partypoker US Network Series (Jan. 17-24)

Level 13 has begun with blinds of 1,800/3,600 and an ante of 450. Thirty-one players now remain from 80 entries, and "Core4" is still out in front" with Michael "UFOLDIWIN" St. John and Ryan "simlSgg" Hagerty hot on their heels.

Player	Chips	Progress
Core4	279,060 258,188	258,188
Michael "UFOLDIWIN" St. John	252,615 162,290	162,290
Ryan "simlSgg" Hagerty	239,728 86,550	86,550
John "Slapshot1085" Forlenza	177,174 58,398	58,398
Chris "rumpthumper" White	166,950 146,635	146,635
Daniel "leinad" Buzgon	166,864 26,648	26,648
pure_reason	160,094 138,758	138,758
ndirish50	154,840 154,840	154,840
Don "dhimp20" Himpele	146,186 79,076	79,076
Yong "IReadYrSoul" Kwon	145,010 7,792	7,792
Daniel "centrfieldr23" Lupo	145,000 74,445	74,445
Eric "alwaysliquid" Vanauken	143,979 49,863	49,863
James "Bagels" Lillis	139,937 -85,056	-85,056
keefvanh0rn	139,428 13,194	13,194
joey1way	138,592 44,636	44,636
ShoveNpray	136,600 136,600	136,600
Cholie	134,537 134,537	134,537
RiverMan	129,165 41,496	41,496
Dan "mj23style" Sewnig	127,227 127,227	127,227
Angel "chromeking" Lopez	122,625 41,274	41,274
Gohednpopoff	Busted

Level 15 has begun with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and an ante of 625, marking the final 10-minute level of the late registration period. All who wish to enter must do so before registration closes at 10:43 p.m. ET.

Eighty-four entries have currently been logged, and 28 players remain.

In Level 15 with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and an ante of 625, John "Slapshot1085" Forlenza got his last 33,000 into the middle preflop from the small blind and received action from "ndirish50", who was in the hijack.

John "Slapshot1085" Forlenza:
"ndirish50":

The closest Forlenza came to improving was a backdoor flush draw on the flop , which was followed up with a turn and river that left his hand second best and brought about his elimination.

Player	Chips	Progress
ndirish50	210,110 55,270	55,270
SaltSea	207,111 142,645	142,645
Angel "chromeking" Lopez	133,900 11,275	11,275
kgkg510	122,532 45,098	45,098
Daniel "leinad" Buzgon	49,375 -117,489	-117,489
John "Slapshot1085" Forlenza	Busted

In Level 16 with blinds of 3,000/6,000 and an ante of 750, Event #3 Winner earlier this series "kgkg510" saw action fold to them in the small blind and open-jammed for 65,000. Angel "chromeking' Lopez called in the big blind, giving him a shot at both the pot and a bounty.

"kgkg5610":
Angel "chromeking' Lopez:

The board came completely in Lopez's favor, running out to give him two pair and best the ace-high of "kgkg510" to bring about their elimination from the tournament just after the registration period has closed.

Player	Chips	Progress
Angel "chromeking' Lopez	295,182
ndirish50	236,735
SaltSea	201,236
Daniel "centrfieldr23" Lupo	38,625
kgkg510	Busted

Play is now in Level 17 with blinds of 3,500/7,000 and an ante of 875, and Ryan "simlSgg" Hagerty is still atop the counts by a large margin. Just 16 players now remain after a flurry of post-late-registration eliminations have occurred, and complete chip counts have been provided below for all who remain.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ryan "simlSgg" Hagerty	864,294 402,385	402,385
Anthony "supremetny" Chin	439,843 409,518	409,518
Michael "UFOLDIWIN" St. John	377,657 125,042	125,042
SaltSea	295,465 94,229	94,229
Don "dhimp20" Himpele	293,262 147,076	147,076
joey1way	293,134 154,542	154,542
Angel "chromeking" Lopez	260,432 126,532	126,532
upayformypennys	218,216 79,241	79,241
ndirish50	214,485 -22,250	-22,250
dadadada	213,090 213,090	213,090
Chris "rumpthumper" White	196,542 29,592	29,592
keefvanh0rn	182,313 42,885	42,885
Jon "Jetsfan411" Borenstein	146,179 -70,896	-70,896
RiverMan	146,179 17,014	17,014
Daniel "centrfieldr23" Lupo	143,939 105,314	105,314
Ryan "TheSims" Hohner	117,450 117,450	117,450
Core4	Busted
pure_reason	Busted
James "Bagels" Lillis	Busted
ShoveNpray	Busted
Cholie	Busted
Dan "mj23style" Sewnig	Busted
Daniel "leinad" Buzgon	Busted
Eric "alwaysliquid" Vanauken	Busted
Ryan "Whosyourdoddy" Dodd	Busted

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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.”

In Level 18 with blinds of 4,000/8,000 and an ante of 1,000, Anthony "supremetny" Chin opened to 16,000 on the button and saw Ryan "TheSims" Hohner three-bet shove for 129,000 in the small blind. Chin called once it became his turn to do so, taking two live cards to a shot at sending Hohner packing.

Ryan "TheSims" Hohner:
Anthony "supremetny" Chin:

The flop came , leaving Hohner with a sizeable lead. He pulled even further ahead on the turn , taking away half of Chin's outs as he picked up a potential backdoor gutshot to Broadway. The final card fell , earning Hohner the easy double and bringing him up to 271,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael "UFOLDIWIN" St. John	350,855 -26,802	-26,802
Anthony "supremetny" Chin	330,222 -109,621	-109,621
upayformypennys	274,091 55,875	55,875
Ryan "TheSims" Hohner	271,242 153,792	153,792
Don "dhimp20" Himpele	220,018 -73,244	-73,244

In Level 19 with blinds of 5,000/10,000 and an ante of 1,250, a three-way all-in preflop situation ensued with Chris "rumpthumper" White being the shortest of the three and at risk from the hijack. "RiverMan" was also all in from the small blind, while "joey1way" was on the button and covered both players.

Chris "rumpthumper" White:
"RiverMan":
"joey1way":

"joey1way" was able to fade paint, but White stuck three hearts on a runout of to earn the triple. Meanwhile, "joey1way" earned the side pot good for 122,000 and the bounty on "RiverMan", which was good for $243 directly into their pockets.

Moments earlier, "SaltSea" was also eliminated, leaving just 14 players remaining in the tournament after the hand was finished.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chris "rumpthumper" White	301,226 104,684	104,684
joey1way	122,524 -170,610	-170,610
SaltSea	Busted
RiverMan	Busted