2024 Maryland State Poker Championship

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Kaye in the Fray

Connor Richards
Connor Richards
David Kaye
David Kaye

PokerStars ambassador David "DavidKayePoker" Kaye has arrived at the 2024 Maryland State Poker Championship and is currently grinding away Day 1e of the $600 Kickoff Event.

Kaye is primarily an online grinder and cash game streamer but is ready to show that he can compete on the live felt.

As PokerNews reported about Kaye back in October 2023:

Kaye has gone from live low-stakes cash games to playing and competing against the best cash game players in Michigan and New Jersey on the online mid-stakes scene. Cash games are Kaye’s specialty, and he continues to make a name for himself in those circles — but the PokerStars ambassador has new opportunities to grow his name on the live poker scene and he plans to do just that at the return of the NAPT in Las Vegas in November.

We'll be sure to keep an eye on the PokerStars ambassador as he eyes a deep run in the $600 Kickoff.

David Kaye
David Kaye

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Tags: David KayePokerStarsMaryland

Eric Lucas Is the First Winner at the 2024 Maryland State Poker Championship

Connor Richards
Connor Richards
2024 Maryland State Poker Championship
2024 Maryland State Poker Championship

The first winner at the PokerStars 2024 Maryland State Poker Championship is Maryland's Eric Lucas, who took down the $400 buy-in HORSE event for $8,972.

The tournament had a $20,000 guarantee and smashed that with a $26,386 prize pool. Lucas earned the lion's share as he defeated Virginia's Paul Adams ($5,145), while others at the final table included fellow Virginian Michael Heffner (4th - $2,177) and Maryland's Stuar Rotter (3rd - $3,219) and Anthony Collurafici (7th - $1,161).

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2024 Maryland State Poker Championship HORSE Results

PLACEPLAYERHOMETOWNPRIZE (IN USD)
1Eric LucasHavre De Grace, MD$8,972
2Paul AdamsGrace Allen, VA$5,145
3Stuart RotterParksville, MD$3,219
4Michael HeffnerReston, VA$2,177
5Brian ZekusMinneapolis, MS$1,649
6Robert BrylinskiBuffalo, NY$1,319
7Anthony ColluraficiSparrows Point, MD$1,161
8Dale HarrisonMiddle River, MD$1,055
9Aaron PinsonBaltimore, MD$897
10Hossein Ghodosi FardBethesda, MD$792

Tags: Aaron PinsonAnthony ColluraficiBrian ZekusDale HarrisonEric LucasGrace AllenMarylandMichael HeffnerPaul AdamsPokerStarsRobert BrylinskiStuart Rotter

Arthur Wins a Sick One

Connor Richards
Connor Richards
Riva Arthur
Riva Arthur

During yesterday's Day 1c flight of the $600 Kickoff Event, PokerNews happened to be walking by a table when Riva Arthur got all in with pocket kings against another player with kings. A chop seemed imminent, but that is not how it went down.

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Arthur held the K♦ and a two-diamond flop of 8♦Q♥Q♦ left her freerolling. The 3♦ turn upped the suspense factor, and the dramatic 6♦ river gave her the flush to put a tough beat on the now-eliminated opponent.

Arthur, who is from Massachusetts, has already amassed $91,207 in Hendon Mob earnings despite her first cash being a little over a year ago.

She's had success at Live! before, taking down a $200k guaranteed Multi-Flight event in March for $29,300.

Arthur also made a deep run in last year's NAPT Las Vegas $5,300 NAPT High Roller with a tenth-place finish worth $16,295.

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Tags: Riva Arthur

Band Shirts & Poker Tournaments

Connor Richards
Connor Richards
Dennis Backhaus
Dennis Backhaus

As Virginia's Dennis Backhaus grinded away in the $600 Kickoff Event of the Maryland State Poker Championship at Live! Casino and Hotel Maryland, attentive players at the table may have noticed the bright graphic of a shield-wielding Viking warrior on his black t-shirt.

The shirt was of the Swedish band Amon Amarth, whose music has been categorized as melodic death metal and Viking metal, two subgenres of heavy metal characterized by fast tempos, growled vocals and lyrics of Norse mythology.

As a music fan, band shirts tend to stand out to me in crowded poker tournament fields. Spotting one on Erik Seidel inspired me to write this piece on the Poker Hall of Famer's similar love for music. I also happen to be a fan of Amon Amarth and even saw them in concert a decade ago.

Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth in 2014

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Just as Sweden has produced some of the greatest poker players of all time — think Viktor "Isildur1" Blom and Niklas Astedt — the Scandinavian country has also birthed many of the biggest death metal bands in the world and is known for its prominent metal scenes in Stockholm and Gothenburg.

Backhaus has $66,943 in Hendon Mob earnings, two first-place finishes at Maryland Live! and excellent taste in music.

Dennis Backhaus
Dennis Backhaus

Follow the $600 Kickoff Event!

Tags: Dennis BackhausMaryland

Meet Kickoff Day 1b Chip Leader Yaser Al-Keliddar

Connor Richards
Connor Richards
Yaser Al-Keliddar
Yaser Al-Keliddar

The second starting flight of the $600 Kickoff Event at the 2024 Maryland State Poker Championship sponsored by PokerStars has wrapped up with 16 players remaining, just a fraction of the 125 who entered Day 1b. PokerNews' Tyler Boyer recapped the flight, which you can read about here.

Despite the large field, a notable player ended up bagging the chip lead with a stack of 503,000 as the only player with more than half a million chips. That player is Virginia's Yaser Al-Keliddar, a longtime mid-stakes grinder who has amassed more than $1.1 million in Hendon Mob earnings.

Yaser Al-Keliddar
Yaser Al-Keliddar

Al-Keliddar's first tournament cash dates back 20 years when he finished 126th in the 2004 WSOP Main Event for $15,000. A quick glance at his Hendon shows that this isn't his first time grinding at Maryland Live!, and in 2017, he took down a $330 Black Chip Bounty event for $8,022.

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The next year, Al-Keliddar won a maiden bracelet in the 2019 $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed for $154,338. He picked up a Circuit ring in 2022 at WSOPC Cherokee in a $400 No-Limit Hold'em Event that grossed him $25,013.

When he returns in the money on Day 2, Al-Keliddar will need to fend off fellow bigs stacks Sean Gomez, Gregory Chill and Derek Scott, as well as any big stacks that bag the other five starting flights.

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Tags: MarylandPokerStarsYaser Al-Keliddar

Follow the 2024 Maryland State Poker Championship With PokerNews

Connor Richards
Connor Richards
Maryland State Poker Championship
Maryland State Poker Championship

The Maryland State Poker Championship at Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland is officially underway on the East Coast and PokerNews is on-site to cover the action.

The PokerStars-sponsored event, running July 31-August 12, will culminate with a $2,200 buy-in Main Event that comes with a $500,000 guarantee attached.

Things got underway this week with a $600 Kickoff Event, a $300,000 guaranteed event with six Day 1 starting flights over four days. PokerNews is providing live updates of the event, which you can read here.

In addition to live reporting, PokerNews will be covering highlights of the series complete with player interviews, big hands and other activities offered here at Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland.

Stay tuned for expanded coverage of what will surely be a memorable series, and take a look at the full series schedule in the table below.

Maryland State Poker Championship Schedule

eventDateTimeBuy-inGtd!Tournament
131-Jul11:15 AM$400$20,000HORSE
231-Jul6:15 PM$600$300,000No Limit Hold'em Multi-flight A
201-Aug11:15 AM$600$300,000No Limit Hold'em Multi-flight B
301-Aug2:15 PM$400$20,000Limit Omaha 8
201-Aug6:15 PM$600$300,000No Limit Hold'em Multi-flight C
202-Aug11:15 AM$600$300,000No Limit Hold'em Multi-flight D
402-Aug2:15 PM$400$20,000Pot Limit Omaha 8
202-Aug6:15 PM$600$300,000No Limit Hold'em Multi-flight E
203-Aug11:15 AM$600$300,000No Limit Hold'em Multi-flight F
503-Aug6:15 PM$400$20,0005-Card Plo Black Chip Bounty
204-Aug11:15 AM  No Limit Hold'em Multi-flight Day 2
604-Aug1:15 PM$300$10,000Ladies No Limit Hold'em
704-Aug3:15 PM$400$40,0006-Max Championship
805-Aug10:15 AM$400$25,000Seniors (50+)
905-Aug2:15 PM$400$20,000Pot Limit Omaha
1005-Aug6:15 PM$400$50,000NLH Multi-flight A
1006-Aug11:15 AM$400$50,000NLH Multi-flight B
1106-Aug2:15 PM$400$20,000Big O
1006-Aug6:15 PM$400$50,000NLH Multi-flight C
1207-Aug10:15 AM$400$10,000Super Seniors (60+)
1307-Aug11:15 AM$1,100 Heads-up (Limited To 32 Entrants)
1007-Aug6:15 PM  NLH Multi-flight Day 2
1408-Aug2:15 PM$1,650$25,000Pot Limit Omaha Bounty
Main Event09-Aug11:15 AM$2,200$500,000The Main Event Flight A
Main Event10-Aug11:15 AM$2,200$500,000The Main Event Flight B
1610-Aug6:15 PM$400$20,000Black Chip Bounty Turbo
Main Event11-Aug12:15 PM  Main Event Day 2
1711-Aug2:15 PM$1,100$50,000Live! Stacks Championship
1812-Aug11:15 AM$400/team Tag Team Championship
Main Event12-Aug2:15 PM  Main Event Day 3 (If Necessary)

Tags: MarylandPokerStars

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