Level: 8
Blinds: 250/500
Ante: 50
Level: 8
Blinds: 250/500
Ante: 50
Shortly after winning that last pot, Robert Mizrachi has been eliminated. His table recently broke and he was moved to Josh Brikis' and Ryan Sponaugle's table. That turned out to be a bad thing for Mizrachi as Sponaugle commanded a stack of about 105,000. After the two tangled, Sponaugle vaulted to a tournament leading 180,000.
A series of preflop raises led to Mirachi being all in for about 55,000 with . Unfortunately for the eldest of the Mizrachi siblings, Sponaugle woke up with . The board ran out an uneventful ten high and abruptly ended Mizrachi's tournament.
Tom Schneider and La Sengphet have both been eliminated during Level 8.
Level: 9
Blinds: 300/600
Ante: 75
We're into Level 9 again on this Groundhog Day 1. This time, though, it's the last time. We'll play the rest of this level out before the Flight 1b survivors bag up their chips for the overnight soak. Play will conclude right around 1:20 A.M., and we're scheduled for a noon restart tomorrow.
Ryan Sponaugle is up to about 210,000 while nobody else in the Day 1b currently has a six-figure stack.
A shrieking alarm just rang out through the tournament room, originating from a fire exit along one side of the floor.
The eyes of all ~200 people in the room immediately spun to see the source of the noise, and there was no escaping the gaze for Tommy Vedes. A very guilty looking Vedes was seen slinking away from the door with a cell phone pressed up against his ear and a deer-in-headlights look on his face. It looks like Vedes tried to step out the door mid-call, and now floorman Dennis gets to stand with his hand over the alarm to mute it for the next several minutes as play finishes up.
The clock is just ticking away the last couple minutes of the day, and the staff is hurriedly coloring up the T25 chips in preparation for bagging. We'll be back with a few final tidbits in just a moment.
Another 244 players joined up for the 7:00 P.M. start to bring our Main Event field up to a very impressive 712 total. The fresh set of faces that arrived this evening included bracelet winners Robert Mizrachi, Jason Young, and Tom Schneider (2), as well as notable Circuit regulars Kevin Calenzo, "Cowboy" John Land, La Sengphet, Joanne Dorin, and Michael Traylor. Also in the mix were heavyweights Tommy Vedes, Dwyte Pilgrim, and Josh Brikis.
Land could not even make it through the first two levels before his aces were lassoed by a two outer. Full Tilt Red Pro Paul Wolfe didn't last much longer, running his two mystery cards into a set of threes on a board to seal his fate. Speaking of sets of threes, Jason Young spent the afternoon in bed fighting a cold, but he insisted on coming here to try and grind out a stack through bloodshot eyes. It was going well for a while, and Level 6 saw Young double up with his own set of on a board. Just a moment later, however, Young's pocket aces were set up by an opponent's pocket fours on an flop, and Young tumbled right back down the hill he had so valiantly climbed.
Calenzo didn't fare much better, and he was joined on the rail by Mike DeGilio, Schneider, and Mizrachi. The older brother of Michael, Robert Mizrachi found a big pot to move to 56,000 at the 250/500 level, but he was busto just a few minutes later after taking his up against Ryan Sponaugle's . The board full of blanks ushered Mizrachi to the door, and that pot moved Sponaugle into a big chip lead that he would not relinquish. At the end of the day, Sponaugle bagged up 201,200 to put himself atop the field as they combine for Monday's Day 2.
We'll be back at high noon tomorrow for the restart, and we'll play down as close to a final table as we can get in 15 levels. We hope to see you right back here to pick up the story.
Until then, all that's left is goodnight!
Main Event
Day 1b Completed