Players are on a five-minute break.
partypoker US Network Players Choice Series (Dec.13-20)
Event #1: Sunday $35K GTD 1/2 Price NLH
Day: 1
Event Info
In Level 13 with blinds at 1,800/3,600 (450 ante), "BBMKBB" raised all in for 62, 850 from middle position and "sgahr" isolated from the next seat over.
"sgahr": 
"BBMKBB":
"sgahr" had "BBMKBB" dominated until the 
flop appeared pairing "BBMKBB's'" ten.
The 
paired the board on the turn and the 
river secured the double-up for "BBMKBB".
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
138,750
138,750
|
138,750 |
|
|
48,060
48,060
|
48,060 |
The tournament field has grown to 322 total entries with 170 players remaining.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
517,985
-24,435
|
-24,435 |
|
|
430,954
261,680
|
261,680 |
|
|
370,816
14,097
|
14,097 |
|
|
369,804
97,238
|
97,238 |
|
|
350,506 | |
|
|
336,215 | |
|
|
307,337 | |
|
|
303,672
1,100
|
1,100 |
|
|
291,261 | |
|
280,561
205,561
|
205,561 |
|
||
|
|
235,790 | |
|
227,798
152,798
|
152,798 |
|
|
201,326
45,409
|
45,409 |
|
|
194,390
119,390
|
119,390 |
|
|
180,792 | |
|
|
171,561 | |
|
167,050 | |
|
|
160,005 | |
|
158,295 | |
|
|
146,890
71,890
|
71,890 |
|
|
143,654
59,254
|
59,254 |
In Level 11 with blinds at 1,400/2,800 (350 ante), "ILoveDuece7" open-jammed for 21,525 from under the gun and "acpokerbum" isolated from the hijack with their newly acquired 75,000 stack.
"ILoveDuece7": 
"acpokerbum": 
The flop came 
giving "ILoveDuece7" two-pair, but they were still way behind the "acpokerbum" who flopped broadway along with the royal flush draw.
The 
turn was no help to "ILoveDuece7" as they needed a queen or ten on the river to stay alive but it came the securing the pot for "acpokerbum".
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
106,825
31,825
|
31,825 |
|
|
Busted |
In Level 10 with blinds at 1,200/2,400 (300 ante), Michael “UFOLDIWIN” St. John raised to 5,760 from the cutoff and was called by "mrdadio48" from the button before "acpokerbum" squeezed for 15,750 from the big blind.
Action was back on St. John who four-bet to 68,400 and "mrdadio48" called bringing the three players to the 
flop.
St. John only left himself with one move as he quickly jammed his 6,300 stack in the middle and "mrdadio48" called.
"mrdadio48": 
"acpokerbum": 
Michael “UFOLDIWIN” St. John: 
St. John was ahead after pairing his four on the flop but the appeared on the turn keeping "acpokerbum" alive.
The lead didn't last long for "acpokerbum" as the 
completed the board on the river giving St. John trip fours to win the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
169,050
169,050
|
169,050 |
|
|
135,560
135,560
|
135,560 |
|
|
75,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
The partypoker US Online Network – which is comprised of partypoker US, Borgata Poker and BetMGM Poker – has been gaining momentum in New Jersey.
One player who has been doing quite well on the network is bracelet winner Daniel “centrfieldr23” Lupo, 37, of West Milford, New Jersey. You might recall that last summer, Lupo topped a 1,767-entry field to win the WSOP.com Online $500 NLH Turbo Deepstack for $145,274 and a gold bracelet. Earlier this year, he added a ring to his résumé by taking down the WSOP.com Online Circuit Event #3: $320 NLH 6-Max for $32,595 and a month later won the WSOP.com $100,000 GTD Sunday for $50,715.
A couple months ago, Lupo’s success continued when he bested a 305-entry field to win the partypoker US Network Online Series $50K GTD NLH 6-Max Main Event for $14,792.
PokerNews caught up with Lupo, who went to NJIT for Architecture and baseball, to ask him about poker, which he squeezes in between working for an Architecture firm in Bridgewater specializing in single-family residential and smaller commercial projects and his family, which includes three kids ages 2-5 and his supportive wife Laura.
Q&A with Daniel “centrfieldr23” Lupo
PokerNews: When and how did you learn to play poker?
Lupo: I started playing/learning in college during the Rounders and Moneymaker boom with a bunch of the baseball guys. Within a year I found myself hosting games at college, at home on breaks and basically anywhere I could find or make a game. I didn’t play much online early on, regrettably.
What sort of poker do you play these days?
Mostly online MTTs playing like three sessions per week on average with buy-ins typically from $50 to $1k with the occasional $2-$3k buy in for a big event. I average around 500-600 MTTs a month despite not playing full time, I tend to put in a lot of volume when I’m on. The games are mostly NLH and some PLO MTTs, but love when StarsNJ runs a series as they run a fun 8-Game MTT with a bunch of other mixed variants.
What’s it like to play poker while raising young children?
It’s been a constant evolution. I could probably write a book about all the highs and lows and life adjustments I’ve had or chose to make. It gives me a lot of inspiration to succeed while also adding some weight to my losses as it's like 'not only was I way from my kids for all of Sunday afternoon but I lost (insert obnoxious Sunday schedule cost here)'.
What are some of your poker goals?
Try and win everything I play. Actually, my biggest current goal is trying to optimize my MTT game selection. Since quarantine began the schedules have been exploding site to site and while it's been great, with lots of new players and lots of live players playing online it has also drastically increased my average buy-ins and session costs as well as the field size which further increases variance.
I'm trying to optimize the balance of table quantity and expected value vs individual session costs and the variance that comes with it. Having an average buy-in of $250 adds up pretty quickly when it's spread across 60+ entries on a Sunday. My biggest ongoing and long-term goal is to win enough to help my family live comfortably.
How did it feel to take down the partypoker US Network Phased Main Event last month?
I was pretty stoked about the partypoker US win. I love their structure and it was a very tough field when we were deep; I was fortunate to run pretty well and the be able to leverage my chip stack at the final table. I had made a bunch of top 18 runs in their series Main Events but couldn't crack a solid finish lately so this felt a little extra special.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
155,917 |
Players are on a five-minute break.
There are 176 players remaining from the 263 total entries and here are the players leading the pack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
542,420
310,016
|
310,016 |
|
|
356,719 | |
|
|
311,078 | |
|
|
302,572 | |
|
|
292,664
105,792
|
105,792 |
|
|
272,566 | |
|
|
265,002
19,403
|
19,403 |
|
|
252,586
43,410
|
43,410 |
|
|
243,885 | |
|
|
229,617 | |
|
|
207,876 | |
|
|
197,340
34,375
|
34,375 |
|
|
195,293 | |
|
|
195,293 | |
|
|
186,253
-7,500
|
-7,500 |
In Level 8 with blinds at 800/1,600 and an ante of 200, "BoozeHound" raised to 4,360 from middle position and was called by Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken from the cutoff, along with "SpO0fy" from the big blind.
The 
flop was checked by three players bringing the turn. Action was checked to Vanauken who fired out 11,6790 and "SpO0fy" raised to 23,360.
"BoozeHound" quickly folded their hand and Vanauken put his remaining 39,238 stack in the the middle. "SpO0fy" quickly called and both players revealed their hands.
"SpO0fy": 
Eric “alwaysliquid” Vanauken: 
Vanauken was well ahead after turning the straight and the river improved his hand while securing the double-up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
122,890 | |
|
|
94,036
19,036
|
19,036 |
|
|
69,680 |
In Level 7 with blinds of 600/1,200 and an ante of 150, "GiveThePpl99" opened for 2,760 from late position and Dan “mj23style” Sewnig three-bet to 8,500 from the button.
The blinds folded and action was back on "GiveThePpl99" who called to see a flop appear. "GiveThePpl99" led put for 3,000 and was quickly called by Sewnig.
Once the 
paired the board on the turn, "GiveThePpl99" check-folded after Sewnig fired out 8,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
84,400 | |
|
|
76,792 |