partypoker US Network Players Choice Series (Dec.13-20)

Blinds: 500/1,000

Four more matches have recently concluded to bring the field down to 19 with just three matches left in play.

Player	Chips	Progress
redtongue1_	100,000 50,000	50,000
stEWhUNger08	100,000 50,000	50,000
MegaWinner	100,000 50,000	50,000
pay4medsch00l	100,000 50,000	50,000
Moose4Life	Busted
Yankswin27	Busted
Angel "chromeking" Lopez	Busted
BBMKBB	Busted

Blinds: 400/800

A single-raised pot put 3,760 into the middle preflop with "Gohednpopoff" in the big blind and holding a commanding chip lead against the on-the-button "MoltenLight". The flop came and "MoltenLight" got their last 18,333 into the middle with "Gohednpopoff" calling.

"MoltenLight":
"Gohednpopoff":

"MoltenLight" was two cards away from pulling back into contention and the turn gave them just one more card to sweat. Unfortunately, that final card came and sent them to the rail as a result while "Gohednpopoff" won the match and earned their way into the final 16, making it into the money along the way.

"UAUTCU" and "upayformypennys" also recently won their matches as "Selurznug" and "DonkyKing" fell at their expenses.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gohednpopoff	100,000 50,000	50,000
UAUTCU	100,000 50,000	50,000
upayformypennys	100,000 50,000	50,000
MoltenLight	Busted
Selurznug	Busted
DonkyKing	Busted

Last month, the World Poker Tour (WPT) announced its first U.S.-based online Main Tour event, the $3,500 WPT Online Poker Open Main Event, set for a late December running in New Jersey. That one will also carry a guarantee of $1 million.

The WPT Online Poker Open Main Event will be held Dec. 27-29 on partypoker US Network for players in New Jersey.

The ambitious $1 million guarantee signifies how serious the WPT and partypoker are about making this a premier poker tournament worthy of the WPT name.

“The WPT Online Poker Open brings the most prestigious prize in poker to New Jersey and the partypoker US Network,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska in a presser. “WPT’s continued pivot toward online will continue with another landmark for regulated online poker in the United States.”

Indeed, the WPT has pivoted into a strong series of online offerings, however, all were offered to the dot-com partypoker player pool, a much larger bunch of customers than the prospective New Jersey pool. Drawing the necessary entries to meet the guarantee will require some effort, and the WPT already announced satellites will be available for as little as $5.

The second round of 32 players is officially underway and matchups have been posted below.

Player	Chips	Progress
UAUTCU	50,000
Gohednpopoff	50,000
madroc	50,000
redtongue1_	50,000
Dan "mj23style" Sewnig	50,000
stEWhUNger08	50,000
Eric "alwaysliquid" Vanauken	50,000
cenation	50,000
MYSTICMOUNTAIN	50,000
pay4medsch00l	50,000
maniacalmonk	50,000
Ptkceaser	50,000
DonkyKing	50,000
ChickenTendies	50,000
Angel "chromeking" Lopez	50,000
a_stormy_knight	50,000
MeowMeow33	50,000
Selurznug	50,000
jchimpo56	50,000
Moose4Life	50,000
mia1223	50,000
Yankswin27	50,000
BigDickRick	50,000
Vinny "brownmagic" Pahuja	50,000
kevino22	50,000

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Blinds: 1,000/2,000

In the early minutes after returning from break, Angel "chromeking" Lopez increased his stack to over 90,000 and shoved on the button to put "RobertJordan" all in for their last 9,000. A call was made.

Angel "chromeking" Lopez:
"RobertJordan":

A pair of aces came as the board ran out and Lopez's jack kicker remained best to eliminate "RobertJordan" in 34th place.

Moments later, "maniacalmonk" eliminated "FooQuan" from the tournament in 33rd to bring about the end of Round 1. With 32 players left, Round 2 has begun, and matchups will be posted shortly.

Player	Chips	Progress
Angel "chromeking" Lopez	100,000 38,014	38,014
maniacalmonk	100,000 41,924	41,924
RobertJordan	Busted
FooQuan	Busted

If you’ve ever played poker either at Borgata or online in New Jersey, there’s a good chance you’ve crossed paths with Don Himpele, who has more than $630K in online lifetime tournament earnings and $89K in live scores on HendonMob.

Himpele, a father of five who has been married for 24 years, graduated from Gettysburg College with a degree in Business and Economics, and for the last 25 years he has worked as a trader on the New York Stock Exchange as a Managing Director for Goldman Sachs and IMC Trading. So how did the professional family man find poker?

“I began playing as a teenager,” he told PokerNews. “My mother was an early influence and taught me many ‘gameplay skills.’ I have combined that and my skills as a trader to make strong decisions on the felt.”

He continued: “I consider myself a recreational player, as family and work obligations don't allow for a robust live game tournament schedule. I do play the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main yearly, and many Parx Big Stax tournaments. I am a regular online tournament player who targets buy-ins usually ranging from $200-$2,000. I play in local cash games – usually $5/$10.”

While he only plays when his schedule allows, it’s worth noting Himpele has been playing for a long time. In fact, one of his favorite poker memories stems all the way back to the 2004 WSOP Main Event.

“My most notable experience was my first WSOP Main Event in 2004 and sitting at ESPN feature TV table with top pros,” he recalled. “Also, I cashed in the 2010 WSOP Main Event after being sponsored by Absolute Poker.”

While his Absolute Poker days are behind him, Himpele does spend a fair amount of time competing on the partypoker US Network, which is comprised of partypoker US, Borgata Poker and BetMGM Poker.

“partypoker US brings a strong level of competition and I particularly like when they run a series as it brings a variety of games and a strong turnout with a commensurate prize pool,” said Himpele. “I have a lot of respect for New Jersey's top pros such as Mike Lavenburg, Mike Gagliano, Katie Stone and David Coleman. I enjoy the challenge of battling against them as a test of skill.”

Blinds:800/1,600

The matches between Angel "chromeking" Lopez and "RobertJordan", and "maniacalmonk" and "FooQuan" are the only two left. Lopez has found his way back from 20,000 and has taken the chip lead, while "maniacalmonk" also holds a slight edge over their opponent.

These four remaining players are on a five-minute break and will resume at the top of the hour.

Player	Chips	Progress
Angel "chromeking" Lopez	61,986 41,153	41,153
maniacalmonk	58,076 8,076	8,076
FooQuan	41,924 -8,076	-8,076
RobertJordan	38,014 -41,153	-41,153

The following players have seen their matches play to completion and 34 players now remain. Just two matches are left, and chip counts from those matches will be posted shortly.

Player	Chips	Progress
jchimpo56	100,000 50,000	50,000
DonkyKing	100,000 50,000	50,000
MegaWinner	100,000 50,000	50,000
madroc	100,000 50,000	50,000
redtongue1_	100,000 50,000	50,000
a_stormy_knight	100,000 50,000	50,000
MoltenLight	100,000 50,000	50,000
ChickenTendies	100,000 50,000	50,000
Moose4Life	100,000 50,000	50,000
onoreally	100,000 50,000	50,000
BBMKBB	100,000 50,000	50,000
cenation	100,000 50,000	50,000
pay4medsch00l	100,000 50,000	50,000
mia1223	100,000 50,000	50,000
MYSTICMOUNTAIN	100,000 50,000	50,000
Vinny "brownmagic" Pahuja	100,000 35,876	35,876
Don "dhimp20" Himpele	Busted
Million27	Busted
Mycelium	Busted
John "Slapshot1085" Forlenza	Busted
Pescador	Busted
Kevin "sofcknsick" Campbell	Busted
Brian "TopCreature" Sherrier	Busted
Bbeanz	Busted
Chalmisi6	Busted

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