Blinds: 10,000/20,000
"njpainter" got his final 400,000 and change on preflop holding 
, and he was in great shape to double up against the pocket fives of "E.J.D". The hand was all but over after the flop of 
gave "njpainter" top set, and a six on the turn gave him an unbeatable full house.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,076,940 | -73,008 |
|
|
853,320 | 200,348 |
Blinds 10,000/20,000
There was already over 500,000 in the middle, with the board showing 
, when Daniel “centrfieldr23” Lupo fired 265,000. "E.J.D" made the call, and the 
completed the board.
Lupo thought for just a few moments before firing 505,000, enough to set "E.J.D" all in. He quickly called with 
, and Lupo could only muster up 
for two pair.
With that double up secured, "E.J.D" and Lupo are virtually even at the top.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,179,349 | -1,141,881 |
|
|
2,149,948 | 1,484,692 |
Blinds: 8,000/16,000
"youngkoi" had just secured a double up through "KevinDurant", when he raised it up from under the gun. He got one caller, before "MarsRover" three bet squeezed all in from the big blind. "youngkoi" quickly moved all in over the top to isolate, and the cards were flipped.
"MarsRover": 
"youngkoi" 
"youngkoi" shot out to the lead after flopping an ace, and "MarsRover" was never able to catch up from there.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,078,385 | 373,050 |
|
|
590,211 | -566,735 |
|
|
Busted |
Blinds: 8,000/16,000
"Volstragg" had just lost a good chunk of their stack after they shipped a double up over to "RUfan." On the next hand, "Volstragg" would shove over the top after a raise from chip leader Daniel “centrfieldr23” Lupo. Lupo would call with 
, and he was surely happy to see he was flipping against the pocket threes of "Volstragg."
The flop of gave Lupo top pair and a straight draw, and he never looked back from there, scoring the first kncokout fo the final table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,321,230 | 734,630 |
|
|
446,920 | 31,710 |
|
|
Busted |
Blinds: 7,000/14,000
The two chip leaders just tangled in a massive pot that has seen Daniel “centrfieldr23” Lupo take over as chip leader. It appeared that all of the money got in on the turn, with the board showing 
. "njpainter" held 
for an overpair, but they were no good, as Lupo had turned top two pair. He would improve to a full house on the river, and just like that, Lupo is the new big chip leader.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,586,600 | 1,275,800 |
|
|
652,972 | -1,212,800 |
After the elimination of Jon “Jetsfan411” Borenstein in 9th place, teh final table of eight players has been formed. Leading the way is "njpainter" with Daniel “centrfieldr23” Lupo in second place. Stay tuned to find out who takes home the title!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,865,772 | 816,582 |
|
|
1,310,800 | 135,261 |
|
|
1,156,946 | 164,250 |
|
|
705,335 | 316,077 |
|
|
665,256 | 368,470 |
|
|
435,672 | 66,067 |
|
|
415,210 | 85,250 |
|
|
283,509 | -4,750 |
Blinds: 6,000/12,000
Action started with "KevinDurant" raising to 24,000. Next to act, "thekid32" rereaised to 69,885. It folded back to "KevinDurant", and he thought for a bit before four bet shoving for 482,000 total.
"thekid32" thought for a while before calling for most of his stack with two red eights, but they were dominated by the 
of "KevinDurant." The flop and turn were safe for "KevinDurant", and the river gave him an unneeded set of queens, soaring his stack to over 990,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
992,696 | 311,473 |
|
|
67,994 | -415,473 |
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.
A couple months ago, Lupo’s success continued when he bested a 305-entry field to win the partypoker US Network Online Series $50K GTD NLH 6-Max Main Event for $14,792.
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.
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)'.
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.
The bubble has just burst in this $20,000 Guaranteed Event, after Alex “JinYang” Butcher moved all in on the button with 
. He was called by the 
of "KevinDurant", and after both players missed the flop, an ace on the turn left Butcher drawing dead.
The 14 players below have all locked up at least $427.80. Stay tuned to find out who takes home the crown!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,175,539 | 989,420 |
|
|
1,049,190 | 126,181 |
|
|
681,223 | 517,258 |
|
|
644,296 | 122,475 |
|
|
483,467 | 65,350 |
|
|
426,312 | 44,987 |
|
|
389,258 | -43,050 |
|
|
369,605 | 38,963 |
|
|
369,520 | 148,000 |
|
|
329,960 | 108,890 |
|
|
301,483 | 34,275 |
|
|
296,786 | -299,519 |
|
|
288,259 | 67,800 |
|
|
95,102 | -250,328 |
Blinds: 3,500/7,000
"pay4medsch00l" got their final 70,000 and change in preflop holding pocket nines, but unfortunately for them, Jon “Jetsfan411” Borenstein woke up with 
behind him. The board ran down 
, and the jacks held for Borenstein to give him the KO.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
381,325 | 884 |
|
|
Busted |