VIEW EVENT
Wednesdays SMA- $300 GTD + BPO TOKENS!
01/29/2014
115 New State Hwy
Raynham, MA
02767
Yet another sound field in excess of 40 players filled up the tables at Jockey Club in Raynham tonight! Many players rose to the occasion and gained valuable points as January and the Player of the Month race are near an end!
Only 22 SOMA players will qualify for the January monthly and Mike Rampino, 11th, solidified his POTM qualifications tonight. However the race for the final qualifiers really heated up as 4 players currently ranked 24-27th this month all reached the final table!
David DaRosa, currently 27th for the month, only made the final table on paper though as he busted 9th at the merge. 8 players began play at the FT at 4/8k blinds and it was John Drazek who would leave the FT first. Johns 8th place finish though is just what the doctor ordered as he was 24th for the month when play began and he is now only 4 points away from qualifying for the POTM. He earned enough to qualify tonight but unfortunately for him others earned more meaning John is is still on the outside looking in, but only barely! Dan Carter had a healthy stack but he applied pressure and was roped into to calling a couple re-raises perhaps lighter than he wouldve liked and eventually left the table in 7th. Joe LeBlanc followed him out in 6th at, what was for him, an uneventful final table. Joe also knocked out tonights bounty David Goldberg for additional bonus points.
Matthew Martin finished 3rd last week and played another fine tournament before his A5o button push failed him, making him tonights 5th place finisher! Good run but no run good for Matt! 4 handed play on the prize bubble began with Tony Carafa, David Grenon, Ryan O'Connor, and Kenny Rounds!
Rounds was ranked 26th for the month when play began and his 4th place finish tonight earned him enough points where he now is only 11 points away from qualifying for this monthly $5K GTD event! His efforts tonight have him now ranked 23rd and primed for a push to qualify in the remaining January days!
Ryan O'Connor played his short stack as best he could and seeing pocket rockets at the FT not once, but twice, sure helped his causes and POTM push. Aggressive play around him, escalating blinds, and dropping a crucial pot after limping the sb v bb 3 handed with ducks proved too much to overcome though as O'Connor finished his night 3rd. Those points are enough to push him from 25th for the month to 22nd, at the expense of Season 20 6th place finisher Jai Mainer, meaning he is just in...for now!
Tony Carafa and David Grenon, the top ranked player this month, squared off HU, each in search of seasonal win #3! Dave had a slight edge we found when he took all but one of Tonys chips after flopping the nut straight when tony check re-raised all in with top pair, crippling him down to just 10k at 20/40k blinds! Tony played his "chip and a chair" game at full force though and won the next 4 hands to build his 10K back to 200k in front of a packed rail! With over 900k in play and just 5 BB left Tony stayed aggressive but a few hands passed with lil change in stacks before the pivotal hand that decided it all! Carafa limped the small blind and David shipped it in with K9o and roughly a 4 to 1 chip advantage. Carafa instantly called with A5o and the best hand! He was behind most hands on his climb back from one chip but now that he got it in good David managed to connect with the board while Tony did not. So David scooped his 3rd win this season and Tony proudly shook his hand and was tonights runner up! A great game by all and very entertaining HU match! Congratulations gentleman and good luck to everybody pushing for Jan POTM points!
Directors note: With only 2 events remaining to score points for the Jan $5K POTM, expect some large fields at Trinity tomorrow and 138 Thai on Friday! There was a lot of shuffling in the monthly rankings tonight and the bubble is super tight so keep ur eyes peeled and hold ur cards tight because theres a lot on the line in these next 2 events! Remember: Bigger fields mean more bad beat points! Good luck everyone!
This event is part of the Southern Massachusetts Tour
