanauken, who is married with three kids ages 7, 10, and 19, he’s never really had a nine-to-five job. Instead, he fancies himself a real estate broker engaging in flips and investments while playing poker on the side of course.

“I first learned playing $4/$8 limit at Foxwoods in early 2000 and now play now $20/$40 and $30/$60 when I can find a game, or settle on $1/$2 or $2/$5 NLH," he said. "I have played the WSOP Main Event two times with no luck busting on Day 2 both times.”

Additionally, Vanauken grinds a decent amount on the virtual tables under the screen name “alwaysliquid,” which stems from the movie Wall Street when Gordon Gekko tells Bud Fox about how money never sleeps and you need to always be liquid.

“Since New Jersey went legal I play on Borgata and WSOP. I used to play PokerStars but had an issue with them over a year ago and have since boycotted them. I do very well on Borgata. I even shipped the Mega Thursday [not long ago] on my phone from an Applebee’s parking lot as I had no WiFi at home due to power outage.”

As for his recent successes on partypoker US, Vanauken was pleased but wanted to remain humble.

“I am humbled to be able to compete with all of the great players in New Jersey,” he said. “I’m proud that all of my studying and grinding has been producing favorable results in the past few years, taking me from an average breakeven player to a profitable one. At the same time, I try to maintain being humble with this great game and what it has provided for me and my family.”

Proudest Poker Accomplishments

For Vanauken, the scores rank up there among his proudest poker accomplishments, which includes beating a poker legend.

“In 2013, I beat Joe McKeehen for the Borgata Limit Championship,” Vanauken said. “I think that was the last limit event held at Borgata.”

Other highlights on his poker résumé include finishing sixth in the 2018 WSOP Circuit at Canada’s Playground Poker Club and finishing runner-up in a pair of WSOP Circuit online events back in March.

“So close to a ring but the two cashes of $35k and $20k within a few days definitely eased the quarantine pain,” Vanauken said.

With the latest partypoker US Network Online Series happening now, only time will tell if Vanauken can keep his streak of winning back-to-back events alive.

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