2025 Pure Poker Tour Series #2 – Event #13: $1,100 NLH Main Event

Haven Taylor open-shoved from the hijack, and took the blinds and antes. The table break down to 4 has set up an interesting dynamic with Haven and her husband Thomas on the same table. Thomas is seated two seats to the left of his wife, and was one of the players to fold to her shove.

The field is down to 36 remaining now on the final four tables. The numbers are confirmed at 100 entries for 1a, so tonight will end when they play down to 13 players left.

In the final hand of the last level, Tyler Panas found a double to stay alive. He open-shoved for 7.5k from the hijack, and Ryan Smith raised that up to 15k to isolate from the cutoff.

Snith was ahead with A♥Q♣ against 8♣7♣ but Panas smashed the flop, then improved on the river of 10♣6♦9♣3♠J♦.

Haven Taylor raised to 4k under the gun, and it folded around to Alemu Makonen in the big blind. He called, and then they both checked it down through the [invalid notations] as Makonen mucked his hand.

Ambrose Ng raised to 4k early from a short stack. The action folded around to Ian Alvarado in the big blind and he asked to see Ng’s stack before raising enough to force Ng all in to call. Ng spent a few seconds in the tank before electing to muck and play another hand.

Entries for Day 1a are now closed with 100 on the board. That puts just over $94k into the prizes from today’s action with another full Day 1 to run tomorrow. While the numbers are still unofficial, if it holds at 100, it will mean 13 players bagging chips later tonight.

Iam Alvarado looks to be the chip leader right now with 160k in front of him, but there are a few other players in the 100k club as well.

The prize pool is now over $90k with 97 entries on the board. There are 10 minutes to play until the dinner break, and I’ll have a look around for some big stacks while the players are away from the tables.

Level 9 has just begun, and this is the final level of poker to buy into Day 1a. Entries will remain open during the dinner break that follows this level, with the desk closing at the start of Level 10.

There are now 92 entries on the board, so 100 is still within sight with about an hour and 20 minutes left for 1a registration.

The prizes are now over $80k as Level 8 begins. There are now just over two hours until the entry desk closes for Day 1a.

The players are now back in their seats for Level 7. The field is up to 84 entries now, and I still expect a reasonable number of reentries before dinner, for a likely final field of 90-100. 100 seems like it might be a bit optimistic at this point, but if they get there, it will mean 1a prizes of just over $94k. 90 entries on 1a would put just shy of $85k into the pool. With 2.5 hours to go in entries, it’s still up in the air, but a final 1a prize pool of $85-$90k seems like a good bet right now.

The field is just a couple of entries shy of $80k in prizes at the end of Level 6. The field is now at 83 entries with 54 players still active at the felt.

Level 7 will be underway in about 10 minutes, and there are three more levels of poker before entries close. Players will still be able to buy in through the dinner break following Level 9, but once they sit down for Level 10, Day 1a will be closed.

There is one more satellite shot to the Main Event happening later today. Action starts at 7:30 PM and will likely be in the Pearl alongside Day 1a.

DJ Sharma picked up his very first PPT trophy this week after taking down Event #8 with textbook “Sharma Time” poker. While he’s far less interested in the prize pools than most players who sit at a poker table (he’s done just fine for himself in his business life, and even winning the Vegas Main Event likely wouldn’t be an appreciable impact on his net worth), he still competes at the tables with a ferocity and passion that is rarely seen.

He’s in the game for challenge and to win, and booking his first win that included a trophy, tangible proof of the win that he can show off on his bar at home, was a major box ticked. That said, he’s here now in the Main Event today looking for a friend to sit alongside his E8 trophy.

The Day 1a prizes are already over $65k with Level 5 about to begin. There are still about 4 hours and 20 minutes left to enter today’s flight, so it looks like a field of ~100 isn’t out of the question.

After another trip around the room, there are a bunch more familiar faces I spotted including Taran Parmar, Andy Truong, Alex Liu, Tony Comely, Michael “Berny” Bernstein, Tony Ma, Ed Zurawell, Shawn Taghavi, Jimmy Lee, Jenna Murray, and Ian Alvarado.

They are a couple of entries away from $60k in prizes with about 30 minutes to go in Level 4. Among the players I’ve spotted in the field today is the winner of the PLO from yesterday, Luteng Li. Li’s story is pretty interesting — yesterday’s PLO was the very first tournament he’s ever played on the Pure Poker Tour, and he scored a trophy in it.

The field is now over $50k with 55 entries on the board during the break following Level 3. Players will be back in action shortly for Level 4 with about 5 hours left to get into 1a.

The prizes are now over $40k with 43 entries on the board and 25 minutes to play in Level 3. I’ve just had a closer look at the field, and in addition to the names mentioned in my opening post, I spotted Tyler Panas, Kim Graham, Ali Razzaq, Alemu Makonen, Yan Coderre, Rob Lothian, Rob Limpert, Josh Myers, Larry Quon, Keith Sarnoski, John Donnelly, Haven Taylor, Julius Roque, Brett Worton, Johnny Dalphond, and Ryan Comely.

Level 3 has just begun with 37 entries on the board so far. That puts the prizes at $34,799 after two levels of play, and I’m expecting at least twice this number by the time entries close around 8 PM tonight.

I’ve just arrived at the casino after a bit of a late night last night, but on first glance I’ve spotted Thomas Taylor, Curtis Singleton, Keith Schults, Ryan Smith, and Gaetano Buda among the players in their seats early today.

While the High Roller caps it in price, the Main Event remains the jewel in the crown for PPT players. It’s almost certain to have the biggest prize pool of the series with the biggest score up top, though the HR will likely rival those numbers.

Players have two shots to bag a stack for the money round of the Main Event. Day 1a runs on May 23, with Day 1b on May 24. Both flights start at noon and play until 12.5% of the field remains. Entries are open for about 7.25 hours during Day 1 play, with the desk closing after the dinner break following Level 9 (~7:15 PM).

Day 1 blinds are 40 minutes long, jumping to 60 minutes on Day 2 (heads up drops to 30 minutes). Players can play both Day 1 flights and, in the event of two bags for the same player, they’ll play the biggest one on Sunday.