Big Stax 1100 Day 1a | Parx Big Stax XXXII

02-21-2020 08:47 UTC-4

Welcome to Day 1a of the Parx Big Stax XXXII 1100 Championship

Chad Holloway

For the past few weeks, Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania has played host to the Parx Big Stax XXXII.

The series has crowned a slew of side event winners, while PokerNews has captured action from the Big Stax 300 and Big Stax 500 events. The former tournament drew 2,257 total entries for a $643,245 prize pool and saw Dan Sweeney win it for $95,744 after a three-way deal. Meanwhile, Joel Deutsch topped a 1,496-entry field to win the latter tournament for a hefty $126,995.

Today, PokerNews will live report the Parx Big Stax 1100, which begins at 11 a.m. Players will start with 50,000 in chips with unlimited reentry and late registration available all the way up until the beginning of Level 17, which is the second level of play on Day 2 (scheduled for Sunday, February 23).

Day 1a is the first of two starting flights with 1b slated to follow at the same time on Saturday. The survivors from both will return as a combined field for Day 2 on Sunday, with the tournament playing down to a winner on Monday's Day 3. Levels 1-15 are 45 minutes long and will increase to 60 minutes for Levels 16-21. After that, all levels jump to 90 minutes allowing for plenty of play.

The field will play through 15 45-minute levels today, starting with blinds at 100/100. The blinds will be up to 2,000/4,000/4,000 by Level 15, the final level of play for Day 1.

Players will take 15-minute breaks after every third level, with a 75-minute dinner break after Level 9 around 6:30 p.m. local time.

The October 2019 edition of the Big Stax 1100 drew 370 entries, for a total prize pool of $394,790.

Follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team as the Big Stax 1100 gets underway.

02-21-2020 13:15 UTC-4

Former WSOP Main Event Champion in the House

Chad Holloway

Level 2 : 100/100, 100 ante

There is a poker celebrity in the house here in the Parx Big Stax XXXII 1100 Championship.

In 2004, Greg Raymer became a poker household name after he bested a field of 2,576 players to win the World Series of Poker Main Event for $5 million. You might remember him defeating David Williams in heads-up play and competing at a final table that hosted such memorable faces as Josh Arieh and Dan Harrington. The "Singing Dutchman" Marcel Luske bubbled that final table finishing in 10th place for $373,000.

Raymer is looking to continue his hot start to 2020. In fact, it was just over a month ago that he topped a 520-entry field to win the Heartland Poker Tour East Chicago $1,650 Main Event for $171,411 and his record fifth HPT title.

Raymer, the 2012 HPT Player of the Year, was also a recent guest on the PokerNews Podcast, which you can listen to by clicking here.

Player	Chips	Progress
Greg Raymer	50,000

Tags: Greg Raymer

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:

It was a flip but the proverbial coin came down in Riccobono's favor after the board ran out .

Player	Chips	Progress
Ryan Messick	100,000 50,000	50,000
Al Riccobono	53,000
John Grubbs	Busted

Tags: Al Riccobono Ryan Messick John Grubbs

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 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 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 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 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 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 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