PokerNews Cup Day 1c | 2022 PokerNews Cup Golden Nugget

PokerNews Cup

Day 1c Completed

06-27-2022 00:19 UTC-7

PokerNews Cups Sets Record-Breaking Prize Pool at the Golden Nugget

Calum Grant

Level 17 : 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

After almost 17 levels of play, Day 1c of the 2022 PokerNews Cup at the Golden Nugget came to a close with 76 players advancing to Day 2. The final starting flight drew 607 entries, making it the best-attended Day 1 of the event.

Those 76 players will join the 80 qualifiers from Days 1a and 1b and will return for Day 2 at 12 p.m. PDT on Monday, June 27.

The PokerNews Cup is also the main event of the Grand Poker Series at the Golden Nugget and it has proved to be a glittering success. Thanks to the 1,243 entries, it was confirmed that the event generated the biggest ever poker prize pool at the casino.

While the official prize pool is yet to be determined, it eclipsed the $1 million guarantee and the $1,015,500 previous record. Payouts and the number of paid places will be announced on Day 2.

There were some notable names who walked through the door on Day 1c with the likes of WSOP bracelet winners Brad Ruben, Chris Tryba and Yaser Al-Keliddar all hopping into the mix. Unfortunately, neither player could survive to bag and tag their stack for Day 2.

Famous Faces who had more fortunate days than the aforementioned players include Irene Carey, Justin Lapka and Scott Stewart.

Bagging best in Day 1c were Matthew Bretzfield (817,000), Aditya Rao and Scott Stewart (690,000).

Day 2 resumes on Level 16, with nine minutes left on the clock. Blinds will be at 3,000/6,000/6,000a.

Selected End of Day Chip Counts

Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blind
Matthew Bretzfield	United States	817,000	136
Aditya Rao	Australia	753,000	126
Scott Stewart	United States	690,000	115
Nicholas Lee (AZ)	United States	550,000	92
Eemil Tuominen	Finland	461,000	77
Dustin Brown	United States	449,000	75
Roy Salter	United States	428,000	71
Michael Moore	United States	422,000	70
Garen Zabien	United States	404,000	67
Steven Sarmiento	United States	397,000	66

Be sure to return to PokerNews tomorrow at 12 p.m. to find out who makes the final table of the PokerNews Cup.

06-27-2022 00:18 UTC-7

Seat Draw For Day 2

Matthew Pitt

Level 17 : 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Table	Seat	Player	Chips	Big Blinds
28	1	Marc Walter	231,000	23
28	2	Joon Kim	284,000	28
28	3	Juan Gandara	182,000	18
28	4	Allan Vrooman	240,000	24
28	5	Rui Bouquet	274,000	27
28	6	Sundiata Devore	131,000	13
28	7	Alen Tenorioalencar	130,000	13
28	8	David Luong	312,000	52
28	9	Alfred Borges	363,000	36

29	1	Daniel Fuhs	709,000	71
29	2	Florian Lohnert	70,000	7
29	3	Avelino Cornejo	134,000	13
29	4	Kharlin Sued	315,000	32
29	5	Pejman Niyati	233,000	23
29	6	Jason Hickey	134,000	13
29	7	Michael Finstein	116,000	12
29	8	Yiannis Liperis	76,000	8
29	9	Eliot Hudon	141,000	14

30	1	Andrew Rodgers	253,000	25
30	2	Nikolaos Tsitos	112,000	11
30	3	Jacob Brundage	28,000	3
30	4	Dustin Brown	449,000	45
30	5	Justin Chock	120,000	12
30	6	Frank Lagodich	296,000	30
30	7	Joseph Mussat	106,000	11
30	8	Jeremy Meacham	74,000	7
30	9	Eoin Starr	158,000	16

31	1	Adam Levy	163,000	16
31	2	Dominic Brazier	163,000	16
31	3	Michael Zulker	281,000	28
31	4	Brian Phillis	252,000	25
31	5	Joshua Suyat	425,000	43
31	6	Christian Christner	252,000	25
31	7	Michelle Jimenez	151,000	15
31	8	Travis Schueler	96,000	10
31	9	David Yoon	108,000	11

32	1	Steven Karp	241,000	24
32	2	Dmitri Nobles	236,000	24
32	3	Anirudh Mudimela	327,000	33
32	4	Eemil Tuominen	461,000	46
32	5	Kenneth Kallies	227,000	23
32	6	Benjamin Underwood	86,000	9
32	7	Mohammad Bagheri	121,000	12
32	8	Paulius Kostickis	109,000	11
32	9	Jacob Mendelsohn	81,000	8

33	1	Michael Lerner	310,000	31
33	2	Aaron Li	252,000	25
33	3	Tzur Levy	108,000	11
33	4	Orez Mokedi	203,000	20
33	5	Ding Lin	85,000	9
33	7	William Benson	154,000	15
33	8	Marc Karam	343,000	34
33	9	Hannes Speiser	189,000	19

34	1	Sidney Savitt	184,000	18
34	2	Steven Game	85,000	9
34	3	Dennis Backhaus	71,000	7
34	4	Viktor Kovachev	315,000	32
34	5	David Deely	188,000	19
34	7	Ben Farrell	410,000	41
34	8	Logan Hewett	489,000	49
34	9	Jonathan Gerrick	143,000	14

35	1	Jimmy Payne	125,000	13
35	2	Alaettin Keles	391,000	39
35	3	Steven Sarmiento	397,000	40
35	4	David Yokoyama	167,000	17
35	5	Joonas Helin	82,000	8
35	6	Gary Gelman	364,000	36
35	7	Matthew Iles	610,000	61
35	8	Azim Popatia	137,000	14
35	9	Thomas Eaglestaff	183,000	18

36	1	Marius Kudzmanas	382,000	38
36	2	Cesar Custodio	1	0
36	3	Matthew Lengal	88,000	9
36	4	Marc Foggin	84,000	8
36	5	Donn Galloway	237,000	24
36	6	Van Ly	186,000	19
36	7	Bradley Beetz	124,000	12
36	8	Cody Bell	110,000	11
36	9	Sarah Herzali	397,000	40

37	1	William Nguyen	139,000	14
37	2	Manuel Soaresruivo	281,000	28
37	3	Daneil Hinh	585,000	59
37	4	Michael Moore	422,000	42
37	5	Donnie Phan	52,000	5
37	6	Yoseph Yehudai	98,000	10
37	7	Forrest Kollar	263,000	26
37	8	Anthony Cano	279,000	28
37	9	Christopher Ahrens	212,000	21

38	1	Harry Lodge	223,000	22
38	2	Patrick Caulfield	502,000	50
38	3	Wendy Freedman	129,000	13
38	4	Matthias Auer	301,000	30
38	5	Michael Liang	39,000	4
38	6	Thomas Hayward	675,000	68
38	7	Wang Lee	187,000	19
38	9	Aditya Rao	753,000	75

39	1	Ralph Massey	123,000	12
39	2	Thierryshea Quintin	586,000	59
39	3	Kelly Kielbasa	267,000	27
39	4	Anselmo Villarreal	217,000	22
39	5	Florian Fuchs	474,000	47
39	6	John Zentner	67,000	7
39	7	Thu Tran	269,000	27
39	9	Dhimitri Lleshi	271,000	27

40	1	Andrew Sunkin	135,000	14
40	2	Lee Cannizzaro	90,000	9
40	3	Tigran Abgaryan	222,000	22
40	4	Christopher Grob	86,000	9
40	5	Jason Cohen	114,000	11
40	6	Ricardo Graells	72,000	7
40	7	Ryan Brown	278,000	28
40	8	Patrick Tardif	55,000	6
40	9	Taylor Howard	195,000	20

41	1	Matthew Bretzfield	817,000	82
41	2	Mark Halfon	437,000	44
41	4	Robert Cote	270,000	27
41	5	Abhinav Iyer	177,000	18
41	6	Tom Fuchs	259,000	26
41	7	Matthew Jewett	203,000	20
41	8	Glen Keogh	301,000	30
41	9	Konstantin Held	355,000	36

42	1	Joseph Levitt	92,000	9
42	2	Jeffrey Fielder	155,000	16
42	3	Toko Luu	90,000	9
42	4	Joseph Cox	149,000	15
42	5	Fong Carson	128,000	13
42	6	Philippe Souki	165,000	17
42	7	Benjamin Vanklink	331,000	33
42	8	Eric Resnick	174,000	17
42	9	Scott Stewart	690,000	69

43	1	Brady Osterman	83,000	8
43	2	David Vonschnehen	187,000	19
43	3	Gary Miller	543,000	54
43	4	Sammy Lafleur	466,000	47
43	5	Matthew Paplyk	116,000	12
43	6	Garen Zobian	404,000	40
43	7	Maryirene Carey	163,000	16
43	8	Aubrey Murnaghan	100,000	10
43	9	Nicholas Blumenthal	400,000	40

44	1	Ky Nguyen	193,000	19
44	2	Roy Salter	428,000	43
44	3	Blake Barousse	338,000	34
44	4	Adam Croffut	86,000	9
44	5	Ubaid Gada	305,000	31
44	6	Nicholas Lee	550,000	55
44	7	Carlos Guerrero	282,000	28
44	8	Justin Lapka	80,000	8
44	9	Scott Berko	355,000	36

45	1	Levi Klump	162,000	16
45	2	Dr. Meghan Smith	145,000	15
45	4	Phillip Hodgson	272,000	27
45	5	Duff Charette	145,000	15
45	6	Cheryl Svenson	260,000	26
45	7	Howard Feingold	337,000	34
45	8	Nicholas Verderamo	242,000	24
45	9	Cheryl Choon	238,000	24

06-27-2022 00:17 UTC-7

End Of Day Chip Counts (full)

Matthew Pitt

Level 17 : 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Matthew Bretzfield	817,000	316,000
Aditya Rao	753,000	88,000
Scott Stewart	690,000	75,000
Nicholas Lee (AZ)	550,000	135,000
Eemil Tuominen	461,000	40,000
Dustin Brown	449,000	174,000
Roy Salter	428,000	428,000
Michael Moore	422,000	422,000
Ben Farrell	410,000	210,000
Garen Zobian	404,000	354,000
Steven Sarmiento	397,000	252,000
Alaettin Keles	391,000	391,000
Marius Kudzmanas	382,000	382,000
Gary Gelman	364,000	364,000
Alfred Borges	363,000	363,000
Konstantin Held	355,000	10,000
Marc Karam	343,000	343,000
Howard Feingold	337,000	147,000
Anirudh Mudimela	327,000	327,000
Viktor Kovachev	315,000	315,000
Glen Keogh	301,000	301,000
Matthias Auer	301,000	301,000
Frank Lagodich	296,000	6,000
Carlos Guerrero	282,000	139,000
Manuel Ruivo	281,000	281,000

Read full

06-27-2022 00:06 UTC-7

Day 1c Closes

Calum Grant

Level 17 : 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

With the bubble burst, Day 1c has come to a close.

Of the 607 entries, just 76 players advanced for Day 2. Chip counts and recap to follow shortly.

06-27-2022 00:02 UTC-7

Cooler Bursts the Bubble

Jeff McMillan

Level 17 : 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

The bubble was burst dramatically as a big hand played out with a board of . Konstantin Held was facing a river shove from his opponent and took some time before calling.

His opponent had the for the boat but Held had the better boat with the . Held did not realize that he had the best hand as he shook his head saying "what a cooler" before realizing that he actually had won and eliminated the bubble boy.

He explained that he had misread the board and thought there was two aces on it, explaining why it took him a while to call on the river.

Regardless, the bubble boy was eliminated and the rest of the field was in the money.

Player	Chips	Progress
Konstantin Held	345,000	345,000

Tags: Konstantin Held

06-26-2022 23:55 UTC-7

Lagodich Holds to Avoid Bubble

Calum Grant

Level 17 : 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Christopher Grob opened to 16,000 from under the gun and then called the 138,000 all in from Frank Lagodich from the cutoff.

Frank Lagodich:
Christopher Grob:

The flop was a safe one for the at risk player and the turn was even safer. Now with an unbeatable full house, Lagodich was quite content to see the fall on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Frank Lagodich	290,000	254,000
Christopher Grob	60,000

06-26-2022 23:51 UTC-7

Rao Sends Lapka Deep Into the Tank

Jeff McMillan

Level 17 : 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Action was picked up on the turn as the board read with a big pot of about 270,000 in the middle.

Preflop action was retold by a tablemate while the two players contested the hand. Justin Lapka had raised to 13,000 from middle position, Aditya Rao made it 33,000 from the cutoff. Lapka then four-bet to 80,000 and Rao called. There was a bet and call on the flop to swell the pot a bit more.

Back to the turn, both players checked to the river which was the . Lapka pushed forward too stacks for a bet of 175,000. Rao jammed all in for what was counted to be 249,000.

Lapka was openly frizzled. "Are you really gonna bluff me with just 70,000 left? On the bubble" he said, while the rest of the field was preparing to enter hand-for-hand play. Rao sat motionless. Lapka continued to talk it out. "You checked back the turn also... what the ****?" He took several more moments as players from other tables started to watch the developing huge hand with ramifications for the whole field.

Finally after multiple minutes Lapka folded, showing the face up. Rao gave away nothing and pulled in what was one of the biggest pots of the day.