Event #3: $580 No-Limit Hold'em Re-entry

Event #3
No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Buy-In: $500 (+$80)
Total Entries: 615
Prize Pool: $307,500
September 18-20,2015

Florida pro Ryan Van Sanford goes from first to worst at the final table, finishes third.

West Palm Beach, Fla. (September 21, 2015) — Jonathan Abla carded an unlikely victory at the Palm Beach Kennel Club World Series of Poker Circuit early Monday morning. The 29-year-old South Carolina pro went from two big blinds six handed to becoming a two-time gold ring winner in Event #3, a $580 no-limit hold’em re-entry tournament. Complementing the Circuit’s ultimate prize was a cash worth $64,575 as well as 50 points toward the Casino Championship.

The event’s restart kicked off Sunday with 80 players remaining and just the top 63 finishing in the money. Abla lead the way to start, but was quickly relieved of the top spot by WPT champion and local pro Ryan Van Sanford.

“I’ve never been chip leader coming into a Day 2,” Abla said after the win. “I was really pumped, but it’s almost a little bit of added pressure. It feels like you can only go down after you skyrocket up. You have to remember it’s a marathon.”

Van Sanford played with a fury down the stretch turning his 55,000-chip Day 2 starting stack into 1,650,000 by the time the 10-handed final table started. From there, nothing changed. With four players left, Van Sanford held 5,500,000 of the 7,380,000 chips in play. That stack was good for 137 big blinds at the time and dwarfed the 10-big-blind, 400,000-chip stack of Abla.

“He’s an incredible player. I think he’s very advanced and really good,” Abla said of Van Sanford. “He said out loud, ‘I’m tired. I’m getting tired.’ I just went in defense most — grind him out, grind him out. My main goal wasn’t to ladder, but I kind of wanted to let [Van Sanford] make a mistake. I felt like he was getting tired even though he had all the chips.”

As play stretched into the early morning hours of Monday, Van Sanford played a big hand against eventual runner up Raymond Ruszkowski. In a three-bet pot, Van Sanford check-called a bet of 700,000 on the river. Ruszkowski flipped over pocket aces for an overpair and Van Sanford’s hand instantly hit the muck. The loss left Van Sanford with under 2,000,000 and he never recovered. He finished third earning $29,206.

From there, Abla masterfully maneuvered a short stack yet again to best Ruszkowski and take the tournament’s top spot in the process.

“It’s surreal again,” Abla said of his second gold ring win. “You win the first time and it’s like, ‘Wow. That will probably never happen again.’ This is a bigger field. It’s a bigger buy-in than the one I won. It just feels twice as good. It really does. A lot of people say, ‘One bracelet or one ring. Anybody can do that. Anybody can run really good.’ I feel like it establishes me a little more to have two rings.”

Abla’s previous gold ring victory came in a $365 no-limit hold’em tournament at Harrah’s Cherokee in Cherokee, N.C. He outlasted a field of 404 players and took home $26,660 for his efforts. That win kickstarted a 2014/2015 Circuit season that would see Abla qualify for the season-ending WSOP National Championship with an at-large bid. He parlayed that opportunity into a final table appearance and a ninth-place finish worth $30,854.

Abla resides in Bluffton, S.C. His Event #3 victory at the Kennel Club marks his 21st WSOP-related cash and moves him over $230,000 in career WSOP-related earnings.

Event #3 was the third of 12 gold ring events on the WSOP Circuit schedule at the Palm Beach Kennel Club. The $580 re-entry event attracted 615 entries. The total prize pool came to $307,500 and the top 63 finishers were paid.

The tournament featured four starting flights beginning Friday, September 18 and Saturday, September 19 at noon and 6 p.m. Friday’s Flight A drew 208 entries and advanced 27 while Flight B drew 97 and advanced 12. Saturday’s Flight C drew 200 and advanced 27 while Flight D drew 110 and advanced 14. Each starting flight logged 15 levels (roughly nine hours) of play.

The remaining 80 players merged for Day 2 Sunday, September 20 at noon. The bubble burst toward the end of Level 17 (about 1:15 p.m.). From there, play narrowed to the nine-handed final table toward the end of Level 24 (about 8 p.m.) and wrapped toward the end of Level 31 (about 2:30 a.m.).

Final table results:

1st: Jonathan Abla - $64,575 + Circuit gold ring
2nd: Raymond Ruszkowski - $39,941
3rd: Ryan Van Sanford - $29,206
4th: Janet Fitzgerald - $21,673
5th: Damian Sanchez - $16,307
6th: Jordan Shamah - $12,438
7th: Christian Rodriquez - $9,619
8th: Jeff Dobrin - $7,540
9th: Ernest Greene - $5,990

Complete results are available under the "Results" tab above.

In a big pot with Raymond Ruszkowski, Ryan Van Sanford check-called a bet of 700,000 on the river. Ruszkowkski flipped over pocket aces for an overpair and Van Sanford's hand hit the muck. The pot put Ruszkowki's stack at better than 4,500,000 while Van Sanford slipped under 2,000,000. He was unable to recover and busted third a short time later. Van Sanford earned $29,206 while Ruszkowki took the chip-lead into heads up play versus Jonathan Abla.

Here's where the final match stands:

Heads-up chip counts

Raymond Ruszkowski - 5,550,000 (69 bb)
Jonathan Abla - 1,830,000 (22 bb)

Remaining payouts

1st - $64,575 + Circuit gold ring
2nd - $39,941

Ryan Van Sanford

Florida's own Ryan Van Sanford (pictured) leads the final 10 players in Event #3. At just 21 years old, Van Sanford's deep run in this $580 re-entry event is the most recent in an impressive list of accomplishments that's highlighted by a victory in last year's WPT Jacksonville bestbet Bounty Scramble good for more than $420,000. Van Sanford holds 1,650,000 chips and is one of two players over the 1,000,000 mark. The other, Christian Rodriquez, has 1,008,000.

The two chip leaders are joined at the final table by 2015 National Championship ninth-place finisher Jonathan Abla, ring winner Jeff Dobrin and Janet Fitzgerald.

Ten-handed seating assignments and chip counts:

Seat 1: Raymond Ruszkowski - 914,000 (45 bb)
Seat 2: Ernest Greene - 783,000 (39 bb)
Seat 3: Damian Sanchez - 672,000 (33 bb)
Seat 4: Jonathan Abla - 790,000 (39 bb)
Seat 5: Ryan Van Sanford - 1,650,000 (82 bb)
Seat 6: Jeff Dobrin - 476,000 (23 bb)
Seat 7: Jordan Shamah - 250,000 (12 bb)
Seat 8: Janet Fitzgerald - 720,000 (48 bb)
Seat 9: Trent Smith - 85,000 (4 bb)
Seat 10: Christian Rodriquez - 1,008,000 (50 bb)

Cards are in the air now with about 15 minutes left in the 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante level. Each of the 10 remaining players has locked up $4,822 while the tournament's victor earns $64,575, 50 points toward the Casino Championship and, of course, a Circuit gold ring.

Chip leader Ryan Van Sanford (right) and ring winner Jonathan Abla (left)

WPT champion Ryan Van Sanford (pictured right) caught a hot streak early on Day 2 and transformed his 55,000-chip starting stack into 858,000 over the course of the first six levels of play. Van Sanford, who began the day 60th of 80 remaining players, now leads the way with 21 left and his second gold ring on the line.

On Van Sanford's direct right is Jonathan Abla (pictured left). Abla began the day with the chip lead, but now sits toward the middle of the pack with 327,000.

Cards are back in the air following the second break of the day. Current blinds are 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante and all remaining players are assured a score of at least $2,712. We will provide updates seating assignments and chip counts when play consolidates to the unofficial final table.

Cards are in the air for Day 2 with 80 players remaining and just the top 63 heading home with prize money. After the bubble bursts, we'll provide you a look at the first few eliminations. In the meantime, here's the restart at a glance:

-80 players remain, 63 spots finish in the money
-Jonathan Abla leads, Darryll Fish, Ryan Van Sanford, Dan Gilmer still alive
-Min-cash earns $1,006, tournament’s champion pockets $64,575, Circuit gold ring and 50 points toward Casino Championship

Good luck, players!

Event #3 of the Palm Beach Kennel Club Circuit series, a $580 re-entry event, drew 615 entries over the course of four starting flights. The $307,500 prize pool pays the top 63 finishers a sum of at least $1,006. Payouts escalate from there and eventually top out in the form of a $64,575 first prize. In addition, the tournament's champion heads home with a Circuit gold ring and 50 points toward the Casino Championship.

Here's a look at the final table payouts:

The complete payout structure is available under the "Prizepool" tab above.

From 200 starting, Flight C of the re-entry played down to 27 remaining following 15 levels of action. Donovan Bragg of Laredo, Tex. has all the bragging rights as he sets the pace with 181,000 chips. While that number puts him in front of his respective flight, it places him fifth in the overall standings behind Flight A's Jonathan Abla and Janet Fitzgerald and Flight B's Michael Sewell and Raymond Ruszkowski.

Here's a look at the top 10 stacks from Flight C:

1. Donovan Bragg - 181,000
2. Robert Hodson - 159,000
3. Erik Nomberg - 144,000
4. John Song - 142,500
5. Marshall White - 112,500
6. Max Marion - 111,500
7. Alexis Torrado - 109,500
8. David Bennett - 106,000
9. Steven Bennett 98,500
10. Jerry Erickson - 97,500

Complete chip counts from Flight A, Flight B and Flight C are available under the "Reports" tab above.

With three flights in the books, that leave only this evening's 6 p.m. Flight D underway. The clock currently reads 105 entries bringing the four-flight total to 610 and counting with registration open until about 10:30 p.m. ET.

We will provide final prize pool figures shortly after registration closes.

Flight D of the re-entry is underway at the Palm Beach Kennel Club. This marks the last of the starting flights meaning just four-and-a-half more hours of late registration remain. Here's a look at the ins and outs of how Flight D will play down:

6 p.m. - Event #3D: $580 Re-Entry - Flight D

-$580 buy-in gets players 12,000 chips
-Unlimited re-entry is permitted through the registration period
-Registration remains open through Level 8 (until about 10:30 p.m.)
-Day 1 concludes after Level 15 (about 3 a.m.)
-Levels 1-12 are 30 minutes, Levels 13-21 are 40 minutes, all remaining levels are 50 minutes
-Advancing players return for Day 2 Sunday at noon

Once registration closes, the field will be finalized and the prize pool will be verified. We will provide complete attendance figures as well as payouts at that time.

Good luck, players!

Flight C players are back in their seats following the second break of the day meaning one hour of late registration remains before it closes at 4:30 p.m. ET. The clock currently reads 191 entries putting the three-flight total at 496 with plenty of opportunities left to play. In addition to 60 more minutes of late registration in Flight C, Flight D gets underway at 6 p.m. with late registration open until 10:30 p.m.

We will check back after the Flight C attendance figure has been finalized.