Card Player Poker Tour: Season III Begins January 31 at Foxwoods Resort Casino

For the second time, the Card Player Poker Tour will set foot at one of the most popular poker destinations in the Northeast to launch the start of Season III, beginning Jan. 31.

Foxwoods Resort Casino, located on the Pequot Indian Reservation in Mashantucket, Connecticut, will host a 13-tournament series lasting through Feb. 9 and crown the first champion of the CPPT in 2015.

“We are thrilled to welcome back the CPPT and host this exciting event for the second year in a row,” said Terry Chiaradio, Director of Poker Operations at Foxwoods Resort Casino. “At Foxwoods, we pride ourselves on establishing partners to best serve our resort guests and we strive to provide our guests with the ultimate gaming experience. This event continues to put us on the map as the gaming leader in the industry.”

Action will get underway with a $600 no-limit hold’em, $100,000 guarantee tournament on Jan. 31, followed by a $250 no-limit hold’em, $20,000 guarantee Feb. 1. Each tournament on the schedule will include a guaranteed prize pool and options range from no-limit hold’em to Omaha eight-or-better to pot-limit Omaha. The schedule also includes a $250 ladies event and a $250 seniors event.

The $1,650 no-limit hold’em $300,000 guarantee main event will begin Feb. 7 and feature two starting flights on that day – one at 11am and another at 5pm. Players will start with 25,000 in chips and play 40-minute levels for the first 12 levels. On day 2, play will move to one-hour levels. Re-entries will be allowed during the two starting flights. The main event will feature tournament updates each day and the final table will be live-streamed in its entirety on CardPlayer.com.

Players will be treated to a backdrop of 1,600 acres of sprawling, lush forestland, which comprises the Pequot Reservation. The casino itself is comprised of six complexes encompassing more than 6 million square feet of non-stop entertainment including 6,000 slot machines, 350 table games, and one of the largest bingo halls in the world. Foxwoods, one of the largest casinos in the western hemisphere, is also home to more than 30 restaurants, nightclubs, a championship golf course, two upscale spas, and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center.

Guests can chose to stay at any of the five hotel options, ranging from simple and elegant to decedent and vibrant. The Grand Pequot Tower offers the comfort of a AAA Four Diamond resort, set over a soaring lobby of striking art and architecture. The Villas, located in the Grand Pequot Tower and the 22nd and 23rd floors, average 1,400 square feet, include living rooms, wet bars, Jacuzzi tubs, and 24-hour butler service. The Great Cedar Hotel offers the comforts of a AAA Three Diamond resort with spacious guest rooms and suites located within the heart of the casino complex. The Fox Tower offers AAA Four Diamond amenities with a luxurious and vibrant setting nested closely to one of the property’s world-class spas and grand outdoor pool. Finally, guests looking for a simpler option can choose the Two Trees Inn, located just steps away from the main resort. The building offers the comforts of a country inn, including an indoor heated pool and a complimentary shuttle to the main complex.

The foundation for what would become Foxwoods Resort Casino was laid in 1986 when the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation opened a 2,100-seat high-stakes bingo hall. In the ensuing decades, the property continued to expand, first in 1997 with the opening of the first three levels of the Grand Pequot Tower, an additional 50,000 square feet of casino space, including more than 900 slot machines and 60 table games. Later during that same year more floors were opened in the Tower, a high-limit gaming area was unveiled, additional restaurants were added ,and a 25,000 square foot ballroom was completed. Since then, the complex has continued to grow.

The CPPT first stopped at Foxwoods in February 2014 for an 11-tournament series, which eventually crowned Connecticut-native Ronnie Pease champion of the main event. Pease outlasted a field of 340 players and bested World Series of Poker bracelet winner Chris Tryba heads-up for his first major live title and nearly $100,000 in prize money.

Pease turned out to be a fitting winner after having bagged the chip lead on day 1a of the $1,650 no-limit hold’em, $300,000 guarantee main event. He ended day 2 with the chip lead as well and rode his stack all the way to a final table victory after about 14 hours of play.

The final hand was dealt and it was the J 9 held by Pease, which bested Tryba’s A-5 offsuit as the board ran out K Q 7 Q 9.

“Chris is a friend. It was weird playing heads-up with a friend, but it was fun,” Pease said after his win. “He is a really good player and it’s cool to get heads-up with a friend. It was a long battle, but I’m happy.”

“I had pretty much the wire-to-wire chip lead, but the low points were pretty low. It was different to have to change gears, but at the same time, when you play tournaments and play poker for a living, you have to be able to switch it up. You can’t always be [pushing the] gas pedal when you lose that chip lead. You have to change your strategy.”

Pease also earned 480 Card Player Player of the Year points in addition to the money and the trophy.

Two other notable stories also emerged from the 2014 CPPT Foxwoods main event final table. Mike Jarvela began the final day with the shortest stack in play with just 132,000 in chips, but through patient and smart play he managed to grind his way to a third-place finish, good for $45,760.

Fourth-place finisher Frank Paul won his seat in the main event in a $200 satellite and said he was pretty nervous going into the final day. The truck driver from New Hampshire had been playing poker for about 10 years, but only on a recreational level. In what he said was his biggest tournament ever, Paul cashed out for a nice $36,360.

The CPPT’s inaugural stop at Foxwoods was a smashing success on all fronts, despite the winter storms blanketing the area at the time. The series guaranteed $700,000 in prize pool money and although Event no. 8, a $300 no-limit hold’em $75,000 Guarantee was canceled due to a snow storm, the series still shattered the guarantees by bringing the prize pool totals to upwards of $1,347,000.

Other big winners during the series included Chris Leong and Chris Schonboch. Leong won Event 1: $600 No-Limit Hold’em $100,000 Guarantee for $42,149, cashed out at 52nd and $602 in Event 4: $300 No-Limit Hold’em $75,000 Guarantee and took third in Event 7: $400 No-Limit Hold’em $75,000 Guarantee for $11,763. Schonbach chopped with Leong for first in Event 1 and finished 12th in the main event for $7,917 for a total of $50,964 won on the season up until that point. Later in the season, Schonbach final tabled the CPPT Card Player Cruises main event in the Caribbean. ♠

Card Player Poker Tour Foxwoods Schedule

Event Starts Days
$600 No-Limit Hold’em $100K Guaranteed 31-Jan 2
$250 No-Limit Hold’em $20K Guaranteed 1-Feb 1
$250 Omaha Hi-Lo 8/OB $10K Guaranteed 1-Feb 1
$300 No-Limit Hold’em $75K Guaranteed 2-Feb 2
$250 No-Limit Hold’em $25K Guaranteed 3-Feb 1
$250 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8/OB $10K Guaranteed 3-Feb 1
$400 No-Limit Hold’em $75K Guaranteed 4-Feb 2
$250 No-Limit Hold’em Seniors $20K Guaranteed 5-Feb 1
$300 No-Limit Hold’em $25K Guaranteed 6-Feb 1
$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em $300K Guaranteed 7-Feb 3
$250 No-Limit Hold’em Ladies $20K Guaranteed 7-Feb 1
$500 No-Limit Hold’em $50K Guaranteed 8-Feb 2
$300 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty $20K Guaranteed 9-Feb 1