In Level 20 with blinds of 4,000/8,000 and an ante of 1,000, all of the chips got into the middle preflop with "anthonely" at risk for their tournament life in the big blind against Don "dhimp20" Himeple, who was in the cutoff.
"anthonely" held while Himeple had and held through the runout to eliminate "anthonely" in 23rd place. With two eliminations needed for the tournament to make it into the money, hand-for-hand play has now begun and will remain in effect until the bubble bursts.
In Level 19 with blinds of 3,500/7,000 and an ante of 875, Brian "TopCreature" Sherrier saw action fold to him in the cutoff and opened to 15,000. "NoRecourse" three-bet shoved for 123,000 in the big blind and Sherrier quickly called.
"NoRecourse":
Brian "TopCreature" Sherrier:
"NoRecourse" picked up nine extra outs on the flop but the turn and bricked out to result in their elimination from the tournament in 24th place.
Play is midway through Level 19 with blinds of 3,500/7,000 and an ante of 875. Mike "MistaMenza" Menzer was eliminated by "Lisaj416" on the last hand before break to bring the number of players left in the tournament down to 24 across three full tables upon the resumption of play. Four more eliminations are needed to reach the money.
The partypoker US Online Network – which is comprised of partypoker US, Borgata Poker and BetMGM Poker – has been gaining momentum in New Jersey, most recently with last month's WPT Online Borgata Series.
One player who has been doing quite well on the site is bracelet winner Daniel “centrfieldr23” Lupo, 37, of West Milford, New Jersey. You might recall that last summer, Lupo topped a 1,767-entry field to win the WSOP.com Online $500 NLH Turbo Deepstack for $145,274 and a gold bracelet. Earlier this year, he added a ring to his résumé by taking down the WSOP.com Online Circuit Event #3: $320 NLH 6-Max for $32,595 and a month later won the WSOP.com $100,000 GTD Sunday for $50,715.
PokerNews caught up with Lupo, who went to NJIT for Architecture and baseball, to ask him about poker, which he squeezes in between working for an Architecture firm in Bridgewater specializing in single-family residential and smaller commercial projects and his family, which includes three kids ages 2-5 and his supportive wife Laura.
Q&A with Daniel “centrfieldr23” Lupo
PokerNews: When and how did you learn to play poker?
Lupo: I started playing/learning in college during the Rounders and Moneymaker boom with a bunch of the baseball guys. Within a year I found myself hosting games at college, at home on breaks and basically anywhere I could find or make a game. I didn’t play much online early on, regrettably.
What sort of poker do you play these days?
Mostly online MTTs playing like three sessions per week on average with buy-ins typically from $50 to $1k with the occasional $2-$3k buy in for a big event. I average around 500-600 MTTs a month despite not playing full time, I tend to put in a lot of volume when I’m on. The games are mostly NLH and some PLO MTTs, but love when StarsNJ runs a series as they run a fun 8-Game MTT with a bunch of other mixed variants.
What’s it like to play poker while raising young children?
It’s been a constant evolution. I could probably write a book about all the highs and lows and life adjustments I’ve had or chose to make. It gives me a lot of inspiration to succeed while also adding some weight to my losses as it's like 'not only was I way from my kids for all of Sunday afternoon but I lost (insert obnoxious Sunday schedule cost here)'.
Daniel Lupo and his family
What are some of your poker goals?
Try and win everything I play. Actually, my biggest current goal is trying to optimize my MTT game selection. Since quarantine began the schedules have been exploding site to site and while it's been great, with lots of new players and lots of live players playing online it has also drastically increased my average buy-ins and session costs as well as the field size which further increases variance.
I'm trying to optimize the balance of table quantity and expected value vs individual session costs and the variance that comes with it. Having an average buy-in of $250 adds up pretty quickly when it's spread across 60+ entries on a Sunday. My biggest ongoing and long-term goal is to win enough to help my family live comfortably.
How did it feel to take down the partypoker US Network Phased Main Event last month?
I was pretty stoked about the partypoker US win. I love their structure and it was a very tough field when we were deep; I was fortunate to run pretty well and the be able to leverage my chip stack at the final table. I had made a bunch of top 18 runs in their series Main Events but couldn't crack a solid finish lately so this felt a little extra special.
In Level 18 with blinds of 3,000/6,000 and an ante of 7,500, a three-bet pot preflop resulted in "Turkeyleg", Ryan "Whosyourdoddy" Dodd, and "odo23" all going to a flop of from the small blind, big blind, and cutoff, respectively. "Turkeyleg" bet 24,000 and both Dodd and "odo23" called.
The turn came and "Turkeyleg" bet another 77,000. Dodd came over the top, jamming to effectively put both remaining players to decisions for the remainder of their chips. "odo23" quickly folded to put action back onto "Turkeyleg", who deliberated for about 20 seconds before letting their hand go as well.
With the pot, Dodd now has a stack of 755,000 with just four tables left in play.
Just a couple of minutes remain in Level 17 with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and an ante of 625 and only 34 players now remain. Here's a look at many who are not among those still in contention.
Are you a New Jersey resident interested in playing online poker? Planning a visit to the Garden State and want to check it out? If so, PokerNews has a great deal for you with betMGM.com.
New customers who sign up will receive a 100% deposit match up to $1,000, plus $25 on the house!
It's easy to get started:
Sign Up — Register an account with BetMGM Poker
Download — Get the app on iOS or Android to start playing
Deposit — Make your first deposit and we'll match it up to $1,000
In Level 16 with blinds of 2,000/4,000 and an ante of 500, there was a raise to 8,00 and multiple calls before Ryan "TheSims" Hohner three-bet shoved in the small blind for less than 10 big blinds. He received one call from "Pokeher" in the cutoff.
Ryan "TheSims" Hohner:
"Pokeher":
Hohner connected on the flop to pull ahead but the turn gave him three chop outs plus nine new flush outs to fade. He did so successfully as the river came and the pot of 90,000 was shipped his way.
Level 16 has just begun (2,000/4,000/500), meaning the late registration period has officially closed. A handful of last-minute entries has brought the total up to 143, generating a prize pool of $28,600. Of those 143, 45 remain across five full tables.
The top 20 will make it into the money and earn at least a first-level payout of $332. Payouts will escalate from there, with the winner set to earn $7,150. Full prize pool information can be found in the Payouts Tab.
In Level 15 with blinds of 1,800/3,600 and an ante of 450, all of the chips went in the middle with the under-the-gun "Turkeyleg" at risk for the 125,000 in their stack against Ryan "Whosyourdoddy" Dodd, who was on their direct left in middle position.
"Turkeyleg":
Ryan "Whosyourdoddy" Dodd:
The flop came to give the two players three immediate chop outs should a ten come to bring two pair on board. It didn't come, nor did a queen as the turn and river completed the runout and "Turkeyleg" doubled at Dodd's expense.
while Himeple had 
but the turn 
and 
bricked out to result in their elimination from the tournament in 24th place.
from the small blind, big blind, and cutoff, respectively. "Turkeyleg" bet 24,000 and both Dodd and "odo23" called.
and "Turkeyleg" bet another 77,000. Dodd came over the top, jamming to effectively put both remaining players to decisions for the remainder of their chips. "odo23" quickly folded to put action back onto "Turkeyleg", who deliberated for about 20 seconds before letting their hand go as well.
to pull ahead but the turn 
and the pot of 90,000 was shipped his way.
to give the two players three immediate chop outs should a ten come to bring two pair on board. It didn't come, nor did a queen as the turn 
completed the runout and "Turkeyleg" doubled at Dodd's expense.