Big Stax 1100 Day 1a | Parx Big Stax XXXII

02-22-2020 01:44 UTC-4

Steven Snyder Leads After Day 1a of the Parx Big Stax 1100

Chad Holloway

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Day 1a of the Parx Big Stax XXXII 1100 Championship saw 217 entrants take to the felt, and by the time the clock expired on Level 15 the field was whittled down to 55 players. Leading the pack was Steven Snyder, who bagged 431,500.

Others to bag big stacks were Greg Fishberg (407,500), Joseph Wertz (406,500), Justin Huff (406,5000, and George Chen (400,500).

Joining them for Sunday’s Day 2 will be Ryan McKnight (326,000), Michael Marder (231,500), Victor Ramdin (224,000), Joey “Mush” Galazzo (219,500), and DFS expert andcofounder of Establish the Run Adam Levitan (101,000), and Daniel Weinman (96,000).

Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to bag. Among those to fall on Day 1a were defending champ Grigoriy Shvarts, 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Greg Raymer, CJ McCray, Richard Sipple Sirous Jamshidi, 2015 WSOP Main Event champ Joe McKeehen, and Don Himpele.

The second and final starting flight will get underway at 11 a.m. on Saturday here at Parx. Late registration and reentry are open all day long. Once again, the plan is to play 15 levels. PokerNews will be there to capture all the action, so be sure to join us then.

Tags: Steven Snyder

02-21-2020 22:47 UTC-4

"Sorry It Was You, Victor"

Chad Holloway

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The preflop action escaped us but we do know that Victor Ramdin got his stack of around 80,000 all in preflop and was at risk against Greg Fishberg.

Victor Ramdin:
Greg Fishberg:

Ramdin was looking for an ace, and while the flop didn't hit him directly, it did give him added outs as a ten would give him Broadway.

The turn was close to what he was looking for, while the river sent him to the rail.

"Sorry it was you, Victor," Fishberg offered. Ramdin smiled and said that he'd return tomorrow to try again on Day 1b.

Player	Chips	Progress
Greg Fishberg	210,000 155,000	155,000
Victor Ramdin	Busted

Tags: Victor Ramdin Greg Fishberg

02-21-2020 21:37 UTC-4

Daily Fantasy Sports Legend Adam Levitan Competing in Parx Big Stax 300

Chad Holloway

Level 11 : 800/1,500, 1,500 ante

Adam Levitan has been battling here on Day 1a of the Parx Big Stax 1100. If that name sounds familiar it’s probably because you recognize it from the world of Daily Fantasy Sports.

Levitan is the co-founder of Establish the Run alongside Evan Silva. Their goal was to give subscribers the most intelligent, thorough, timely and accurate football analysis on the internet.

In addition, he’s a DraftKings analyst, host of the Daily Fantasy Football Edge podcast, and a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) award winner.

Here's how his bio describes him on establishtherun.com:

Adam is one of the most respected DFS football analysts and podcasters. His podcast, the Daily Fantasy Football Edge, has been downloaded more than 5 million times and offers market-moving DFS analysis each week. He won multiple Fantasy Sports Writers Association awards while at Rotoworld before focusing on DFS full-time in 2015. Not only is Adam a DFS analyst, but he also plays nearly year-round, specializing in cash games.

In the poker world, Levitan has amassed more than $213K in lifetime tournament earnings including a career-best $54,586 for winning the $1,100 Poker Night in America Philadelphia Main Event back in 2016. In 2017, he also placed 12th in this very event for $6,773. His last tournament cash — $516 for finishing 51st in a SugarRush Challenge tournament – came back in March 2018.

For more on Levitan, follow him on Twitter at @adamlevitan.

Player	Chips	Progress
Adam Levitan	90,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Adam Levitan

02-21-2020 18:52 UTC-4

"Why Did They Create Aces in this Game?"

Chad Holloway

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

A preflop raising war resulted in a player getting his stack of approximately 25,000 all in and at risk against Steven Snyder, who was sitting with a big pile of chips.

Steven Snyder:
Opponent:

The flop kept the aces firmly in the lead, but the running turn and river was a disaster for the at-risk player as Snyder made a runner-runner straight to steal the pot.

"Why did they create aces in this game?" the eliminated player asked rhetorically before heading for the exit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Steven Snyder	195,000

Tags: Steven Snyder

02-21-2020 18:16 UTC-4

Giovanniello Gets Value and Sends Shorty to the Rail

Chad Holloway

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

A player in early position raised to 2,000 and Dominick Giovanniello called from the button. The player in the big blind then called off for his last 1,600 and there was a side pot headed to the flop.

The original raiser continued for 1,500 and then called when Giovanniello raised to 4,000. On the turn, the early-position player check-called a bet of 7,000 and then checked again on the river.

Giovanniello tossed out a bet of 7,000 and his opponent thought for a bit before making the call. Giovanniello rolled over the for a full house and it was good as both his opponents sent their cards to the muck unseen.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dominick Giovanniello	100,000

Tags: Dominick Giovanniello

02-21-2020 17:23 UTC-4

A Look Back at the Parx Big Stax XXXII 300 Event

Chad Holloway

Level 7 : 300/600, 600 ante

Earlier this month, the Parx Big Stax XXXII hosted the Parx Big Stax 300, a tournament that drew 2,257 total entries for a $643,245 prize pool.

It looked like it was Dan Sweeney's to win since the final levels of Day 2, and indeed he did close out for a $95,744 top prize after striking a three-way deal.

Sweeney started the final day with the chip lead and stayed atop the leaderboard for nearly the entire day en route to taking home the championship at Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. The final three players - Sweeney, Anthony Chin and Christopher Laieta - came to terms on a three-way deal that ended with Sweeney being declared the winner.

"I tried to not go too crazy, not to be too much of a chip bully when I had an advantage."

Sweeney took home $95,744 per the deal, with both Chin and Larieta earning $65,000. Sweeney had 52 million of the 67 million chips in play when the table went three-handed.

"I felt like I was going to win," Sweeney said. "I felt like I was at the top of my game."

"I tried to not go too crazy, not to be too much of a chip bully when I had an advantage. I picked my spots correctly, I think. I made a few mistakes, but that's ok."

For Sweeney, who grew up in the Bensalem area, the Big Stax 300 victory was a hometown win.

Final Table Results

Place	Winner	Country	Prize (USD)
1	Dan Sweeney	United States	$95,744*
2	Christopher Laieta	United States	$65,000*
3	Anthony Chin	United States	$65,000*
4	Mark Napier	United States	$33,449
5	Bryan Miller	United States	$24,894
6	Gregory Fishberg	United States	$18,718
7	Joseph Galazzo	United States	$14,409
8	Po Ying	United States	$10,999
9	Ryan Jackson	United States	$8,684

_{*Denotes three-way deal.}

Click here for more details on Sweeney's win.

02-21-2020 16:51 UTC-4

Three-Time WSOP Bracelet Winner Battling It Out

Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 300/500, 500 ante

Matt Matros has more than $2.5 million in lifetime tournament earnings to his name and three World Series of Poker gold bracelet wins.

While a trio of bracelets is impressive in and of itself, what made Matros' victories even more special was the fact that he captured them in three consecutive years from 2010-12.

His first win came at the 2010 WSOP when he won Event #12: $1,500 Limit Hold’em for $189,870, and then followed it up by winning the 2011 WSOP Event #52: $2,500 Mixed Limit/NLH Hold’em for $303,501. Finally, his last bracelet came when he took down the 2012 WSOP Event #16: $1,500 NLH 6-Handed for $454,835.

Despite all those big wins, none of them are his biggest. That actually came in 2004 when he finished fourth in the $25,000 WPT Championship for $706,903

Matros, who received a Bachelor of Science from Yale and a Master's degree from Sarah Lawrence College, is also the author of The Making of a Poker Player.

He's in action here at Parx and looking to add a Big Stax title to his long list of accomplishments.

Player	Chips	Progress
Matt Matros	40,000 40,000	40,000

Tags: Matt Matros

02-21-2020 16:16 UTC-4

Defending Champ Grigoriy Shvarts in the House

Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 300/500, 500 ante

Last October, the Parx Big Stax XXXI 1100 Championship saw Grigoriy Shvarts, who is in action here on Day 1a, top a 370-entry field to win the tournament for $82,549.

With three players left in that tournament, it looked like it could be a while before the tournament ended given the slow, deep-stacked structure. Shvarts had other ideas though, and his final two opponents walked right into traps, bluffing off all of their chips to him in huge pots when he had monster hands. The win was Shvarts' fourth in the five-figure range and ended some recent final table frustration for him.

"It feels really good, finally," said an elated and a little relieved Shvarts. "It's been a lot of bad beats, stuff like that. Finally came my way."

Here's a look at the results from the last Big Stax 1100 event:

Official Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Grigoriy Shvarts	New York, New York	$82,549
2	AJ Jamil	Glen Cove, New York	$57,793
3	Thomas Parkes	Alburtis, Pennsylvania	$37,154
4	Hal Rotholz	New York, New York	$24,402
5	Rafael Yaraliyev	Brooklyn, New York	$18,792
6	Peter Ippolito	East Meadow, New York	$15,547
7	Rafal Kordys	New Hyde Park, New York	$13,028
8	David Whitnah	Jersey City, New Jersey	$10,651

For more on Shvarts win, check out our Parx Big Stax XXXI 1100 recap here.

Player	Chips	Progress
Grigoriy Shvarts	50,000

Tags: Grigoriy Shvarts

02-21-2020 15:32 UTC-4

Ryan McKnight Looking for Another Six-Figure Score

Chad Holloway

Level 5 : 200/400, 400 ante

With more than $1.1 million in live tournament earnings dating back to just 2016, Ryan McKnight is one of the most accomplished players in the Parx Big Stax XXXII 1100 Championship Day 1a field.

McKnight is perhaps best known for finishing fourth in the 2017 World Series of Poker Event #47: $1,500 Monster Stack for $374,515. Earlier that same year, he won the Borgata Winter Poker Open Event #14: $1,090 NLH for $78,665, and more recently finished sixth in the 2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Event #1: $570 Deepstack for $58,421.

Toss in 24th in the 2019 WSOP Millionaire Maker for $47,820 and eighth in the 2018 Borgata Summer Poker Open Championship for $41,813 and you round out the top five results on McKnight’s poker résumé.

That said, if all goes according to plan here at Parx he may knock some down the list with the second six-figure score of his career.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ryan McKnight	49,000

Tags: Ryan McKnight

02-21-2020 14:04 UTC-4

Riccobono Finishes Off Grubbs

Chad Holloway

Level 3 : 100/200, 200 ante

We missed the hand unfold but learned after the fact that Ryan Messick doubled through John Grubbs in a big pot. As it was told to us by Al Riccobono, Messick had raised with six-seven suited only to get three-bet by Grubbs. Messick four-bet it, Grubbs called, and the former flopped a gutshot, which he'd hit later in the hand.

Long story short, Messick shoved all in and got a call from Grubbs, who had two pair.

In the next hand, Grubbs moved all in from middle position for his last 2,100 and Riccobono called from the lojack. The rest of the players got out of the way and the hands were turned up.

Al Riccobono:
John Grubbs: