The Tampa poker players came out in force today for Day 1c of the 2014 PPC North America Championship at Tampa Downs with 134 entrants bringing the total numbers for the $200,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool to 315. When play wrapped up shortly before 9 p.m. local time, there were only 20 of those players remaining.
Fred Miller used momentum from a key double up against Natasha Barbour late in play to end with the biggest stack of the day at 268,400. This moved Miller into the overall chip lead ahead of Day 1a chip leader Arri Stone's 250,100. The second biggest stack of Day 1c would belong to Stanley Trim with 245,400. Trim hit a two outer to score a massive double up against John Pappas as play came to a close. Rounding out the top three was Ian Zeaman with a stack of 231,800.
Others that will move on to final day play on Sunday included Giancarlo Disalvo (95,000), Chris Thompson (180,100), Robert Harwell (120,900), John Pappas (42,200), Evlys Gutierrez (210,000), and Natasha Barbour (35,900). Those that fell short and would have to return to play Day 1d if they wanted to have a shot at the $200,000+ prize pool included Mike Raimon, Andrew Malowitz, Sam Medina Jr., Chris Bolek, Chris Lewis, and Jordan Wunder.
This concludes our coverage of Day 1c. Make sure to follow along with PokerNews as we continue our coverage with Day 1d and come back tomorrow until a winner is determined.
Alex Outhred is a well-known and respected poker instructor whose background includes being an instructor for both the World Poker Tour Boot Camp and World Series of Poker Academey Poker Camps. Not only does he know how to teach the game, he can play it as well as evidenced by two deep runs he's had in the WSOP Main Event. In 2008, he took 54th place out of 6,844 in the Main Event for $135,100 and just last week he finished 140th for $52,141 in the 2014 Main Event.
Outhred recently signed on with the PPC as one of their Team Pro's and is bringing poker learning to PPC stops with his "sat-enlight" training where he will gather a group of players for a single table satellite and discuss the play after each hand with the players at the table. The program has proven to work like a charm as well - three of the players in one of the instructional satellites the other day all went on to win seats into the $200,000 Guaranteed Main Event.
While observing Outhred in his most recent "sat-enlight" he went over bet sizing and aggression and pointed out to a player how making a different bet could have led to a more profitable result. "I want to do this at as many of the stops as I can," said Outhred. "But I also want to get more of the PPC Team Pros to teach these. Give them an idea of how to run these and incorporate their thought processes when teaching."
Just another thing that makes the PPC stand out from other poker tours.
Natasha Barbour enticing her opponent to make a call
Facing a 1,500 raise from the player in Seat 10, Natasha Barbour raised it up to 3,500. It was folded back to her opponent who made the call.
Barbour threw out a bet of 3,000 in the dark causing her opponent to laugh. "How you like me now?" asked a grinning Barbour.
"Just a minute and I'll tell you," said her opponent as he waited for the dealer to put out the flop. The dealer fanned out and Barbour's foe said "I like you just a tad less" as he put out the call.
Before the dealer could put out the turn Barbour again bet in the dark, this time for 6,000. The turn was the and Barbour's opponent pump-faked a call leading Barbour to say "we both know you aren't going to call. Quit wasting time." He did make the call though and looked at Barbour and told her "I just like seeing the look on your face when I call."
Barbour bet in the dark for a third time with the wager being 8,000 this go around. The river was the and Barbour's opponent said to her "say the magic word."
"Pay me off," Barbour said, a sly smile on her face. It looked as if he was going to call and Barbour said "thank you" before the chips hit the center. Then a fold looked as if it was coming. "Nooooo," said Barbour. A look of resignation came over her opponent's face and without moving a chip he said "I call."
Barbour turned over and her opponent flashed for a pair of jacks. "Nice hand," he said, adding "remember me on Day 2."
"You won't be there," deadpanned Barbour to laughter from the table.
When it comes to top poker destinations, there aren't many places in the world that rate as high as Aruba, and for the third year running the PPC Poker Tour will return to the beautiful island for the PPC Aruba World Championship.
Taking place this year from October 15-21 at the Radisson Aruba, the series will feature nine events highlighted by a $200,000 guaranteed Main Event with a buy-in of $2,200. The Main Event will begin on Saturday, October 18, feature two starting days, and allow for reentry.
In 2012, Joe Serock won the event for $40,574 after he and Jesse Chinni chopped up first- and second-place prize money. Then in 2013, it was Germany's [Removed:65] taking the top prize of $59,139 after a heads-up deal with Joe Ebanks. Remarkably, Serock placed third in that event for $26,000 in an impressive back-to-back performance.
Handfuls of players have already won a package to Aruba through various PPC Poker Tour events, and there's still plenty of time for you to do the same, or simply book a trip for the event.
To book your trip now, you may contact Bridget Stein at (561) 883-3523 or email [email protected]. To view information about upcoming PPC Poker Tour stops, please click here.
Sandy Swartzbaugh (left) with Director of Poker Operations Patrick Murphy
What started out as two friends running poker tournaments in bars has blossomed into an up and coming poker tour that only has bigger and brighter days ahead of it.
"My partner Bryan Oulton started running some bar leagues back in 2005 and I joined forces with him and we built the business together over the next five years," PPC co-commissioner Sandy Swartzbaugh said. "We partnered up with a major Florida casino and in 2010 we started working on the Aruba idea and the PPC was formed soon after."
"People like playing our tournaments because of the allure of the lower buy-ins for our Main Events," Swartzbaugh added. "That and the potential to win a trip to Aruba and a pokercation where they get to go to a beautiful tropical island and play poker with the 2012 World Poker Tour Player of the Year, Joe Serock."
"We're only growing. We'll be adding stops all over the country in 2015 and things are only going to get bigger and better for the PPC."
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Four players will be heading here in October!
Friday at The Silks Poker Room at Tampa Downs, 181 entrants put forth their best efforts at making it through to Day 2 of the $200,000 Guaranteed Main Event of the 2014 PPC North America Championship. A total of 111 entrants showed up for the first flight, day 1a, and 17 would still be playing when they finished their session. The later flight, day 1b, had a total of 70 entrants with 11 of those surviving. That brought the total number that will return on Sunday to 28 players.
Today, tournament organizers are expecting a massive turnout, as the allure of the $200,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool and the four trips to the PPC Aruba Championship Event tempt players to give the tournament a shot. They'll be looking to build stacks similar to the ones that were created yesterday by day 1a chip leader, Arri Stone, who ended with 250,100 and day 1b chip leader, Evan Panesis, who would end the day with an impressive 235,300 chip stack.
PokerNews will be here from start to finish today to provide you with all the exciting poker action. Tune in to catch all the flops, chip counts, and bad beats!
![[user272102]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and Barbour's foe said "I like you just a tad less" as he put out the call.
and Barbour's opponent pump-faked a call leading Barbour to say "we both know you aren't going to call. Quit wasting time." He did make the call though and looked at Barbour and told her "I just like seeing the look on your face when I call."
and Barbour's opponent said to her "say the magic word."
and her opponent flashed 
for a pair of jacks. "Nice hand," he said, adding "remember me on Day 2."
