Meet the Sweet 16
We are about a half-hour away from the start of the final day of play here at the Sands Bethlehem DeepStack Extravaganza $500,000 Guaranteed Main Event. The tourney has been relocated from the conference room downstairs up to the casino and one corner of the poker room where a winner will be determined.
Some of the players have already stopped by to scout out the new location and get a peek at the table draw. As we await the start of Day 3, here is a little information about each of the 16 who remain.
Table 29
Seat 1: Coury Mascagni (463,000)
Known online as "scags23" where he's achieved significant tourney success, Coury Mascagni hails from Washington, DC. He has a handful of live cashes, including one from the 2010 WSOP and a fourth-place at the WSOP Circuit Main Event in nearby Chester, PA earlier this year. Mascagni earned a career-high $36,407 for that finish.
Seat 2: Edward Pham (216,000)
Pennsylvanian Edward Pham has collected more than a dozen live cashes over the last several years totaling more than $180,000, with his best score thus far coming for a runner-up finish at the Borgata Winter Open in early 2011 where he earned $66,917.
Seat 3: Micah Raskin (285,000)
Aside from Chris Klodnicki, the New Yorker Micah Raskin brings the most extensive live tourney resume to today's final table, recently highlighted by his having final tabled the EPT San Remo Main Event where he eventually finished sixth for a €132,000 payday. With cashes at the WSOP, on the WPT and WSOP Circuit, and elsewhere, Raskin has more than $1.36 million in total career tourney earnings.
Seat 4: Michael Schoultz (373,000)
A newcomer to the poker tourney scene, Michael Schoultz of Arlington, Virginia has already grabbed four cashes in various Atlantic City events, although his finish here will represent his biggest tourney score thus far.
Seat 5: Joseph Tracy (449,000)
Today's final table marks the second deep run by Joseph Tracy in just a few months, as the Pennsylvanian managed an 11th-place finish in a $450 buy-in event at the WPT Borgata Open in Atlantic City in September. Tracy also has a nearly $12K score under his belt for a 61st-place finish in the 2011 WPT Borgata Open Championship Event.
Seat 6: William Tonking (713,000)
William Tonking of New Jersey has a handful of cashes over the last few years, including two at the 2010 World Series of Poker. By making tonight's final table and guaranteeing himself at least a $15,000 payday, Tonking has locked up a career-best tourney score.
Seat 7: Vince Baldassano (87,000)
Vince Baldassano of Chatham, New Jersey is one of several players who won entry into the Sands Bethlehem DeepStack Extravaganza Main Event via satellite. This marks Baldassano's first significant tourney score.
Seat 8: John Chapman (106,000)
Amateur player John Chapman of the Bronx, New York is making his first big tourney cash here today. When he's not playing poker, he works as an audio engineer on Broadway and as a real estate agent.
Table 30
Seat 1: Drew Heller (114,000)
This represents a first significant score for Drew Heller of Allentown, Pennsylvania. One of his home game buddies explained to us yesterday how they'd staged a small buy-in tourney among themselves to send a player to this event, and now all are railing Heller (both here and online) with hopes that his run can continue.
Seat 2: Richard Allen (269,000)
Richard Allen of Las Vegas, Nevada has an earlier cash in the $2,000 NLHE event at the 2009 WSOP Circuit Harrah's Atlantic City. He finished 13th there for $4,563.
Seat 3: Ian Searing (314,000)
Ian Searing of Smithtown, New York has earned over a dozen cashes in events since 2007, all on the east coast and most in Atlantic City. His best finish and largest payday came in September 2012 at the WPT Borgata Open in a $1,000 NLHE six-max. event where he finished fifth for $18,425.
Seat 4: Daniel Wach (513,000)
Daniel Wach has earned several cashes over the last two years, including a couple of big scores at the Borgata in Atlantic City. In January 2012, the New Jersey-based player won a $500 NLHE six-max. event at the Borgata Winter Open, besting a field of 344 to earn the $40,873 first prize. And in September at the WPT Borgata Poker Open he took second in another $500 NLHE event (with re-entries) — this one featuring a massive 3,705 entries — to earn a handsome $200,793 payday.
Seat 5: Timothy Chang (194,000)
It has been a successful 2012 for Timothy Chang of Woodbury, New York, as he's made numerous cashes totaling nearly $180,000 since March. Those included three cashes at the 2012 WSOP, as well as a final table at the WSOP Circuit Southern Indiana event in October where he finished fourth.
Seat 6: Denis Gnidash (212,000)
Denis Gnidash of Fair Lawn, New Jersey has eight previous cashes over the last two years, including three at the WSOP. He also final tabled the WSOP Circuit Harrah's Atlantic City event in December 2011, finishing eighth.
Seat 7: Chris Klodnicki (1,123,000)
Chris Klodnicki of Voorhees, New Jersey has amassed nearly $3.8 million in tourney winnings since 2005. Among his 19 WSOP cashes are a couple of runner-up finishes, including one in the $50K Poker Players Championship this past summer won by Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi. And almost exactly one year ago Klodnicki earned a career-high cash of $896,935 for winning the last Epic Poker League Main Event, the "Mix-Max" tournament.
Seat 8: Michael Ryan (216,000)
Michael Ryan of Abbottstown, Pennsylvania is on a bit of a roll here in late 2012, having just taken runner-up in a Heartland Poker Tour Main Event at the Palms in Las Vegas where he earned $58,669 for his finish.