Returning From The Last Break Of The Night

CPPT Main Event (Flight B)

Level 10 (400/800/100)
Total Entrants: 94
Players Remaining: 52

Just over 50 players have returned from the post-Level 9 break and will play three more levels to end Flight B of this $300,000 GTD Card Player Poker Tour Main Event.

That last time we had a two starting flight formatted event we broke down some numbers as to how many players would advance from the second flight based on the numbers from the first, and while we are getting a little late in the day, we figured why not do it again...

64 players advanced from Flight A from an original player pool of 188 players, yielding a "survival" rate of 34%.

Using that same formula to determine how many will survive from this flight, we will take the total player pool of Flight B, 94 players, and multiply that by 34% leading to a estimated "survival" number of 32 players.

That means that we should have close to 20 more players sent to the rail before the day is over and while math usually wins out in the long run, this blogger believes that we could see that number drop below 30 players as there is just close to two hours of poker left to be played.

We'll find out shortly and the Foxwoods Poker blog will be bringing you all the action as we continue to play through Flight B and head towards tomorrow's Day 2 session.

Late Registration Closed Card Player Poker Tour Main Event Faces In The Crowd

CPPT Main Event (Flight B)

Level 9 (300/600/100)
Total Entrants: 94

This Flight B field has just entered into Level 9 meaning that we are one level away from break, but more importantly the registration cage for the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event is officially closed.

We had 94 entrants into this second starting flight, combined with 188 from Flight A brings a total of 282 players and a prize pool of just over $410,000, crushing the original guarantee put on this event.

While we're winding down with our "Faces In The Crowd" posts, with one more likely coming before the day is done. Here are a few players who have "survived" the late registration period and will look to finish strong through the last levels of Flight B...

Rachel Kranz is coming off a Borgata Winter Poker Open series in which she Final Tabled an early event and then cashed in the WPT WPO Championship, her first WPT score to date. 

Roland Ishraelashivilli has over $2,300,000 in career lifetime earnings with some of his biggest results coming in the biggest WSOP events, including the $50K Poker Players Championship, the 'Little One For One Drop' as well as two six figure scores in the WSOP Main Event. 

Stephen Posa is a Foxwoods Poker champion who is looking to build off his deep run in Event 7 of this series and make his first ever Main Event score here on the CPPT.

Nick Cyr is a Foxwoods "regular" who is coming off of a strong Borgata WPO, where he cashed in the 'Borgata Million' and Final Tabled a $100,000 GTD event. 

Bart Dowling has close to $100,000 in live tournament earnings with his biggest score coming from the 2013 Foxwoods World Poker Final Main Event where he finished 3rd for $32,000. 

Dobrilovic Setting Himself Up For Another Deep Run

CPPT Main Event (Flight B)

Level 8 (250/500/75)
Total Entrants: 83

Tom Dobrilovic (West Nyack, NY)

We've mentioned Tom Dobrilovic a few times today, first as he was at a stacked Flight A table that didn't go too well for him, as he busted out without bagging chips and then again at this Flight B table where he was talking it up with Victor Ramdin, who is seated to his direct left and having a much better time of things on the felt as well, as he's probably sitting with more chips than he had throughout the entire Flight A session after the elimination of a short stack.

The elimination wasn't much to write home about with Dobrilovic's pocket tens holding against an unknown short stack's pocket sixes, but we can write home about Dobrilovic's tournament results, because after the aforementioned Ramdin and former WSOP Main Event winner Greg Raymer, you'd be hard pressed to find someone with a more "complete" resume in this Main Event field.

Dobrilovic has over 75 rated cashes to his name, with the majority of those scores coming from Foxwoods and Borgata major tournaments, as well as WPT and WSOP events.

His best "stretch" of Foxwoods results was his most recent, as Dobrilovic cashed in three World Poker Final events last October, Final Tabling three of them, including the WPF Championship event, going out 5th for just under $35,000.

That result dwarfs in comparison to his total career tournament earnings, as he has almost $1,300,000 in lifetime winnings, but a look at Dobrilovic's entire tournament result page via the Hendon Mob database shows that his best cash is for "only" $143,000 from an 8th place finish at the 2014 WPT World Championship event held at the Borgata last spring.

With tons of players having singular results that make up either the majority or entirety of their large career earnings number, Dobrilovic's results list shows that he has consistently been making scores for the better part of a decade and that he constantly puts himself in positions to make deep runs, something that he'll look to do here in the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event, sitting with close to double the average stack as we are about to enter Level 9.

Sharman Looking For The Same Result, Just Bigger

CPPT Main Event (Flight B)

Level 8 (250/500/75)
Total Entrants: 83

Sharman Olshan (Buffalo, NY)

The last week of a tournament series is always interesting because the culmination main events of such series always seem to have one of two effects, either players arrive early and play in a few pre-lim events or they stay after the main to play some post-lim events.

It remains to be seen who will be left at Foxwoods after they are knocked out of the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event, but one player who was here a day early and certainly glad she was, was Sharman Olshan (Buffalo, NY).

Sharman was pegged as a middle of the day chip leader in yesterday's Event 9 "Semi-Turbo" and then managed to spin that into a podium finish as she played nearly perfect at the Final Table to finish 3rd, earning herself just over $5,000.

Sharman bypassed the Ladies Event, currently down to their Final Table, to try to parlay her "semi-turbo" score into a piece of the $300,000 prize pool attached to this CPPT Main Event and perhaps become the first female player to raise a CPPTME title since Allyn Jaffery Shulman as she won the Venetian's stop Main Event in 2013.

Players have just entered Level 8, which means there are just under forty minutes remaining to late register and/or re-enter into the CPPT Main Event.

Ramdin Gives Back And Comes Back To Where It All Started

CPPT Main Event (Flight B)

Level 7 (200/400/50)
Total Entrants: 68

Victor Ramdin (Bronx, NY)

Earlier this week we opened our coverage of the Seniors Event profiling former WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, who's first few tournament scores came here at Foxwoods and again, we have a major poker tournament champion who made his first "big" score here at Foxwoods, as Victor Ramdin (Bronx, NY) won his first poker title at Foxwoods in 2004 and then followed that up by winning the 2006 WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic Championship for just over $1,300,000.

Since then, much like Raymer, Ramdin has had success on nearly every tournament series imaginable, from the WSOP to the EPT and nearly everything in between amassing over 100 career results, countless Final Table appearances and earnings of close to $4,000,000.

But, for all the success that Ramdin has achieved on the felt, he's done much more away from it, as he has many of philanthropic pursuits outside of poker, including Guyana Watch, a medical outreach program for children in his native Guyana as well as numerous other charitable efforts to help those in need.

Ramdin is also known for donating portions of his poker earnings to charity, so every time he makes a big score, many other people do as well.

It's been close to eight years since Ramdin's last Foxwoods score, but he's here in Flight B of the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event and seems in good spirits as he's been chatting it up with table mate and professional poker player Tom Dobrilovic, with both sitting around the chip average as they enter into Level 7 and look to bag up for tomorrow's Day 2.

Headed Into The Second Break Of Flight B Card Player Poker Tour Main Event Faces In The Crowd

CPPT Main Event (Flight B)

Level 7 (200/400/50)
Total Entrants: 68

With so many "notable" players in both starting flights of the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event, we want to give everyone an equal opportunity to get on the Foxwoods Poker blog so we threw up our first "Faces In The Crowd" post during Flight A.

Maybe more pictures, less words is a winning formula for poker blogging but who knows, either way the posts have been very well received so we're bringing you another edition of "FITC" as Flight B heads into their second break of the day, with two more levels remaining in the late registration period.

Ching Poon chopped up the Event 2 prize pool and claimed the trophy for his first major tournament win earlier this series and now looks to parlay that score in the CPPT Main Event.  

Chris Leong seems to like CPPT events as he's cashed in six over the last two years, including winning the opening event last year and notching back-to-back Final Table runs during this series. 

Malik Curry Final Tabled the opening $100,000 GTD event of the CPPT and is looking for his Foxwoods Championship score since 2012. 

Joseph Stiers has over $500,000 in career tournament earnings and is coming off a Borgata Fall and Winter Poker Open in which he Final Tabled four events through two series.

Katikakis Ends Flight With A Massive Pot To Put Himself Among The Leaders As 64 Advance To Day 2

CPPT Main Event (Flight A)

Level 12 (600/1,200/200)
Total Entrants: 188
Players Remaining: 64
Chip Average: 88,000

Konstantinos Katikakis (S. Boston, MA)

The first starting flight for the $300,000 GTD Card Player Poker Tour Main Event is officially in the books as the players have just completed their final five hands of the night and have bagged up their chips for Day 2.

Of the total players in this flight, only 64 remained to advance to tomorrow, with some "notable" names on top of the CPPT Main Event leaderboard.

One player who waited until the last few hands to move himself into the top positions was Konstantinos 'Costa' Katikakis (South Boston, MA), who cracked Kings in a massive 200,000 chip pot to move himself up the leaderboard.

The action was picked up at a central table on a board of [9h][3c][5s][2d] with Costa checking to an unknown player.

The unknown player would fire out a bet of 7,000 and then call Costa's check raise to 19,000 to see a river card.

The [5c] paired and completed the board and Costa again checked, with his opponent counting out his chips and then finally announcing all-in.

Costa quickly called and tabled [6d][4d] for a turned straight.

His opponent shook his head and threw down [Kh][Ks] and would see his CPPT Main Event run end just a few hands from the end of Flight A.

Costa would see his patience pay off as he worked a slightly above average stack for much of the day and now sits with 213,000 going into tomorrow's Day 2 session.

Other players to bag up above average stacks were Todd Mitchell (285,000), Bart Guthrie (235,000), Ryan Mostafa (188,000), Sean Kelly (180,000), Chris Tryba (173,000), Nick Palma (154,000), Samuel Taylor (140,000), Ryan Eriquezzo (138,000), Fred Paradis (138,000) and Steve Happas (135,000).

A complete list of chip counts from Flight A will be posted along with the chip counts from Flight B once the counts are finalized, with that list hopefully coming at the conclusion of play tonight around 2-3 AM.

Mitchell Leading Into Last Level Of Flight

CPPT Main Event (Flight A)

Level 12 (600/1,200/200)
Total Entrants: 188
Players Remaining: 67
Chip Average: 85,000

Todd Mitchell (Wilton, CT)

We're heading into the final level of Flight A and while there are a few big stacks in the room, Todd Mitchell (Wilton, CT) looks like he's poised to be the clubhouse leader from this first starting flight as he's currently playing close to 275,000 chips.

While we haven't seen Mitchell play many "big" pots, he's clearly been chipping up throughout the day and as we stood and watched his table for an orbit or so, he was involved in nearly every hand, raising and splashing around in the middle of it all clearly utilizing a "lose" strategy of play. 

It's seemed to work for him thus far and it seems like it has in the past also as Mitchell has over 20 rated results from Foxwoods major tournaments totaling close to $60,000 in live tournament earnings. 

His biggest score came in a Foxwoods Championship event in 2012 when he finished 5th in the Mega Stack Challenge XXIII Main Event, earnings just over $20,000. 

He's set himself up for another deep championship run here in the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event as he looks like he'll end this starting flight with one of the bigger stacks going into tomorrow's Day 2. 

Early Level Card Player Poker Tour Main Event Faces In The Crowd (Flight B)

CPPT Main Event (Flight B)

Level 3 (75/150)
Total Entrants: 65

There's just under an hour remaining in Flight A of the $300,000 GTD Card Player Poker Tour Main Event and while we will be covering the last level of that event in it's entirety as players work to put chips in the bag, Flight B is currently running as well and there are plenty of "notable" players in that early field that have had some great Foxwoods results over the past few series.

Here are some of those players as Flight B heads to their first break of the day...

Dena Pearlman (Providence, RI) won back-to-back Foxwoods titles during the 2013 World Poker Finals and more recently recorded three cashes during this summer's WSOP Circuit stop, moving her close to the $100,000 career earnings mark.

Soukha Kachittavong has made a few deep runs so far this CPPT series and will be looking to improve on his Mega Stack Championship Final Table run from this past December. 

Stanley "StanMan420" Lee has amassed over $2,000,000 in career online winnings and is coming off his first major live tournament victory after winning a deep stack event at last month's Borgata Winter Poker Open. 

Aaron Teeter satellited into this CPPT Main Event and will look to continue a hot run that saw him end 2014 with multiple Final Tables at both the Borgata Fall Poker Open and the Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge.

Two Levels Left In Flight A

CPPT Main Event (Flight A)

Level 11 (500/1,000/100)
Total Entrants: 188
Players Remaining: 91
Chip Average: 60,000

Pat Donaghy (Valley Stream, NY)

The ninety or so players remaining in Flight A of the $300,000 GTD Card Player Poker Tour Main Event have just entered Level 11, meaning they are just two full levels away from the end of their Day 1 session.

We expect to see close to 60 or so players advance through this starting flight as players are extremely deep and the blinds won't get to a "sizable" amount to force the action until much later in Day 2.

One player who is playing in his first Championship event is Pat Donaghy (Valley Stream, NY) who, despite a super tough table draw with some big time Foxwoods regulars, has held his own and is currently playing an above average stack with just under a half hour left in this flight.

Donaghy doesn't have many results on his poker resume, but he does have a 4th place finish from a 2009 Foxwoods Poker Classic event in which he made $9,500, easily the biggest score of his tournament career.

He'll be a player to watch throughout the rest of this flight and beyond as he looks to make a breakthrough score here in the CPPT Main Event and the remaining players try to finish strong to advance to tomorrow's Day 2.

Doubling Down To Move Up The Leaderboard

CPPT Main Event (Flight A)

Level 10 (400/800/100)
Total Entrants: 188
Players Remaining: 101

Aaron Shepard (Plymouth, NH)

It's not every day that you see two players get close to 70,000 chips in the middle of the pot with neither player holding a "made" hand, but that's exactly what happened just minutes ago at a central table as Jeffery Giordano and Aaron Shepard got it all-in on a board of [10h][5d][3h][Qd].

The action was picked up with Shepard and Giordano checking in early position. An unknown player in late position would then throw out a bet of 6,000 and Shepard would check raise to 18,000.

Giordano would then move all-in for just over 30,000 and the unknown player would hem and haw about his decision for close to a minute and a half, eventually folding.

Shepard would sigh and throw a single red 5,000 value chip across the line indicating a call and table [9h][2h] for a flush draw.

Giordano would also not have a made hand, as he held [Kc][Js] for a straight draw.

It was an interesting spot as Shepard had more "outs" to make his hand, but Giordano didn't "have" to hit his to survive, as his King high would play and win the pot if the board bricked out.

It didn't though, as the [Kh] cruelly fell on the river, pairing Giordano but given Shepard his flush.

The rest of the table seemed in near shock, with Teddy Geddes joking "My man's clearly a blackjack player, double down man." at the holdings of both players as someone usually has "something" when there are two all-ins within a single hand.

But Shepard's draw turned into "something" which was enough to win him the pot and move him up over the 150,000 chip mark and towards the top of the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event leaderboard.

Taylor Takes Your Theories And Flushes Them Down The Drain

CPPT Main Event (Flight A)

Level 10 (400/800/100)
Total Entrants: 188
Players Remaining: 101

Samuel Taylor (New York, NY)

#brownmagic hasn't worked either here at the Card Player Poker Tour as Turan Gulati was attempting to try out another theory here in the CPPT Main Event after our "Theory of Due" came crashing down with Chris Leong's elimination from last night's Event 9 Final Table.

All theories aside, it was a massive pot right before the break that has moved Samuel Taylor (New York, NY) up the leaderboard and has sent Turan to the rail.

The action was picked up on a board of [6d][10d][Qd][Ks] with Turan checking to the in position Taylor.

Taylor would fire out a bet of 6,000 and Turan would move all-in for just under 20,000 chips.

Taylor would snap call and table [2d][4d] flopping a small but powerful flush, leaving Turan looking for help on the river as he held [Kh][Qc].

The [9d] bricked on the river, seeing Taylor's flopped flush unnecessarily improve on the river, eliminating Turan right before the end of Level 9.

Taylor would quickly head out on break after the hand and is now back looking to improve his stack even further while also looking to improve on his last Foxwoods Championship finish, a 7th place effort in December's Mega Stack Challenge.

Taylor's been on a bit of a roll as of late, bookending that championship run with a outright win at the Borgata Fall Poker Open, his first major tournament victory of his career and a podium finish in a $1,000 Borgata Winter Poker Open Six Max event, with all three major tournament finishes earning him just over $60,000.

Those scores have moved Taylor close to the $500,000 mark in terms of career live earnings and he looks to be poised for another big finish here in the CPPT Main Event as he's one of the bigger stacks in the room with well over double the chip average.

Mostafa Leading Main Event Into Break

CPPT Main Event (Flight A)

Level 10 (400/800/100)
Total Entrants: 188
Players Remaining: 110

Ryan Mostafa (Stamford, CT)

Players are now on their final break of the day, as the remaining Card Player Poker Tour Main Event field will return to Level 10 and play three more levels before bagging and tagging their chips for tomorrow's Day 2.

Leading the field into this final break looks to be Ryan Mostafa (Stamford, CT) who is one of the only players near the 200,000 mark, playing close to four times the chip average.

Mostafa is also at one of the toughest tables imaginable in this CPPT Main Event, coupled with poker champions Samuel Taylor, Chris Tryba and Andrew Badecker, but Mostafa doesn't seem worried as he is also a two time Foxwoods Poker champion.

Mostafa's first Foxwoods win came in the winter of 2013 when he won a Mega Stack Challenge XXIX event for $30,000 and he followed that up a year later, winning the New Years Day Special event for another $15,000.

With close to 20 live rated results to his name, with most of them coming at Foxwoods, Mostafa is surely comfortable in this spot, something that will pay dividends as we continue through the remaining levels of Flight A and into tomorrow's Day 2 session.

Post-Late Reg Card Player Poker Tour Main Event Faces In The Crowd

CPPT Main Event

Level 9 (300/600/100)
Total Entrants: 188
Players Remaining: 134

The late registration and re-entry period has officially closed for Flight A of the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event, leaving players just one more opportunity, in Flight B, to get a piece of this $300,000 GTD prize pool.

After that late registration period closed, we saw a few more "notable" players in the field, all looking to survive the next few hours to bag up chips for Day 2.

CPPT Event 1 Champion and Foxwoods cash game player Marsel Backa is looking for a repeat performance here in the Main Event. 

Jason Calnan won three straight Foxwoods Poker titles from October-December of 2014 and is looking for his first big score of 2015 after notching a min-cash earlier in this series. 

Ryan Eriquezzo has over $1,300,000 in career lifetime earnings and multiple titles to his name including a WSOP Bracelet from the 2012 National Championship. 

Je Wook Oh has made some of his biggest tournament scores in Championship events and will look to build off his 2nd place finish in the Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge held last December.

Flight A Frozen At 188 Entrants, Flight B Starting Up Shortly

CPPT Main Event

Level 9 (300/600/100)
Total Entrants: 188
Players Remaining: 134

We've almost simultaneously closed the late registration period for Flight A and opened the action in Flight B of the $300,000 GTD Card Player Poker Tour Main Event as Flight A moves into Level 9 and the dealers in Flight B have just been given the go ahead to "shuffle up and deal".

Flight A's field has been frozen at 188 entrants, almost single handedly surpassing the original guarantee put on this event.

Of those 188, just over 130 remain and of those remaining players it will be interesting to see how many "survive" to the end of Day 1 as there are just under three hours of play remaining.

Flight B is just starting up in the front of the tournament area, with five tables currently running and close to a dozen total ready to house players for this later starting flight.

Flight B will follow the same structure as Flight A, 30,000 in starting chips, 40 minute levels through Day 1 and late registration running through Level 8.

Updates on the players in the Flight B field will come sporadically over the next few hours, with the main focus of the Foxwoods blog remaining on the first starting flight, following those players to the completion of their Day 1 A session.

Wantman And Lee Looking To "Take No Prisoners" Again

CPPT Main Event

Level 8 (250/500/75)
Total Entrants: 177

Matthew Wantman (Stoneham, MA)

Foxwoods "regulars" invaded first week of the Borgata Winter Poker Open with a "take no prisoners" mentality as Matthew Wantman and Stanley Lee each won their first major live tournament titles, with Wantman winning Event 4 of that series for $50,000 and Lee winning Event 11 of the WPO for $66,000 after making a deep run in the opening $2,000,000 GTD event as well.

While Lee opened up the series with a big score and then won his title, Wantman did it the other way around, winning his title in the first week of play and then waiting until the end of the series and the WPT WPO Championship to notch his second biggest haul of the month long event.

That WPT score would net Wantman just under $7,000 and would be the first WPT cash of his career, putting himself up and over the $200,000 mark in terms of career live earnings.

Both players have been seen looking for another score here in first few events of the Card Player Poker Tour series, but have yet to get much traction in any event they've played thus far.

They'll both look to regain that "take no prisoners" Borgata form here in the CPPT Main Event with just a few minutes remaining in Level 8 and the late registration period.

Coming Home, Badecker Looks To Add Another Major Series To The Resume

CPPT Main Event

Level 8 (250/500/75)
Total Entrants: 177

Andrew Badecker (Vernon, CT)

While a look at Andrew Badecker's tournament resume shows results from nearly every corner of the globe, the Connecticut native made some of his first big scores at Foxwoods and he's returned to his "home casino" to play in the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event, recently taking his seat at an outer table.

Badecker's tournament history, viewable via the Hendon Mob database, quickly shows that if there is a poker tour or series out there, he's probably cashed in it as he has results at the WSOP, the European Poker Tour, the World Poker Tour and the UKIPT, as well results from nearly every "local" stop on the East Coast circuit.

Badecker's not only cashed in all those series, but he's also made numerous Final Tables totaling close to $1,700,000 in career live tournament earnings.

While he has won two Borgata Poker Open titles, the crowning moment in Badecker's poker career without a doubt came in the summer of 2011 when he won his first WSOP Bracelet, coming in a $1,500 Shoot Out event, earning him $370,000.

Badecker almost did a double on that bracelet the next year, making another deep run in a $1,500 event, finishing 3rd for another massive WSOP score, making $225,000.

While it's been a while since his last Foxwoods score, he's certainly returned to his "home casino" with experiences, both on and off the felt, that close to no one in this field can lay claim to, making him a serious threat to notch his first Foxwoods cash since 2011 and potentially add another major poker tour score to his impressive resume here on the CPPT.

Another Fast Start For Nick Palma

CPPT Main Event

Level 7 (200/400/50)
Total Entrants: 177

Nick Palma (New Rochelle, NY)

In every Card Player Poker Tour event that Nick Palma has cashed in, whenever we take our first look towards the "chip leaders" he's had his name either at the top of that list or within the first few spots as he's constantly been able to get off to fast starts and build up an early big stack.

Palma's done the same there here in the CPPT Main Event, starting off strong as he's currently playing just over 100,000 chips, again one of the bigger stacks in the room.

He'll hope that his previous deep runs, which have seen him cash in three of the "preliminary" events as well as make one Final Table, were just "warm ups" as this $300,000 GTD Main Event is what matters most to these players as there is a massive prize pool up for grabs and the honor of being named CPPT Main Event Champion.

Some of Palma's biggest tournament results have come in big events as just last year he won the 2014 World Poker Finals $1,500 Main Event for $40,000 and is coming off a good start to 2015 after making a deep run in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event.

While it's still very early in this event, Palma is always a threat to make a deep run and that threat is just multiplied when he's able to accumulate chips throughout the first few levels, something he's done time after time here at the CPPT and something he's done again here in the Main Event.

While we are making note of Palma as one of the chip leaders thus far, we won't update a complete list of chip leaders until after the end of the late registration and re-entry period.

Two More Levels To Late Register Or Re-Enter Into Flight A

CPPT Main Event

Level 7 (200/400/50)
Total Entrants: 172

Players have just returned from a 15 minute break and will resume play with Level 7, meaning that there are just two more levels or just under a hour and a half remaining in the late registration and re-entry period here in Flight A.

This flight's entry numbers have seemed to slow down over the last half hour or so and while we might approach the 200 player mark, we most likely will not pass that number as plenty of players will be waiting until the start of Flight B, which starts at 5 PM, so they can come in with a full stack.

The Foxwoods Poker blog will continue to update you on notable players in the field as well as keep you posted on the overall field size of this $300,000 GTD Card Player Poker Tour Main Event.

Early Card Player Poker Tour Main Event Faces In The Crowd

CPPT Main Event

Level 6 (150/300/25)
Total Entrants: 159

Players have just entered Level 6 and the amout of "notable" players and recognizable faces in the crowd have continued to increase though the early portion of play here in the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event.

Here's who's in the action so far...

Mike Nye (East Bridgewater, MA) is one of the most successful Foxwoods players of all-time, as has has over $350,000 in career earnings and close to 70 rated cashes to his name. 

WSOP Bracelet winner Chris Tryba is looking to defend his Card Player Poker Tour Main Event championship from last year, after chopping heads up with Ron Pease. 

Greg Raymer, the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion, is back where his tournament career began as his first handful of rated results all occurred at Foxwoods. 

Teddy Geddes won the CPPT Event 5 title earlier this week and will be looking for another deep run in the $300,000 GTD Main Event. 

Stacked "Feature" Table With @DaveStefanski Making His First Tournament Appearance Of 2015

CPPT Main Event

Level 5 (100/200/25)
Total Entrants: 159

David Stefanski (Waterford, CT)

With over 150 players in this first starting flight, it's a big enough field to have most of our "notable" players spread out, with a few seated together at late registration tables, but to have numerous big name Foxwoods regulars at one table and to have that table be the "feature" table live streaming at foxwoodslive.com makes this early level Flight A action almost much watch television.

The "feature" table is currently home to Je Wook Oh and Marsel Backa, both Foxwoods "regulars" although Oh is primarily a tournament player while Backa is a cash game specialist.

Oh has close to $250,000 in live tournament earnings and finished as the runner up in the last Foxwoods Championship event, making $63,000 in December's Mega Stack Challenge Main Event, while Backa just won the opening $100,000 GTD event of this Card Player Poker Tour series for the biggest tournament score of his career.

But, while Oh and Backa were ending 2014 and starting 2015 with big Foxwoods title runs, David Stefanski (Waterford, CT) is coming off a hiatus from poker, as he started the New Year with the birth of his daughter.

Stefanski is clearly already a winner this year, as his daughter and wife are both happy and healthy at home, but he's looking to get back to his winning ways "on the felt", making his first poker tournament appearance of 2015 here in the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event.

Stefanski has certainly done a lot of winning in his career, as he's amassed close to $700,000 in live tournament earnings to date, including winning three Foxwoods Poker titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

He's also made deep Final Table runs at Borgata Poker Opens, the DeepStacks Poker Tour, L.A. Poker Classics and the North American Poker Tour.

Stefanski and the rest of the stacked "feature" table can be watched live at foxwoodslive.com.

Lopez Looking For His Big Breakthrough

CPPT Main Event

Level 5 (100/200/25)
Total Entrants: 159

Edgar Lopez (Stamford, CT)

There are plenty of big name and big time players in this field, with WSOP Bracelet winners, Circuit Ring winners, Foxwoods champions and nearly everything in between, but there are also plenty of players in this Card Player Poker Tour Main Event field that are looking for their first breakthrough score and Edgar Lopez (Stamford, CT) is one of them.

Lopez has had a few results over the past couple of years, with all of them coming at Foxwoods, with his biggest score coming in a $200,000 GTD Mega Stack Challenge XXI event where made a Final Table run and finished 7th for just under $8,000.

We've seen plenty of players make their first big score during this CPPT series, including Robert Campion, who finished 2nd in Event 7 as well as last night's Event 9 champion, Tom Cady.

Could Lopez be the next player to breakthrough on the Card Player Poker Tour's biggest stage? Maybe and while he's at a loaded table here in Flight A, with Tarun Gulati, Teddy Geddes and Samuel Taylor, he seems to be holding his own currently playing near the chip average as play moves into Level 5.

"I Got 'Em! I Got 'Em" and "Not Cool Bro, Not Cool": This Bloggers Most Memorable WSOP Moment

CPPT Main Event

Level 4 (100/200)
Total Entrants: 138

Paul Snead (Kingspark, NY)

For my generation of poker players and fans who grew up around the ESPN broadcasts of the World Series Of Poker Main Event, there were a few moments of that coverage that we'll never forget.

Chris Moneymaker rivering a full house to eliminated a young Phil Ivey from the Final Table, a hand that would change the course of poker forever, Tony Dunst going Dr. Evil-esq and putting his pinky to his mouth when he comedically moved all-in for his last "one mirron" chips, any one of the Phil Hellmuth rants or blow ups mainly those against "idiots from Northern Europe" are just a few that come right to mind, another occurred late in the 2008 Main event and involved Paul Snead (Kingspark, NY) who's in today's Card Player Poker Tour Main Event Flight A.

The hand in question was against Scott Montgomery where Snead was facing a massive all-in bet on the flop and while he was thinking through his decision, Tiffany Michelle, who wasn't involved in the hand called "clock" on Snead, forcing him into a quicker decision than he would have liked.

Snead held top pair and would say, "If it's about math, I call, if it's about survival I fold."

Math won out and he'd be correct, calling with Montgomery putting his face in his hands as he was floundering with Ace high, needing two hit on the turn and river to stay alive.

"I got 'em! I got 'em!" Snead would yell across the table to Montgomery, poised to become one of the Main Event chip leaders.

Before the dealer put out the last two cards, Craig Marquis would turn to Michelle and say, "Not cool bro, not cool." a line that will live with this poker blogger for a long, long time.

While Michelle's "clock" call wasn't cool, the river was even more "uncool" as Snead turned a flush draw and Montgomery was drawing to two aces, only to spike the [Ad] on the river to complete the double up and swing the entire momentum of that WSOP Main Event.

If Snead would have won the pot, that clip probably wouldn't have turned into anything of note, but Snead would end up going out 21st in that event, his biggest tournament score to date making just under $260,000, with Montgomery making the 'November Nine' and going out 5th, with his double up against Snead playing a big role in both players Main Event fates.

We would have to imagine that Snead's recovered from that brutal beat as he's had a few good tournament scores since, his biggest coming during the 2013 WSOP Circuit Main Event at Foxwoods where he finished 4th for $65,000.

Snead will be looking to replicate both of those runs here today and while he's at a tough table with CPPT champion Teddy Geddes and WPT Champion's Cup winner Raj Patel, we imagine no one at that table is going to be "uncool" and will let Snead take all the time he wants to make his decisions here in the CPPT Main Event.

Paradis Headlining Series First Timers

CPPT Main Event

Level 3 (75/150)
Total Entrants: 138

Fred Paradis (Jewett City, CT)

The Main Event of any series brings out the biggest and best players in the area, so it goes without saying that we're seeing some players make their first Card Player Poker Tour appearance here in Flight A, as Tom Dobrilovic, Steven Cohen and Fred Paradis are all making playing in their first CPPT event of the series.

While all of these players have hugely successful tournament careers with Cohen having close to $200,000 in live earnings and Dobrilovic having just over $1,200,000 in earnings as well as both having outright tournament wins at Borgata Poker Opens and WSOP Circuits, Paradis is the only player to have a Foxwoods championship under his belt, as he has won Foxwoods Poker Classic titles in 2010 and 2014.

On top of those two titles, Paradise also has close to a dozen Final Table appearances, with the majority of his 45 live rated career cashes coming at Foxwoods during their major tournament series, totaling close to $250,000 in earnings.

Paradis almost made another Foxwoods Final Table in the last championship event held here, as he finished 13th in the Mega Stack Challenge Main Event, earning just over $5,300 for his deep run.

He'll look to replicate and perhaps even best that finish here in the CPPT Main Event and looks like he's off to a fast start, as he's already increased his stack up and over the 50,000 chip mark.

Players are mid-way through Level 3, meaning they are just under 20 minutes until their first break of the day.

Clemente Looking For Another Deep Foxwoods Run

CPPT Main Event

Level 3 (75/150)
Total Entrants: 125

Mike Clemente (West Warwick, RI)

We've talked a lot about players who have made not only deep runs in past major Foxwoods tournament series, but also players who have made deep Card Player Poker Tour runs in years past and one player that satisfies both of those criteria is Mike Clemente (West Warwick, RI).

Clemente has numerous Foxwoods results, with close to 20 live rated scores making up just under $50,000 in earnings, but his biggest Foxwoods cash and CPPT score came during last year's series, when he finished 2nd in a $100,000 GTD event making just under $18,000.

Clemente survived a "murderers" row to make that deep run, as Foxwoods regulars Mike Nye, Tarun Gulati and Chris Leong, who all have very successful tournament resumes, were also present at the Final Table.

We've yet to see Clemente during this years CPPT, but after nothing a top 20 finish in the WSOP Circuit Main Event in August where he made another $7,500, he's returned looking for another deep championship run.

Joining Clemente in the field are other players looking to make another deep CPPT run, James Freebody and Sharman Olshan, who have both Final Tabled events during this series.

Tweet @CardPlayerMedia And Use The Hashtag #CPPT Throughout The Main Event

CPPT Main Event

Level 2 (50/100)
Total Entrants: 125

Poker players love to tweet and poker bloggers love those tweets because it keeps us informed about who's in the field, who just won a massive pot, where everyone's chip stacks stand and gives a rough idea about who to keep an eye on throughout a series.

Now that the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event is upon us, the CardPlayer live updates team is here covering the action and they embed tweets on their blog throughout the event, so to get mentioned and get your tweets posted both here on the Foxwoods Poker blog and the CPPT blog, tweet @CardPlayerMedia and use the hashtag #CPPT with all your Main Event updates.

Cards are in the air #CPPT @FoxwoodsPoker $1650 $300K GTD ME! Live updates here: http://t.co/AI5T5JjF5J
— CardPlayer (@CardPlayerMedia) February 7, 2015

Over The 100 Player Mark Early, Original Guarantee Should Be Crushed

CPPT Main Event

Level 2 (50/100)
Total Entrants: 109

Almost just as this Card Player Poker Tour Main Event moved into Level 2, we eclipsed the 100 player mark in this first Flight A starting session.

It's not so much "reportable" that we eclipsed the century mark, but how early we did as there are still close to four hours remaining in the late registration period for Flight A and an entire Flight B to begin play later tonight.

That means that while we knew this CPPT Main Event was going to be big, it's looking like this could be one of the biggest Main Events of the year here at Foxwoods as there is already more than $150,000 in the prize pool and that number will only continue to grow as we continue through the early levels.

We've seen plenty of "notable" players take their seats here early in Flight A and we will be updating you on those players and more throughout the late registration period.

Card Player Poker Tour $300K GTD Main Event Starting Up Now

CPPT Main Event

Level 1 (25/50)
Total Entrants: 63

The last weekend of the Card Player Poker Tour series is upon us which means that there are only a few more CPPT trophies left to be awarded and that the $300,000 GTD Main Event will take center stage here at Foxwoods.

This $1650 buy-in Main Event is always one of the bigger CPPT Main Events throughout all their series stops and why wouldn't it be, with a massive guaranteed prize pool and a championship like structure.

That structure will see this Main Event have a two-starting flight schedule, with the first starting at 11 AM and the second starting at 5 PM.

Players will start with 30,000 in tournament chips and play 40 minute levels on Day 1, with levels increasing to 60 minutes in length on Day 2 and 3.

Late registration and re-entry will be allowed through Level 8, giving players plenty of time to get into this CPPT Main Event and for a shot at a giant piece of the $300,000 GTD prize pool.

Each starting flight will see players play 12 levels and bag and tag their chips for tomorrow's Day 2.

The Foxwoods Poker blog will bring you updates from the field including notable players, overall field size and everything you need to stay informed about this CPPT Main Event.

The "feature" table live stream will be going live at 12 PM and can be found at foxwoodslive.com.

CPPT Event 9: 1st Place - Tom Cady ($12,418)

Event 9

Level 30 (40,000/80,000/10,000)
Total Entrants: 195
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 3,800,000

Tom Cady - Card Player Poker Tour Event 9 Champion

It's not how you start, it's how you finish and after starting this Event 9 Final Table slow and getting chipped down, Tom Cady (Middlefield, CT) rode a heater, scoring many of the last few eliminations to earn his first ever major poker title here at the Card Player Poker Tour.

Of the final four eliminations, Cady had three of them, constantly showing up with the best of it and, true to what he said before the elimination of Sharman Olshan, when he didn't have the best of it, he got there.

We started our late level pre-Final Table coverage saying that Chris Leong was "due" for a title after making deep runs this series, but a look at Cady's tournament resume shows that he too might have had a little "due-ness" going his way, as he's made deep runs before, including three Foxwoods Final Table results, but he's never won a trophy in "anything other than golf."

He finally has, as he outlasted a field of close to 200 players to win a CPPT title and just under $12,500, one of the bigger scores of his tournament career.

That concludes and "early" day here in the Card Player Poker Tour series and the action ramps back up tomorrow with the $300,000 GTD CPPT Main Event with two starting flights beginning at 11 AM and 5 PM.

CPPT Event 9: 2nd Place - Michael Guzzardi ($7,992)

Event 9

Level 30 (40,000/80,000/10,000)
Total Entrants: 195
Players Remaining: 1
Chip Average: 3,800,000

Michael Guzzardi (Branford, CT)

Michael Guzzardi came into this heads up battle with a significant chip disadvantage to over come and he almost did it, doubling up once through Tom Cady right before the break to almost get even in chips, but he couldn't find a second to take the chip lead as he'd be eliminated just a few hands after play resumed.

The action was picked up pre-flop with Cady raising the button and Guzzardi defending his big blind.

Guzzardi would then check the [Jh][10d][7d] flop and Cady would bet out 200,000.

Guzzardi would almost immediately go all-in and Cady would re-check his cards and then call, tabling [Jc][8d].

Guzzardi would need help as he held [10h][9h] for middle pair and a straight draw, needing Cady to improve to two pair to complete his draw while having to avoid improvement himself as Cady would make a straight if Guzzardi made a second pair.

Those straight draws wouldn't come on the turn or river, but the turn did put out an interesting card, as the [7h] gave Guzzardi outs to a flush.

He'd brick out on everything though as the [Qc] completed the board and would give Cady his first major tournament title.

This would mark the third time that Guzzardi has finished as a runner-up in major Foxwoods tournaments, notching 2nd place finishes in 2014 and 2011.

He couldn't complain though as when play was on the money bubble he was down to his final few blinds and managed to spin that up to a deep Final Table run and a $8,000 score, one of the biggest of his tournament careers.

CPPT Event 9: 3rd Place - Sharman Olshan ($5,065)

Event 9

Level 29 (30,000/60,000/10,000)
Total Entrants: 195
Players Remaining: 2
Chip Average: 1,900,000

Sharman Olshan (Buffalo, NY)

After the elimination of Chris Leong in 4th place, Tom Cady held a sizable advantage on the other two players remaining, Sharman Olshan and Michael Guzzardi.

Cady would use some aggression and a timely run of cards to chip the two down and it would be Sharman who would be the first to hit the rail, as she moved all-in for her final 400,000 chips and get called by Cady who had her dominated.

Sharman held [Ah][8h] and Cady held [Ac][Qs] and he'd admit that he's "been getting good cards" and when he hasn't had the best of it "he's sucked out a few times".

Sharman would be the one needing to suck out here though and after she couldn't find a pair to save her tournament life she'd be eliminated in 3rd place, making just over $5,000 for her efforts.

Sharman was pegged as an "early" chip leader after the dinner break as well as the last woman left in the field and managed to best the former deepest run from a female player in this Card Player Poker Open after Stephanie Hubbard finished 9th in Event 1.

We are now heads up for the Event 9 title with Tom Cady holding a sizable 2:1 chip advantage. 

CPPT Event 9: 4th Place - Chris Leong ($4,057)

Event 9

Level 29 (30,000/60,000/10,000)
Total Entrants: 195
Players Remaining: 3
Chip Average: 1,300,000

Chris Leong (New York, NY)

Chris Leong has made three deep runs this series, with two of those finishes ending at the Final Table in near ridiculous fashion and if it wasn't for two brutal beats he could have achieved the same feat he did back in 2013 when he won two WSOP Circuit Rings in the same week.

The second of those two brutal beats just occurred to send Leong to the rail in 4th place, as he moved all-in from the small blind over top of the button raise of Tom Cady.

Cady thought for a moment and said, "It's getting late, maybe it is my time to go." before calling, tabling [Qs][Js].

He'd need a lot of help as Leong held [Qh][Qc] and looked poised to get a stranglehold on this Event 9 Final Table.

The sweat was on though as the [As][5c][10h] flop gave Cady a straight draw, which he'd hit as the [Kd] came on the turn.

Leong would be left drawing to a chop to save his tournament life as Cady had him lsihgtly covered, but it wouldn't come and Leong would be going out just shy of another Foxwoods podium finish.

Poker is a brutal game in which you can play nearly every hand, maybe even an entire tournament perfectly, but when the last one doesn't go the way it "should" it's never easy to swallow.

Most players who have experienced the sick beats that Chris Leong has to get eliminated from these Card Player Poker Tour events wouldn't handle them the way he has, but the tournament professional has taken them all in stride and is just looking towards the next event, the CPPT Main Event, where hopefully he can close out the series and put himself in another spot to make a deep run, where hopefully the "due-ness" finally goes his way.

CPPT Event 9: 5th Place - Gregory Spirito ($3,074)

Event 9

Level 28 (25,000/50,000/5,000)
Total Entrants: 195
Players Remaining: 4
Chip Average: 990,000

Gregory Shapiro

When there were two tables remaining in Event 9, nearly every all-in encounter Gregory Spirito was he, he won, but it was more or less the exact opposite effect over the last half hour and eventually he was going from Final Table big stack to 5th place finisher.

After doubling up Sharman Olshan and Michael Guzzardi he'd no longer be the biggest stack at the table and he'd get his final 500,000 chips in the middle against Chris Leong and he'd get out flopped after holding the pre-flop advantage [Ad][Ks] to Leong's [Kh][Jh].

Leong would flop a Jack and turn a flush to lock up the pot and the elimination, supporting the "Theory of Due" post we put up earlier today as Leong seems to be peaking at the right time, coming into four handed play with the Final Table chip lead.

Leong's lead isn't that big though as the four remaining players are all within a few 100,000 chips of one another which equate to a few big blinds separating the first from fourth biggest stack, which means that the next all-in and big swing will be a huge factor in who wins this Card Player Poker Tour trophy.