When the final table came together there were several players with relatively small stacks and 1 monster stack in the tournament. This has created a dynamic that makes it pretty tough for the small or the average stacks to chip up.
The first two players eliminated with Nassim Kabbala in 10th and Jason Conforti in 9th. Once they were gone and the tournament hit the hard money bubble, the players quickly agreed to re-distribute the 2nd and 3rd place prizes to add an 8th prize – a classic bubble save. This had the side benefit of keeping the tournament moving at a relatively lively pace, and 2 more players were eliminated in short order. Alex Beaupré took 8th place ($100) and Chirag Patel in 7th place ($170).
All the while, Alissa Ann Allen is sitting in seat 10 with a monster stack – she’s playing with well over 450K in chips – just a little under half the chips in play. The player on her left – Giovanni Petrella – is also playing with a lot of chips – over 250K in his case – so between the two of them they account for over 60% of the chips in play. We’ll see what impact that has on how the game proceeds.
