May 02 2012, Chad Holloway

On Day 4 of the World Poker Tour Jacksonville BestBet Open, the final 16 players battled down to the final table. Will “The Thrill” Failla began the day as chip leader and used his big stack to coast to the final table, where he was joined by WPT personality Tony Dunst; however, both men trail the big stack of Shawn Cunix.

Action began in Level 20 with the blinds at 5,000/10,000 and a 1,000 ante, and there were two eliminations within the first 90 minutes of play. According to the WPT Live Reporting Team, the first came when Farid Jattin got his last 170,000 all in preflop holding and racing against Failla’s . The board ran out and Jattin hit the rail in 16th place for $16,263.

Not long after, Justin Conley open shoved for 137,000 holding and James Calderaro made the call from the big blind with . Conley was behind and failed to improve and was eliminated in 15th place for $20,699. From there, David Tuthill, Tony Parille and Robert LeBeau were eliminated in 14th, 13th and 12th place respectively.

In Level 23, with the blinds at 10,000/20,000 and a 3,000 ante, Calderaro opened for 45,000 under the gun only to have Peter Campo, who was next to act, move all in for 304,000. The rest of the field got out of the way and Calderaro made the call.

Showdown

The flop wasn’t very exciting, and neither was the turn. Campo needed a ten on the river to stay alive, but it was not meant to be as the appeared. Campo was eliminated in 11th place for $25,134, and the final 10 players were combined to one table.

On Hand #17 of the 10-handed final table, a short-stacked Blake Purvis moved all in from middle position for 28,000 and Darren Elias isolated. The rest of the field folded and Elias rolled over , which was way ahead of Purvis’ . The board ran out an uneventful and Purvis fell in 10th place for $25,134.

Eleven hands later, which coincided with the end of the level, Matt Marafioti opened for 70,000 from middle position and Cunix looked him up from the big blind. When the flop came down , Cunix checked and Marafioti moved all in for nearly 600,000. Cunix snap-called and rolled over , which dominated Marafioti’s . The turn gave Marafioti some hope, but the river took it away and sent him home in ninth place for $34,005.

With that elimination, Failla, who had won the WPT Legends of Poker earlier in the season, retook the lead in the WPT Player of the Year race.

On Hand #47, Amelio Amato met his demise at the hands of Cunix, ushering him out in eighth place for $39,919, bringing about the TV final table bubble. It took quite a while for the bubble to burst, 41 hands in fact, and came when Byron Kaverman moved all in under the gun for 415,000 and was called by Calderaro from middle position.

Showdown

It was a classic race at a crucial point in the tournament, but Kaverman needed to catch to stay alive. The flop meant a jack would give him Broadway, but of course Calderaro held two in his hand. The turn was a blank, as was the river. With that, Kaverman finished in seventh place for $47,312 while the final table was set.

Here is a look at the WPT Jacksonville BestBet Open Final Table:

WPT Jacksonville BestBet Open Final Table

The players will return on Wednesday at 1600 EDT (2100 BST) to play down to a winner, which will be streamed on a 30-minute delay with hole cards and commentary from Darryll Fish and James Dempsey. You can also check back right here on PokerNews.com for the final table recap.

*Hands referenced from the WPT Live Updates Team.

*Photo courtesy of BJ Nemeth at WorldPokerTour.com

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April 28 2012, Brett Collson

On Friday, the World Poker Tour made the short trek to North Florida for the debut of the televised WPT Jacksonville BestBet Open. The tour wrapped up at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida, earlier this week, allowing players a chance to play a pair of WPT events without traveling across the country.

This is the first major tournament held in the brand new BestBet Jacksonville complex and is open to anyone 18 years of age or older. Any player who busts on Day 1a will have the option of re-entering on Day 1b, a format that has become common around the World Poker Tour stops in recent seasons.

Day 1 began with 125 players putting up the $5,000 buy-in. Among the 62 players who survived the nine hour-long levels of play were former WPT champs Will Failla, James Dempsey, Jonathan Little and Taylor von Kriegenbergh, as well as Tony Dunst, Mike Sexton, and current WPT Player of the Year leader Joe Serock. They’ll all be chasing chip leader Darren Elias when play resumes on Day 2.

Florida native Daryll Fish had an action-packed day at the tables and finished among the frontrunners when the day came to a close. According to the WPT Live Updates Team, Fish and Jason Koon were seated together all day and had a prop bet on whether Koon could build his stack from 8,000 to 60,000 by the end of the day. Fish secured the $100 win (he gave Koon 5-to-1 odds) all by himself when he sent Koon packing in the final level.

After Fish doubled up with pocket jacks against Koon’s , Koon moved his remaining short stack in preflop and Fish and Fred Goldberg called. The two players checked down the board and Fish rolled over for a pair of eights for the win. Koon mucked his hand and hit the rail, losing his prop bet in the process.

Joining Koon on the rail on Day 1a were Hoyt Corkins, Keith Ferrera, Shannon Shorr, Matt Waxman, Matt Marafioti, Phil Collins, and WPT commentator Vince Van Patten. This is just the second WPT event Van Patten has played in his 10 years with the tour, but his tournament ended in Level 5 when he ran into an opponent’s pocket aces. Van Patten told WPT reporter Jess Welman that he doesn’t plan on firing another bullet on Day 1b:

Here’s a look at the chip leaders after Day 1a of the WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open:

Day 1b kicks off Saturday at 1200 EDT (1700 BST). The aforementioned players who busted on Friday can pony up another $5,000 and give it another whirl on Saturday. Stay tuned to PokerNews.com for daily updates from the World Poker Tour.

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