Big Stax VI (Big Stax 300): Recap

@ParxPokerRoom's sixth installment of the Big Stax series kicked off last Thursday with the Big Stax VI 300.  Coming off of record numbers in February, the excitement leading up to this series was clear.  Players flocked to satellites during the month of April, offering packages which included seats to the Big Stax 300 & 500 events.  The Big Stax VI lead off event attracted 1,351 entries and touted a first place prize over $80,000.

Alex Queen & Justin Liberto

Each poker tournament takes on a life it's own, with the theme of this event "the story."  The headline would be two of the east coast's poker "good guys" chopping up the event.  Alex Queen (Bethlehem, PA) and Justin Liberto (Baltimore, MD) played only a few hands heads up before discussing a chop and agreeing to the numbers.  The two players have close to $2,000,000 in combined career earnings, and resumes any tournament player would be happy to boast.

The three Day 1's brought us the opening to this tale, as players were coming off the prestigious WPT Championship and a WSOP Circuit series in the weeks leading up to Big Stax VI.  Parx regular and tournament pro Antonio Payne (Hazlet, NJ) would show up on Day 1A coming off a circuit main final table.  That wouldn't be lead though as Payne won his first circuit ring as well only days earlier.  A handful of other regs in the field were coming off of nice scores/wins, including Kevin Grabel, Laurence Wolf, and Mohammed Farah.  Day 1C would coincide with Kentucky Derby day, and the buzz was great throughout the day.  Not only were the track patrons abound, but so were the bullets, as players were doing all they could to bag chips.  After three days of poker and unlimited re-entries throughout, Staffan Lind (Vero Beach, FL) would be the chip leader going into Day 2.

Ryan Eriquezzo

Day 2 would bring one of the stories of the tournament, as Ryan Eriquezzo (Danbury, CT) bought in that morning for the starting stack (30,000 which was six big blinds).  Not only would Eriquezzo survive to reach the money bubble, he would have one of the largest stacks going into Day 3!!!  Notables to cash in the event, but not make Day 3 included Matt Glantz (139th), Jonas Wexler (100th), Jonathan Kramer (67th), Peter Ippolito (59th), and Tru Le (24th).

The story would wrap up on Day 3, but not before story lines unfolded throughout.  Eriquezzo's miracle run would end in the late afternoon, as he was eliminated in 17th place for $3,056.  David Kim and Danny Yip would bubble the final table, but those who made it created the conclusion.  Ray Ross (Maple Glenn, PA) would reach his third Big Stax final table, showing the consistency that makes a winning tournament pro.  Sheri Moores (Wayne, PA) held the torch for the ladies in this event, as she continued the trend of women players at the final table (5th place - $13,753).  Amateurs Michael Wang (6th place) and Phillip Yan (3rd place) showed quality play throughout in their breakout scores to date.  In the end though it would be two of more accomplished players in the field, let alone the final table that would be left standing in the end.  Both players felt primed to do well in this event, and hope that they can ride the momentum into the rest of Big Stax VI and the WSOP that follows.