Foxwoods Poker: Feb 10, 2012

Friday, February 10, 2012

Mike Correnti had a tough final table. He was put to really tough decisions, and at one point even laid down AK on an ace high board. But that laydown perhaps set the stage for his heads up battle with the same opponent. And a quick heads up battle it was! On the first hand of heads up play, Mike won a coin flip for 99% of the chips in play with AQ against pocket tens, and a few hands later it was all over.

Mike will collect $31,594 for winning the $400 Mega Stack Challenge, and will go home with the Foxwoods trophy as well.

Congratulations to all of the winners from this tournament!

2nd Place: Tim Lahey ($18,252)

Tim Lahey and Mike Correnti were counting their chips and discussing a deal when they apparently started playing again. On the first hand of heads up play, Tim pushed all in from the button and Mike called him. Tim had [Ac][Qd] against Mike's [Td][Tc]. The flip was for almost all of the chips in play, and the board ran out [3c][7h][4h][Qc][Kd] to award the pot to Mike. The tournament staff counted down his stack, and Tim had just a few chips more than Mike.

Mike put them to use in the very next hand, and doubled up on the river with [Ks][8c] against [Ac][4d] on a [Jd][Ts][Jc][2d][Kh] board. Unfortunately, his next attempt to double up didn't go as well, as Mike's [Jd][5h] was dominated by Jim's [Js][Ts]. Jim hit his pair on the [2c][As][Tc] flop, and it held up through the [9c] turn and [9s] river.

Tim fought a hard battle, but will exit this tournament in 2nd place, good for $18,252.

3rd Place: Ronnie Pease ($11,615)

Tim Lahey watches as the river makes him a straight to eliminate Ronnie Pease

Ronnie Pease was all in preflop holding the [Ac][8d] against the [5s][5h] of Tim Lahey. It was a sweat all the way to the river as the board fell [7c][6s][Qh][3s][4c], but Ronnie failed to pair either of his hole cards and was eliminated in 3rd place, earning $11,615 for his efforts.

4th Place: Ron Gariepy ($9,292)

As many pots do, this one started with Ronnie Pease raising. Mike Correnti made the 3-bet, and then Ron Gariepy moved all in for less. Ronnie got out of the way, and the two exposed their hands:

Mike [Ks][Kh]
Ron [Ad][Tc]

Any chance of an exciting sweat on the flop was dashed when it fell [6c][6d][Kc], giving Mike an unbeatable full house. The turn [8h] and river [8c] only improved Mike's full house, and Ron was left with $9,292 to console him as he was eliminated in 4th place.

5th Place: Glen Thompson ($7,235)

Glen Thompson was all in preflop holding [As][7c] against Ronnie Pease's [Ad][3d]. The flop fell an exciting [9c][8d][Td], giving Ronnie a flush draw. Ronnie binked it right on the turn when it fell [9d], and Glen was drawing dead. The inconsequential [Js] on the river meant Glen was heading for the cashier's cage to collect $7,235 for his 5th place finish.

Ronnie Pease doubles through Glen Thompson

Glen Thompson opened the pot before Ronnie Pease moved all in. Action folded back to Glen who thought about it, and eventually called with [3s][3h]. Unfortunately for Glen, Ronnie held the superior [8s][8h], and it stayed superior through a [Ks][6d][Td][Ah][Kh] board. Ronnie now sits on about 1.7 millon in chips.

6th Place: Vinny Frigeria ($5,840)

Vinny Frigeria was all in preflop holding [3h][3c] against the [Ah][Ts] of Glen Thompson. The flop fell [6h][Kd][Kh], and though Vinny asked for the dealer to "keep it clean," the turn fell [6c], counterfitting Vinny's pair. Vinny would need a king or a six to chop, or a 3 to win. It was not to be, however, as the river fell the [Jc], eliminating Vinny in 6th place. He will collect $5,840 for his efforts.

7th Place: Lou Giampa ($4,845)

Lou Giampa moved all in with [Qs][Tc] and was called by Mike Correnti, holding [9d][9c]. The [9h] was in the window, with the rest of the flop spreading [Qd][7s][9h]. The [Th] on the turn gave Lou 4 outs, but the [5h] wasn't what he needed. Lou will earn $4,845 for his 7th place finish.

Mike Correnti is getting frustrated

Tim Lahey raised preflop and Mike Correnti defended his big blind. On a [Ad][5d][5s], Mike check-raised Tim's bet, and then Tim 3-bet all in. This put Tim deep into the tank, and it was such a long decision that the entire table except for the two players in the hand got up from the table. Tim lifted his cards off of the table several times, as well as slammed his fist on the table in frustration. Amazingly, Tim decided to fold his [Ah][Kd], so we'll never know if Tim had him beat or not.

8th Place: Peter Jankowski ($3,916)

Peter Jankowski was all in on a [6c][Tc][Jh] holding the [Kc][Jd] against his opponent's [Ac][Th]. The turn was a devastating [Ts], and the river [2c] did not save Peter from elimination. He will earn $3,916 for his 8th place finish.

9th Place: Floyd Overton ($3,203)

Floyd Overton gives a fist-bump as he exits the tournament

Floyd Overton was all in preflop holding the [As][7d] against his opponent's [3s][3d]. Floyd found no help on the [Qc][4h][Jd] flop, but he did pick up four more outs when the turn fell the [Kh]. Unfortunately the river [9s] did not hit Floyd's hand, and he will exit this tournament in 9th place, good for $3,203.

Ronnie Pease drops 500k to Mike Correnti

In a blind vs. blind confrontation, Ronnie Pease and Mike Correnti saw a [3s][Ts][2d] flop. Ronnie bet out and Mike moved all in. Ronnie made the call and saw the bad news that his [Ah][Js] was outflopped by Mike's [Qh][Td]. Mike's hand held up through the [6h] turn and the [Kd] river, and now he has over a million in chips. Ronnie meanwhile still has around 800,000.

10th Place: Chris Dichiara ($2,190)

Chris Dichiara was all in preflop holding the [Kh][Jd] against the [Ad][Qs] of Ronnie Pease. Chris got lucky when the flop fell [7h][Jh][4d], and the pair held strong through a [2c]. But the river [As] snatched the double up from Chris's hands and earned Ronnie the knockout. Chris will earn $2,190 for his 10th place finish.

Final table chip counts & seating assignments

The final table is under way. Below are the seating assignments and chip counts for the final table. You can watch the live stream at www.FoxwoodsLive.com to follow this tournament all the way to a winner.

Seat 1: Peter Jankowski - 619,000
Seat 2: Lou Giampa - 981,000
Seat 3: Glen Thompson - 1,001,000
Seat 4: Ronnie Pease - 1,031,000
Seat 5: Mike Correnti - 804,000
Seat 6: Ron Gariepy - 474,000
Seat 7: Floyd Overton - 410,000
Seat 8: Chris Dichiara - 498,000
Seat 9: Tim Lahey - 1,568,000
Seat 10: Vinny Frigeria - 448,000

Here are the payouts for the final table:

1st: $31,594
2nd: $18,252
3rd: $11,615
4th: $9,292
5th: $7,235
6th: $5,840
7th: $4,845
8th: $3,916
9th: $3,203
10th: $2,190

Final Table Reached

Ronnie Pease knocked off a 3rd player in 3 hands, this time outracing his opponent's Q4 with his 33. That elimination left the $400 Mega Stack Challenge with 10 remaining players, who are now on brief break while the tournament staff counts down the chips. We will have seating assignments and chip counts posted shortly.

Glen Thompson bluffs Ronnie Pease

Glen Thompson (left) moves all in on the river against Ronnie Pease (right)

We arrived to the featured table with a board reading [Td][Th][7d] and a huge pile of chips in the middle. Glen Thompson had raised the pot preflop, apparently, and Ronnie Pease called on the button. The flop went three bets according to our source, and when the [9d] arrived on the turn, both players checked. The river [Kh] brought an all in from Glen, and an eventual fold by Ronnie. Glen rapped the table, and eventually showed [Ac][6s] for ace high. Ronnie was visibly annoyed but knocked out two players in the next few hands with 99 vs A9 and AJ vs A7, so he can't be too upset.

Clean up on aisle 1!

We heard some commotion on our featured table, and arrived to find Bob Carbone with his drink spilled ALL over his chips and the table. And when we say all over his chips, we mean it. As you can see in the photo above, the tournament staff had to stop the clock for both tables to assist in the clean-up job. Play will resume shortly with 17 remaining players.

$400 Mega Stack Day 2 Underway

Cards are in the air for day 2 of the $400 Mega Stack Challenge. 18 players remain, and you can watch 9 of them on our live stream at www.FoxwoodsLive.com. The field will be resuming at 8,000/16,000 blinds with a 2,000 ante, and will be playing down to a winner today.

Foxwoods February 2012 $400 No Limit Hold'em Mega Stack Challenge Returning Players

Place	Name	Chips	Table/Seat
1	Dichiara, Christopher	1,708,000	2-3
2	Thompson, Glen	677,000	1-4
3	Frigeria, Vincent	607,000	2-8
4	Lahey, Tim	503,000	1-8
5	Karos, James	487,000	1-7
6	Gariepy, Ron	396,000	1-1
7	Carbone, Bob	382,000	1-3
8	Jankowski, Peter	380,000	2-9
9	Correnti, Mike	371,000	2-1
10	Overton, Floyd	352,000	2-7
11	Hermundson, Landon	310,000	2-10
12	Babck, Nadir	306,000	1-5
13	Tortorici, Emanuele	255,000	1-10
14	Pease, Ron	245,000	1-9
15	Martin, Thomas	224,000	2-6
16	Lash, Evan	207,000	2-4
17	Giampa, Lou	202,000	2-2
18	Labib, Joe	180,000	1-2

Play is complete for the night

With 18 players remaining, play in today's $400 Mega Stack Challenge is complete for the night. The tournament staff will redraw seats for the players, and they will reconvene at 12pm EST. Full chip counts and seating assignments will be posted shortly on http://www.FoxwoodsPoker.com.

Follow all of the action tomorrow on the live stream at www.FoxwoodsLive.com.