Day 1B is complete

A player lost most of his chips on the hand before hand-to-hand play begun. He was left with 1,000, and the ante is 500. Before the next hand was dealt, that player walked away, even though the floor staff and players told him he could still cash. Two hands later and he was all in for the ante and his hand was declared dead. No other players busted, so the remaining 36 players are now in the money and are bagging up for the night.

Names and chip counts from Day 1A & B combined will be posted in the next few hours.

Play is now hand for hand

There was a double elimination on table 7 when a player's [Ad][Ac] trumped [Qh][Qd] and [Ad][Jc]. The board ran out [3s][2s][3h][Ks][Td] and those two eliminations bring us to 37 players remaining. Hand-for-hand play will begin shortly.

42 players remain

Halfway through level 17 there are 42 players remaining, needing just 6 players left to bust to end Day 1B.

Back on table 2, the players are discussing folding pocket aces preflop. Apparently one player had this scenario come up at a final table, and all the players are discussing whether they would fold or not. "Don't fold! That's my expert advice," quips Tim Reilly.

Players are back from break

Players are back from break, and level 16 has begun, which means the blinds are now 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante. 56 players currently remain. Here are updated chip counts:

John Gilmartin - 303,000
Tim Reilly - 145,000
Chris Leong - 115,000
Larry Olanyk - 86,500
Je Wook Oh - 78,000
Bobby Ricciuti - 77,000

72 remain as Level 15 nears

With 4 minutes left in Level 14, a table was broken. That means we're down to 72 players as the 1,200/2,400 blind level approaches. Play will stop when the final 36 players are reached.

One orbit with Tim Reilly (& Chris Leong)

Tim Reilly

We missed Tim Reilly in the last chip counts update, so we thought we'd follow him for an orbit.

Hand 1: Tim is under the gun and folds. The hijack limps and is against the small and big blind. All check the [6c][kd][4d] flop and the small blind bets 3,900 on the [3s] turn. The big blind and limped call. The river hits [as] and all three players check. The big blind takes down the pot with [6c][2s].

Hand 2: Tim is in the big blind and gets a walk.

Hand 3: Chris Leong opens the pot in late position and Tim folds the small blind. Chris wins this pot.

Hand 4: Tim is on the button and raises to 10,000 after three limpers. UTG thinks for awhile before folding, and the other two limped fold as well. Tim wins the pot.

Hand 5: A player in middle position limps and Tim folds the cutoff. The button moves all in and wins the pot.

Hand 6: Chris Leong opens from UTG and wins the blinds and antes.

Hand 7: Tim folds from middle position. The small blind raises to 5,000 and Chris Leong moves all in from the big blind. The small blind thinks for awhile and folds the [ad] face up. Chris shows him [9d][9c].

Hand 8: Tim folds from early position. The button, small blind, and big blind see the [qc][2c][7c] flop for the minimum. They check the [3h] turn and [jd] river. The button wins the pot with [ah][ts].

Hand 9: Tim raises to 5,000 from UTG+1. One player calls and the flop falls [as][9d][ac]. Tim check-calls a 5,500 bet to see the [5h] turn. Again, Tim checks, and his opponent bets 11,300. After some time in the tank, Tim folds.

Players are now on dinner break

Just 87 players remain from the 300 players that entered Flight B. Those players are now on their 1 hour dinner break. When play resumes at approximately 8:05pm, blinds will be 1,000/2,000 with a 300 ante.

One orbit with Kevin Calenzo

Kevin Calenzo joked with us about how he never gets coverage on the blog, so we decided to watch him for an orbit to see what happens:

Hand 1: Kevin is on the button and folds to an early position player's all in. Another player calls and it's a race with KQ vs 55. A queen spikes on the turn and the player with KQ doubles up.

Hand 2: Kevin is in the cutoff and folds to an open from middle position. The button calls and the two see a [9s][jc][ks] flop. The middle position player puts his opponent all in and wins the pot.

Hand 3: Kevin is in the hijack and raises to 3,500 after everyone else folds. The cutoff moves all in for 15,800 and the small blind makes the call. Kevin sighs and folds, being shown Q-4 and A-K, and the cutoff is eliminated.

Hand 4: Everyone folds to the cutoff who opens the pot. The small blind defends, and then check-folds on the [3s][6s][2c] flop.

Hand 5: An early position player limps and the next player raises. Kevin folds and see the cutoff and limper call. The flop falls [js][5s][tc] and the preflop raiser moves all in after being checked to. The limper calls with [qs][9s] only to see [as][ks]. The board runs out [2s][ah] and the ace high flush will win this pot.

Hand 6: All players fold to the cutoff who moves all in for around 20,000. He gets no callers and increases his stack.

Hand 7: Kevin raises to 3,500 from UTG+1 and the small blind calls. The two see a [3h][2c][ks] and Kevin gets check raised. Kevin folds and is shown the [kd].

Hand 8: Kevin is under the gun and folds, accidentally exposing the [4d]. A player in middle position raises to 4,500 and is called by the small blind. The flop Falla [qd][8s][7h] and a continuation bet takes it down.

Hand 9: Kevin is in the big blind and a player in middle position limps. The button raises to 8,000 and Kevin gets out of the way, as does the limper.

Hand 10: Kevin is in the small blind and moves all in after two limps. After everyone folds, Kevin says "best card in the deck" and shows the [as].

Larry Olanyk leads the pack with 120 left

Larry Olanyk

With 5 minutes left in Level 12, we were able to get chip counts on notables and our chip leaders. The field will play one more level before taking a dinner break.

Larry Olanyk - 195,000
John Gilmartin - 189,000
Marcus Gray - 142,000
Je Wook Oh - 105,000
Jovy Ounthongdy - 83,000
Chris Leong - 81,300
Frankie Flowers - 55,000
Kevin Calenzo - 46,000
Gerry Aiello -  36,600h
Bob Ricciuti -  34,000
Dave Stefanski - 22,000
Steve Happas - 22,000

Marcus Gray 

6pm Update

Flight B received a total of 300 entries, and at 6pm the field is down to 120 players remaining. Blinds are now 600/1,200 with a 200 ante. We will have updated chip counts shortly.

Photos from Flight B

Flight B is now playing Level 7: 200/400 blinds with a 50 ante. So far, this flight has 237 entries and 212 players remain. Here are some photos from around the room in the first few levels:

Fred Paradis

Je Wook Oh

"The General"

Mike Nye

Jovy Ounthongdy

Soukha Kachittavong

Kevin Calenzo

Ted Driscoll

Dave Stefanski

Bob Ricciuti and Spiro Mitrokostas

Event #1 Flight B is Under Way

Cards are in the air for Flight B of Event #1 $600 NLH. This tournament features a $500,000 Guarantee, and players begin with 20,000 chips. Registration and re-entries are available through the start of level 9, or approximately 3:30pm EST. Play will continue until approximately 12% of the field remains, and the survivors will return on Monday at 12pm for Day 2.

Yesterday saw 230 entries for Flight A, and 28 players remain.

Today's schedule

Today is Day 2 of the Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge. This series features over $1,000,000 in Guaranteed Prizes. Here's what's on today's schedule:

11am:
Flight B of Event #1 $600 NLH
$500,000 Guarantee
($530 Buy-in / $70 Entry fee)
Players start with 20,000 in non-value tournament chips.
Registration will remain open until the start of level 9 (approximately 3:30pm).
Levels 1-8 will be 30 minutes. Remaining levels on Day 1 will be 40 minutes.
Day 2 levels will be 60 minutes.
There is a dinner break after Level 13 (approximately 7:05pm).
The day will conclude when 12% of the field remains.
Full structure is available here.

A full series schedule is available here.

December Mega Stack Challenge - Event #1 - $600 NLH - Day 1A Returning Players

Position	Name	Chip Count
1	Moseman, Raymond	457,500
2	Brackesy, Steven	384,000
3	Dang, William	374,000
4	Begazyon, Tesfay	325,000
5	Alden, James	284,500
6	Sabogali, Alberto	252,500
7	Corcione, Bobby	251,500
8	Fisher, T. Don	208,500
9	Ciofalo, John	188,000
10	Nakhoul, Ben	170,500
11	Bossard, Marcus	170,000
12	Tripp, Peter	145,000
13	Reyes, Elvis	130,500
14	Ferdinand, Bobby	110,500
15	Wigfall, Dane	109,500
16	Mahoney, Jared	109,000
17	Giampa, Lou	108,000
18	Berardi, Joseph	104,500
19	Thomasen, Jaime	100,000
20	Murphy, Lynn	99,000
21	Kantarevic, Suad	94,000
22	Daaboul, Michel	92,500
23	Goldberg, Leonard	87,500
24	Wantman, Matthew	87,500
25	Siegel, Eric	70,000
26	Mestieri, Cory	56,500
27	Hong, Seong	32,500
28	LaFaye, Glenn	26,000

Final 28 players reached

The final 28 players have been reached in Event #1 $600 NLH Flight A. The players are now bagging up their chips, and they will return on Monday to join with the survivors from the remaining flights.

Meanwhile, Event #2 Omaha/8 is down to the final 3 players from a starting field of 63.

Unofficial chip counts from Flight B

We quickly took chips counts for the remaining 28 players from the bags, so the following is an unofficial list. But here are the remaining players and chip counts from Flight A:

Last Name	First Name	Chips
Moseman	Raymond	457,500
Brackesy	Steven	384,000
Dang	William	374,000
Alden	James	284,500
Sabogali	Alberto	252,500
Corrione	Bobby	251,500
Fisher	T. "Don"	208,500
Ciofalo	John	188,000
Nakhaul	Ben	170,500
Bossard	Marcus	170,000
Tripp	Peter	145,000
Elvis	Reyes	130,500
Ferdinand	Bobby	110,500
Wigfall	Dane	109,500
Mahoney	Jared	109,000
Giampa	Lou	108,000
Benadi	Joseph	104,500
Thompson	Jaime	100,000
Begazyon	Tesfay	100,000
Murphy	Lynn	99,000
Kantarevic	Suad	94,000
Daaboul	Michael	92,500
Goldberg	Leonard	87,500
Wantman	Matthew	87,500
Siegel	Eric	70,000
Mestier	Cory	56,500
Horig	Seong	32,500
LaFaye	Glenn	26,000