Raymond Ross Jr Wins Parx Big Stax XXXII 1100 for $125,588
The Parx Big Stax XXXII 1100 Championship attracted 629 runners, and on Monday 32-year-old Ray Ross Jr, a regular cash game player at Parx Casino, emerged victorious to capture a $125,588 first-place prize.
For the Philly-based poker pro it was the largest tournament score of his career, which prior to the win comprised of $250K in live tournament earnings.
Ross, who actually hit the gym during the dinner break on the final day of play, explained that he wasn’t originally going to play the tournament until his friends, Tom and Ed, told him they were going to play.
He decided to join him and the rest, as they say, is history.
"It feels good to win," Ross said succinctly after the victory.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ray Ross Jr | $125,588 |
| 2nd | Mike Cohen | $88,067 |
| 3rd | Jason Deutsch | $56,685 |
| 4th | Sam Ganzfried | $40,913 |
| 5th | Ryan Hagerty | $31,396 |
| 6th | Brandon Lulov | $25,295 |
| 7th | Christian Harder | $21,007 |
| 8th | Eric Most | $16,738 |
| 9th | Parker Ridriguez | $12,557 |
Others to cash the tournament on Day 2 were two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Ryan Eriquezzo (14th - $8,362), Greg Fishberg (19th - $5,886), Michael Marder (22nd - $4,893), Stephanie Hubbard (26th - $4,161), Day 1a chip leader Steven Snyder (40th - $2,973), Daniel Pearlman (45th - $2,973), Bobby Oboodi (52nd - $2,604), Mukul Pahuja (61st - $2,262), Day 1b chip leader Tim Glab (74th - $1,644), and Shuntak Yeung (79th - $1,644).
Day 3 Action
A dozen players returned for Day 3 action and three of them needed to fall before the final table was reached. Those to fall short included Jin Lee (12th - $10,490), Tom Revello (11th - $10,490), and Dennis Zollo (10th - $10,490).
Not long into the final table, Parker Rodriguez busted his short stack after losing a flip with ace-king to Christian Harder’s two red jacks. Two and a half hours later, Eric Most succumbed after three-bet jamming with ace-jack only to have Brandon Lulov roll over pocket aces.
Just before the dinner break, the short-stacked Harder bowed out losing a all-in preflop race with fives against Lulov’s ace-six, and after the remaining players ate it was time for Lulov, the start-of-day chip leader, to follow him out the door. Lulov got it in with Big Slick and lost a race against Mike Cohen’s pocket sevens to bow out in sixth place.
Ryan Hagerty then met his demise failing to get there with queen-nine against the ace-five of Ross, and sometime later it was Ross dispatching Sam Ganzfried in fourth place spiking a seven on the river holding nine-seven all in preflop against his opponent’s king-eight.
After Jason Deutsch bowed out in third place – the results of getting it in on the turn with top pair only to have Ross river a spade flush – the heads-up match was set between Cohen and Ross. The former had 14.375 million in chips to the latter’s 17.125 million.
The two were deep but that didn’t stop them from playing for it all in a six-bet pot. Cohen had eights and Ross ace-king. The flop was safe for Cohen, but a king on the turn would seal the deal for Ross. Cohen had to settle for second place and $88,067 in prize money.
PokerNews will return to Pennsylvania for the Parx Big Stax XXXIII April 29-May 18 to once again offer live updates from the three big tournaments!