EVENT UPDATES
view updates for day:
Thursday, November 2, 2017 9:09 PM Local Time
New York pro climbs into a tie for eighth place on the Circuit’s all-time list
Vinny Moscati is one of the WSOP Circuit’s brightest stars, and he added to his accolades on Thursday night. He won the $365 Monster Stack event at Harveys Lake Tahoe, outlasting a field of 379 entries to claim the top prize of $25,011.
Moscati, 33, is a professional poker player from Westchester County, New York. He’s been playing the game full time for most of his adult life, starting as an online grinder back in his college days.
Black Friday forced Moscati to pursue the career of a live pro, though, and the changeover wasn’t immediately successful.
“I didn’t really transition well into live (poker),” Moscati said. “But now it’s coming around, and we’re having some fun.”
Coming around, indeed. The victory is Moscati’s seventh on the Circuit, moving him into a tie for eight place on the all-time list. He’s earned just shy of $400,000 on the traveling tour.
This run began on Moscati’s first day in Lake Tahoe, arriving just in time to enter the Monster Stack. A day later, he found himself heads-up with five-time ring winner Daniel Lowery, who’d just won the one for his thumb a day prior.
Moscati had the lead for most of the final table, but Lowery did briefly pull in front during the final duel. Moscati was too much in the end, though, taking the last of Lowery’s chips to seal his own victory.
Although Moscati’s name is on the list of elite Circuit grinders, he has his sights set on a larger WSOP prize. “I want to win a bracelet,” he said of his long-term poker goals. Doesn’t everyone?
[Full results]
Thursday, November 2, 2017 2:28 PM Local Time
It took barely an hour of play to reduce the field from 22 players down to a final table of 10. Here's the lineup:
Seat 1: Jonathan Levy - 683,000
Seat 2: Daniel Lowery - 1,637,000
Seat 3: Brett Murray - 1,095,000
Seat 4: Vincent Moscati - 1,100,000
Seat 5: Dan Stir - 180,000
Seat 6: Merle Avila - 1,000,000
Seat 7: Brett Mast - 119,000
Seat 8: Kami Hudson - 391,000
Seat 9: Grant Denison - 766,000
Seat 10: Randy Paguio - 620,000
Blinds are 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante right now, so the average stack has ballooned close to 50 big blinds.
The majority of that is packed toward the top of the counts, with ring winners Daniel Lowery, Brett Murray, and Vincent Moscati all wielding big stacks. Lowery is a five-time ring winner who's looking to pick up his second victory of the week, while Moscati is already a six-timer.
Everyone left is guaranteed to earn at least $1,915.
Thursday, November 2, 2017 12:59 AM Local Time
Level 21 concludes, signaling the end of Day 1. From a starting field of 379 entries, just 22 players remain.
Brett Murray finished the night atop the chip counts, turning his 20,000 starting chips into 939,000 over the course of the day. He'll be the man setting the pace for the remaining field on Day 2.
Here's the overnight top five:
1. Brett Murray - 939,000
2. Daniel Lowery - 752,000
3. Randy Paguio - 622,000
4. Nicholas Pupillo - 611,000
5. Grant Denison - 604,000
Day 2 chip counts | Day 2 seat draw
The remaining field is littered with some of the Circuit's more successful grinders, including a quartet of ring winners in the top five.
Brett Murray (1), Randy Paguio (1), and Nicholas Pupillo (2) have all tasted Circuit victory before, for starters.
Daniel Lowery is fresh off a win last night in Event #7, and he bagged up a second-place stack in this one, too. Lowery is now a five-time WSOPC winner who's declared his intentions of winning the Casino Champion race for Harveys Lake Tahoe. He'd put himself in good position to do so with another deep run.
Vincent Moscati still has one more ring than Lowery does, one of the few six-time winners on the WSOP Circuit. Moscati will return for Day 2 just outside the top five. He's in sixth place with 562,000 chips.
Neil Scott is working on the 61st cash of his WSOPC career, though still in search of his own first ring. He has an uphill climb in front of him, bagging up fifth from the bottom with 135,000 chips.
They and the rest of the survivors will return Thursday to play it out to a winner. Blinds will be 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante when play resumes, putting the average stack around 29 big blinds. Everyone left is guaranteed to earn at least $940.
Day 2 begins at 1 p.m.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017 7:05 PM Local Time
The players are back from their dinner break, and registration has closed as the new level begins.
This MONSTER STACK officially drew 379 entries, the largest single-day turnout of the week by a big margin. That attendance generates a prizepool worth $113,700, which will be shared by the final 45 players. A min-cash is worth $514.
The top three players will all collect five-figure prizes tomorrow. The winner will collect the series' eighth gold ring and the top prize of $25,011.
The board shows 144 players remaining to begin Level 13.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017 10:57 PM Local Time
