2017 PokerStars Championship Panama

Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2017 PokerStars Championship Panama

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
kj
Prize
$293,860
Event Info
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$1,775,100
Entries
366
Level Info
Level
29
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000

Glaesel Shows One

Level 1 : 50/100, 0 ante

Rasmus Glaesel, in the small blind, and Ariel Celestino, in late position, built a large pot of nearly 20,000 on the river. The {9-Clubs}{4-Clubs}{q-Clubs}{8-Hearts}{10-Spades} was on the felt, and Glaesel thought awhile before betting just 4,000 on the end. Celestino tanked a bit then folded with a sigh. Glaesel showed him the {j-Spades} for a straight.

At other tables, Mark Radoja and Anton Astapau took seats.

Player Chips Progress
Rasmus Glaesel no
Rasmus Glaesel
45,400
15,400
15,400
Mark Radoja ca
Mark Radoja
30,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Anton Astapau by
Anton Astapau
30,000
Ariel Celestino br
Ariel Celestino
15,800
-14,200
-14,200

Tags: Ariel CelestinoRasmus Glaesel

Level: 2

Blinds: 75/150

Ante: 0

Canada's Leading Lady is in the Field

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante
Kristen Bicknell
Kristen Bicknell

PokerStars player and two-time WSOP bracelet winner, Kristen Bicknell, has entered the field.

Bicknell recently slid into the top ten on Canada's GPI leaderboard after recent deep runs on her home turf and is the first woman to do so.

At the end of 2016, Bicknell final-tabled the WPT Deepstacks Championship Main Event, coming in third for just over $130,000. That ended up being a great lead into 2017, as she has gotten off to a blazing start with four final tables and a win, spread out between Australia, Panama and her hometown in Niagara Falls, Canada at WPT Fallsview.

Another goal of Bicknell's was to lock up an infamous 'spadie' trophy and she did just that after taking down Event #7 $1,100 Win the Button here in Panama.

Look for Bicknell to continue to make waves as she enters her second year of playing live events after transitioning from the world of online poker.

Player Chips Progress
Kristen Bicknell ca
Kristen Bicknell
30,000
30,000
30,000
WSOP 4X Winner

Tags: Kristen Bicknell

Ace-High is Good for Jiachen Gong

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

With about 5,000 in the pot, on a board reading {k-Clubs}{10-Hearts}{3-Spades}, Jiachen Gong checked from under the gun.

Gong's opponent was in the cutoff and bet 2,100. Gong called.

The turn was the {5-Clubs} and both players checked to the river, which was the {k-Hearts}.

Gong thought about it for a moment and eventually checked again, and his opponent decided to give up and check back.

Gong tabled {a-Hearts}{q-Hearts} and his opponent laughed and looked back at his cards before sending them into the muck.

Player Chips Progress
Jiachen Gong ca
Jiachen Gong
40,000

Tags: Jiachen Gong

Room Filling Up

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

More and more runners continue to show up, as the Day 1b field looks like it will far outpace Day 1a's 104 runners. There's already more than 170 in the field, with Erik Cajelais, Jan Bendik and Adam Owen among recent entries.

Player Chips Progress
Erik Cajelais ca
Erik Cajelais
30,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Jan Bendik sk
Jan Bendik
30,000
EPT 1X Winner
Adam Owen gb
Adam Owen
30,000

Talleying Up a Double

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante
PokerStars Championship Panama
PokerStars Championship Panama

Caufman Talley bet 4,500 from the small blind on a flop of {4-Spades}{3-Clubs}{7-Hearts}, and Canadian qualifier James Gauthier made it 11,000 to go from early position. Talley seemed to shrug a bit before moving all in for 25,550, and Gauthier called a little bit after getting the count.

Gauthier: {q-Hearts}{q-Clubs}
Talley: {a-Hearts}{a-Spades}

Bullets were good for the American, and they stayed that way through the {8-Diamonds} turn and {k-Hearts} river.

Player Chips Progress
Caufman Talley us
Caufman Talley
58,000
58,000
58,000
James Gauthier ca
James Gauthier
15,000
15,000
15,000

Tags: Caufman TalleyJames Gauthier

Streltsou Can't Fold

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

Andrei Streltsou had a raise to 3,500 in front of him in middle position, and his neighbor, Valentin Apostol, had 1,500 out. He then announced all in, causing Streltsou to sigh.

"I can't fold this," he said with a shrug, tossing in a chip after about 15 seconds.

Streltsou: {k-Hearts}{k-Clubs}
Apostol: {a-Spades}{a-Hearts}

The kings had been coolered, and the board ran out a harmless {9-Diamonds}{9-Spades}{7-Diamonds}{j-Spades}{8-Hearts}.

At another table, Stefan Schillhabel sat in.

Player Chips Progress
Valentin Apostol ro
Valentin Apostol
58,000
Stefan Schillhabel de
Stefan Schillhabel
30,000
WPT 1X Winner
Andrei Streltsou by
Andrei Streltsou
Busted

Tags: Stefan SchillhabelValentin ApostolAndrei Streltsou

SuperSerda Soars

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

Patrick Serda, also known to others as SuperSerda, and even better known as the player who made piles of money after chopping the last ever EPT Prague High Roller with William Kassouf several months ago, has heaps.

Serda sits on about 82,000 and explained how he busted a couple of players and severely crippled another to get to almost triple the starting stack today.

A key hand happened when he raised to 400 from the cutoff with {a-}{k-} and was three-bet to 1,600 by the small blind. Serda put in a four bet to 4,200 and his opponent called.

The flop came {8-}{6-}{3-} and both players checked to the turn, which was the {4-}. The small blind led out for 6,100 and Serda called.

The river was the {j-}. With only about 16,000 behind, the small blind led out for 11,000. Serda called with ace high and it was miles ahead of his opponent's queen-ten suited.

Player Chips Progress
Patrick Serda ca
Patrick Serda
82,000
52,000
52,000
WPT 1X Winner

Tags: Patrick SerdaWilliam Kassouf

Gonzalez Wasting Little Time

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

Fabrizio Gonzalez, who has been crushing online as "SixthSenSe19", has taken a seat in the event. He lost most of his stack early on but hasn't let that slow him down. In one recent pot, he three-bet after an under-the-gun open to 450, making it 1,125. The small blind called, the opener folded, and {8-Clubs}{7-Diamonds}{8-Hearts} flopped. Gonzalez took it down with a small postflop bet.

Player Chips Progress
Fabrizio Gonzalez uy
Fabrizio Gonzalez
12,600

Tags: Fabrizio Gonzalez

Roy Finds a Double

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

Jonathan Roy bet 1,800 from the hijack on a board of {5-Diamonds}{q-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}{6-Spades}, and a cutoff opponent called. That player checked the {2-Clubs} river, and Roy moved all in for his last 7,150. The player in the cutoff seemed on the verge of mucking but then grabbed calling chips and tossed them into the middle. Roy confidently flipped over {j-Spades}{j-Clubs}, and that was good — his opponent had {10-Spades}{9-Spades}.

Player Chips Progress
Jonathan Roy ca
Jonathan Roy
21,000
-9,000
-9,000

Tags: Jonathan Roy