Joe Palma Wins Second Straight Parx 300 Poker Title
The Parx Big Stax series is always one of the most well-attended events on the East Coast, so it's no surprise that the last two Parx Big Stax 300 events drew more than 4,500 total entries. What is a surprise is that the same man topped both fields, a mighty impressive feat even against the opposition that will typically populate a $300 event.
Joe Palma snagged his second straight Big Stax 300 title on Tuesday, topping a field of 2,805 entries for $120,000. There was actually a four-way chop, but Palma was awarded just about $6,000 less than first-place money. It was the biggest cash yet for Palma, who has about $850,000 in live prize money now.
The achievement comes just a few months after he took home $60,675 and officially first place as part of a three-way chop of Parx Big Stax 300 in May, in a field of 1,785.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Palma | $120,000* |
| 2 | Tom McMahon | $74,000* |
| 3 | Tyreem Williams | $50,844* |
| 4 | Frank Williams | $50,843* |
| 5 | Bin Weng | $28,380 |
| 6 | Derek Staib | $21,425 |
| 7 | Steven McCullough | $16,388 |
| 8 | Ebenezer Devasahayam | $12,631 |
| 9 | Anna Antimony | $10,393 |
*reflects four-way deal
Vinny Pahuja, Greg Himmelbrand, Mike Linster, and Jose Montes were some of the 287 players who cashed in the event.
Palma, meanwhile, was among the shorter stacks for much of the final day, which began with just under 40 players left. However, he caught some heat as the final table approached.
According to the live updates, he won a flip with A♦K♦ against the J♠J♣ of Jesse Cohen to bust him in 13th. Then, he won with queens against Joseph Cervera's A♥Q♥ to send it to an unofficial final table with Palma holding the chip lead and nearly 100 big blinds.
Anna Antimony, who showed off her ability to navigate through big fields last year at Borgata, made her way to the final table. Her run ended in ninth though, as she jammed about 20 big blinds from the small blind over a cutoff open and ran A♣3♣ into the A♦K♥ of Derek Staib.
Ebenezer Devasahayam followed in eighth, and then Palma busted a short-stacked Steven McCullough in seventh with A♦Q♥ against K♠4♥ blind versus blind.
Then, a big pot developed between Palma and Staib. After four players saw a K♣3♣4♥ flop, Palma put in a check-raise out of the big blind when Staib bet, with Staib calling. They got stacks in on a 6♠ turn, and Palma's set of fours had Staib's K♥J♦ drawing dead. Palma took control of just under half of the total chips and reduced the field to five.
Palma then scored the final elimination of the tournament when he opened first to act with 7♥7♣ and called the 18 big blind shove of Bin Weng, who was in the small blind with Q♠9♦. The board bricked out for both players, and Palma had about 57 million of 85 million total chips.
That left Thomas McMahon with 12.7 million, Frank Williams with 7.7 million and Tyreem Williams with 7.3 million. The remaining four players agreed to a deal that saw Palma take nearly first-place money, with McMahon banking $74,000 and the other two taking essentially equal payouts of just under $51,000.
Photo courtesy of Parx
