WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open, Day 1B Recap

By BJ Nemeth

The Royal Flush Girls (Tugba Ercan, Angelique Velez, Jeannie Duffy, and Brittany Bell) record a WPT promo for the TV show with the customized WPT surfboard that will be awarded to the 18-20 year old who finishes deepest in the tournament.

No player in history has ever won as much in a single tournament as Jamie Gold, who earned $12 million for winning the 2006 WSOP Main Event — a few months before the industry-altering UIGEA was passed. Gold was entertaining his table and having a good time early, but he ran into some tough luck, and was eliminated late in the day.

Early in the day, Jamie Gold was in a hand against a player with a Phil Laak card protector (pictured above). Gold asked about the card protector, and the player told him it was on loan from his son. "It’s lucky. If you’re all in, you should borrow it."

Gold asked, "Can I borrow it now?" His opponent laughed and said, "No, I can’t loan it to you in a hand against me." The card protector was on the winning side of this hand, as Gold folded when his opponent three-bet the turn on a board of [Ah7s6s10c].

David Jackson (left) watches as Gigi Gagne celebrates eliminating a player early on Day 1B. Her opponent moved all in on the turn with the board showing [KcJh5h5c], and Gagne called with [8h7h] for a flush draw. Her opponent had [AsKd] for two pair, kings and fives.

The river was the [10h], and Gagne shouted her name in triumph and pointed at her opponent and said, "Boom. You’re out."

Gagne is one of three women who have final tabled WPT events in Florida the past year or so — she finished second at the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open back in February.

During a hand, Danny Shiff requested that a photo be taken of his holecards and posted in the WPT Live Updates. Why? He told the table that he is bluffing, but didn’t want his opponent to see his cards right away. Shiff told him to check the updates — and now he can.

As you can see, Shiff had a gutshot straight draw with a flush draw on the turn, and hit them both on the river.

Matt Marafioti was part of the craziest hand on Day 1A as he quintupled his short-stack in a multi-way all-in situation, but didn’t survive the day. Marafioti re-entered on Day 1B and had a much better result, taking the chip lead by the dinner break and finishing the day with 113,200.

When the World Poker Tour was in Jacksonville for the first time last November, dealer Brian Woods had "WPT" shaved into the side of his head. Now that the WPT is back in town, Woods has done it again, going a little further by adding the ace of spades near his neck.

Abbey Daniels finished fourth in the first televised WPT event in the state of Florida, earning $286,819 in last season’s WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown. Daniels was doing well here on Day 1B until she ran into aces full to lose a 100K pot late in the day. Daniels is still alive, heading into Day 2 with 22,900.

After a flop of [Ac6c3c], Matt Juttelstad (far left) moved all in, and John Dolan (third from left) moved all in over the top. The big blind (foreground, right) tanked for several minutes before calling with [As10d] (pair of aces). Dolan turned over [AdKs] for a better pair of aces, but they were both drawing thin against Juttelstad’s [9c8c] (club flush).

No miracles came, and Juttelstad nearly tripled up, eliminating Dolan in the process.

Sharon Levin (center) made the last two WPT Final Tables in the state of Florita, finishing 4th at the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open in February and 5th at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown earlier this month.

By the last level of the day, David Jackson of Atlanta (left) had moved into the chip lead, and he watched as Gigi Gagne (right) was crippled down to five big blinds after a flop of [10d8s2d], getting it all in with [Qs10s] (top pair) against another player’s [KdKs] (overpair). The turn was the [5h], the river was the [6s], and Gagne was left with just a handful of chips. Gagne was eliminated a short while later.

While there was only one 18-20 year old who played yesterday on Day 1A (Robert Gorodetsky), there were five players under the age of 21 in today’s field — including Brandon Barnes (pictured), who finished the day third in chips with 145,600. Barnes just turned 19 years old about a month ago.

Day 1B began with 195 additional entrants, and 98 survived the day. The total field size for both starting days is 320 entrants. Here’s a look at the unofficial chipleaders from Day 1B:

1.  Amine Chabaney  –  193,500
2.  David Jackson  –  150,000
3.  Brandon Barnes  –  145,600
4.  Ralph Robinson  –  138,000

A total of 160 players will return for Day 2, which begins tomorrow (Sunday) at 2:00 pm. Please note that it is NOT a noon start, so players can sleep in a little longer if they’d like. The field will play five 90-minute levels, with a one-hour dinner break after the third level of the day.

Return to WPT.com for continuing live coverage as the field gets closer and closer to Wednesday’s televised WPT Final Table.