VIEW EVENT
01/31/2014
99 1/2 Wilson St
Norwwod , MA
02062
Another Friday night frenzy at 138 Thai made a world of difference for several players at the conclusion of January and the Jan. Player of the Month race! Kenny Rounds did not finish in the top 16 but his 10 event points tonight proved crucial as they were all he needed to maintain his position for the month inside the top 22 players in southern mass!
John Foley bubbled the FT and 9 handed play kicked off with 3 players ranked 21-25th for the month remaining and the bounty was still alive! Bohdan Majkut, 21st for Jan at tonights start, was short stacking and was the first player eliminated but his 9th place finish solidified his qualification for the POTM! Good run and mission accomplished for Bo! Don "BLUE" Harris sat before a tall stack all night but couldnt add any at the final table as his stack quickly dissipated before he signed out 8th.
Jai Mainer was 22nd for the month, the final qualifying player for Jan! With the pressure on he gained an edge early on and accumulated a stack that absorbed to major hits before making the FT! Though unhappy busting in 7th, Jai found comfort in earning enough points tonight to definitely qualify for the monthly $5K GTD event! No stranger to facing pressure, he gained points in the final two events of the month in order to qualify!
Soon following Jai to the rail was Ryan O'Connor in 6th. O'Connor was ranked 25th for the month and was tonights bounty! He needed to finish 14th or higher to qualify for the POTM and nobody could bust him before the FT! Jason Alexscion finally ended his night for bonus points but O'Connors 96 pts tonight gave him the greatest jump of any player as he broke into the top 22 on the final event of the month! Congratulations Ryan!
David Lopez called a big all in by Jason Alexscion and his 99 was ahead of Alexscions big slick. A king on the river though crippled Lopez while propelling Jason into a big stack 5 handed. Lopez held on as long as he could but his night ended in 5th. All players remaining had as close to even chips as it gets and tonights battle continued on 4 handed.
Play slowed down considerably 4 handed with most hands being played blind v blind or taken down preflop by an all in. John Beady grinded his short stack at the FT and sat even with the others 4 handed. It wasnt meant to be for Beady though as Alexscion had too many hands when they played blind v blind and Beady proudly finished 4th. Jason Alexscion survived more all ins than any other player but his luck ran out as the blinds reached 20/40k and he earned 3rd place honors tonight!
Mike Delfino, the top player in SOMA this season and last seasons regional Ceresi Cup representative, found a crafty opponent in David Arena as the two sat heads up. Delfino saw aces early at the FT and then played it right n tight as the prizepool neared. Arena was chipleader for most of the event and was never at risk at the FT until 4 handed play! Delfino kept the pressure on the younger Arena, refusing to let Arena limp into hands from the sb and not giving away any chips when Arena did raise. Arena was taking pots away in position on the turn during shorthanded play to stay a FT force but Delfino never let him get that far HU. As chip leader Delfino made another button raise but Arenas had had enough and pushed in his whole stack, which was 10K less than the raise made by Delfino. Arena flipped over 69s, a favorite hand of many players, while Delfino made his JTs visible to all! Arena had no help on the flop and Delfino made a pair of Tens on the turn and the two shook hands as Champion and runner up of another tough field and successful EPT Southern Mass event! This was Mikes 2nd win of season 21 and Davids highest finish of the season!
Directors Note
Congratulations to Kenny Rounds, Bohdan Majkut, Jai Mainer, and Ryan O'Connor who all recorded enough points to qualify for the January POTM event! Together they all played spoiler to Christian Percevecz, who was ranked 18th after playing 8 events this month with 6 top 16s and 3 wins, who slipped to 23rd for the month of January. Christian fell out of the top 22 tonight by a single point!
Congratualtions to everyone who qualified for the Jan POTM. Each of the top 22 will compete for $5K in GTD prizes on Saturday February 15th! Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more information. Tomorrow marks the first lap of the February POTM race! All players start with a blank slate again tomorrow! Good luck running good to all EPT SOMA grinders!
This event is part of the Southern Massachusetts Tour
