Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Vegas Poker Scene--September Ante Up Column

Here's my newest column for Ante Up.  The link for it on the Ante Up website is here.   Remember, my contribution is embedded in the entire West Coast report.  So below is just my Vegas report.  The magazine should be in your local poker soon if not already.

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The main event at Venetian's DeepStack Extravaganza III in Las Vegas went to Jonathan Turner of Myrtle Beach, S.C., earning him $536K. Ukraine’s Artem Metalidi took home $330K for second and Dan Heimiller of Las Vegas received $238K for third. The $5K buy-in drew 537 players, creating a $2.4M prize pool, easily surpassing the $2M guarantee.
Next up at the Venetian is DeepStack Extravaganza 3.5, running Sept. 1-25. The biggest tourney is the $3,500 main event with a $1M guarantee. It has three starting flights starting Sept. 9. The tournament finishes on Day 3 (Sept. 13).
A $600 event with two starting flights begins Sept. 16. It has a $125K guarantee. Price-conscious players will appreciate the $250 event that has five flights starting on Sept. 20. It finishes with Day 2 on Sept. 25 and has a $250K guarantee, which is attractive for the buy-in.
A $250 PLO-PLO/8 tournament plays Sept. 16 ($7K guarantee) and $250 Omaha/8 events are scheduled for Sept. 2 and Sept. 21 ($10K guarantee). The evening tournaments are $200 or $300, a mix of turbos, bounties and rebuts.
All the events have guarantees, totaling more than $2.2M.
The Venetian has revised its regular daily schedule. The highlight is the new noon Saturday tournament. It’s called the Doublestack. Players start with 24K chips for $340. The levels are 40 minutes and there is a 45-minute dinner break after nine levels. The prize pool guarantee is $25K.
There also are two daily tournaments (noon and 7 p.m.). All of the games are NLHE and have guarantees. Except for that new Saturday tournament, all of the buy-ins are between $125 and $200.
PLANET HOLLYWOOD: The main event of Goliath completed on July 10 and saw Jan Eric Schwippert of Germany take first place for $300K.
Another German, Christian Nilles earned $240K for second, while Joseph Johanssy from Vernon, Conn., pulled down $239K for third. There were 2,300-plus entrants for the $1,625 event, creating a $3.5M prize pool, far exceeding the $2M guarantee.
Planet Hollywood is hosting the WSOPC until Sept. 4. The $1,675 main event has two starting flights beginning Sept. 2 and offers a $750K guarantee. A $5,300 high roller runs Sept. 4.
The room just revised its tournament schedule. All tournaments are $80 with 12K stacks and 20-minute levels. They run at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 9 p.m. They all have $1,500 guarantees with $850 guaranteed for first, $450 for second and $200 for third.
Current promos include high hands: $50 for quads, $100 for straight flushes and $250 for all royals except hearts. Heart royals have a progressive jackpot, which starts at $400 and progresses by $200 a day until hit. There is no cap on the progressive.
WYNN: Joseph Cappello of New Rochelle, N.Y., won the $1,600 main event of the Wynn Classic on July 19. He outlasted 1,030 entrants and earned $281K for his victory. Barry Hutter of Bradenton, Fla., took second for $178K and Mitchell Hahn of Carmel, Ind., claimed $130K for third. The prize pool was nearly $1.5M, doubling the $750K guarantee.
The Wynn Fall Classic runs Sept. 28-Oct. 8. The $1,600 championship event begins Oct. 7 with the first of its two starting flights. It offers a $400K guarantee. A $600 tournament with three starting flights begins Sept. 30 and has a $250K guarantee.
BELLAGIO: The $10,400 championship completed July 18 when Kuljinder Sidhu of Britain won the $600K first-place prize. New York’s Nick Schulman scored $557K for second and Denver’s Chance Kornuth received $285K for third. The event drew almost 270 players and the prize pool was $2.6M.
STRATOSPHERE: The popular 12-table room at the north end of the Strip continues to offer its Stratstack tournament at least one Saturday a month at noon. The tournament is a $110 buy-in for a 20K stack and 30-minute levels. Free pizza is served to all players at the first break (2 p.m.) so make sure you don’t bust out before then. Or, you can just re-enter through that break.
The regular 7 p.m. runs nightly and has a $50 buy-in for 4,500 chips, 20-minute levels. There’s an optional $20 add-on for 6K more chips. On Mondays and Wednesdays, the same tournament is offered with a bounty format, and the buy-in is $70. The bounties are $20. Free pizza is served on the first break (8 p.m.), too.
The main cash game is $1-$2 NLHE with a $50-$300 min-max. Promos include high hands, which double when flopped between 11 a.m and 5 p.m. There’s a $50 high hand of the hour between 11 a.m.-noon, 2-3 p.m. and 7-8 p.m. Aces Cracked pays $50.
HARD ROCK: Just a bit east of the Strip, the Hard Rock offers two daily $70 tournaments at noon and 8 p.m. Players get 10K chips and play 20-minute levels. There’s a $600 guarantee and the tournament features a $2K bad-beat jackpot.
The cash game is $1-$3 NLHE. The minimum buy-in is $100 and there’s no cap. Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. through 5 p.m., the highest hand of each hour receives $100. Aces Cracked pays $100 during that same time. There’s a progressive royal-flush bonus that starts at $300 and is capped at $2,500. High hands pay $75 for quads and straight flushes 24-7.
CLOSURE: The Linq closed its poker room in August.




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