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

In Level 8 with blinds of 800/1,600 and an ante of 200, "dorilou22" remains atop the leader board with the late registration period having surpassed its halfway point. The field is now up to 136 and 83 players still remain.

Player	Chips	Progress
dorilou22	330,159
GrindUrGearz	318,898
Maxabg	239,263
leoliondog	216,922
r87996541	197,679
chen718	177,233
CharlieLucky	160,826
jtdelnot	152,015
Aitm1	149,260
JERZEEMANNN	145,444
skip-973	142,759
richyrich	141,224
Kevin "sofcknsick" Campbell	140,475
Don "dhimp20" Himpele	130,629
ChippingggUP88	129,671
Chris "rumpthumper" White	124,696
Stanton "Stonniepokes" Tentnowski	121,366
maniacalmonk	112,400
sKarogna	106,849
La_Flama_Blanca	106,283

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In Level 6 with blinds of 500/1,000 and an ante of 125, action was heads up with 11,250 already in the center with heads-up action between "SadBigCheese" in the small blind and "zalenj", who was under the gun. The board read

"SadBigCheese" checked to "zalenj", who bet 5,625. "SadBigCheese" check-raised to 17,500, nearly half their remaining stack, and "zalenj" called.

The river came and "SadBigCheese" went all in for their last 21,000. "zalenj" folded and "SadBigCheese" took out the pot without needing to see showdown.

Player	Chips	Progress
zalenj	113,235 113,235	113,235
SadBigCheese	67,375 67,375	67,375

In Level 5 with blinds of 400/800 and an ante of 100, three players saw a flop of with 5,800 in the middle. Action checked to Chris "rumpthumper" White, who was on the button and bet 2,900. Only "dorilou22" called in the cutoff and action went heads up to the turn , where both players checked.

The river fell and "dorilou22" checked. White made a bet of 21,000 and "dorilou22" thought for a few moments before conserving their top stack in the tournament and clicking the fold button

Player	Chips	Progress
dorilou22	278,730
Chris "rumpthumper" White	103,850

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.”

Play is nearing the end of Level 4 with blinds of 300/600 and an ante of 75 and 125 entries have now been recorded with 30 eliminations already occurring. Here's a look at the first page of the leader board.

Player	Chips	Progress
dorilou22	251,405
Maxabg	247,755 247,755	247,755
leoliondog	174,622 174,622	174,622
dianenet	138,477 138,477	138,477
jitney0999	125,470 125,470	125,470
skip-973	117,370 117,370	117,370
CharlieLucky	117,100 117,100	117,100
Ptkceaser	115,563 115,563	115,563
Jrh5222	112,813 112,813	112,813
JERZEEMANNN	105,807 105,807	105,807
sKarogna	104,290 104,290	104,290
skywalker073075	104,119 104,119	104,119
GrindUrGearz	103,083 103,083	103,083
La_Flama_Blanca	100,758 100,758	100,758
Stanton "Stonniepokes" Tentnowski	97,681 47,681	47,681
Jerz0fficial	96,899 96,899	96,899
Chris "rumpthumper" White	96,700 96,700	96,700
CATFACE9	92,390 92,390	92,390
bertdoggy	91,550 5,790	5,790
pokerfiend77	91,345 91,345	91,345

In Level 3 with blinds of 250/500 and an ante of 60, there was 9,220 in the middle on a board of and action was heads up between "bertdoggy" in the hijack and "JuanIsOn82", who was on the button.

"bertdoggy" checked and "JuanIsOn82" bet 3,860. "bertdoggy" check-raised to 7,720 and received a call, bringing the river . "bertdoggy" bet 12,330 and "JuanIsOn82" called once more to take the hand to showdown.

Player	Chips	Progress
bertdoggy	85,760 35,760	35,760
JuanIsOn82	16,485 16,485	16,485

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