2018 Card Player Poker Tour Derby Lane: Nashaat Antonious Leads After Day 1AThe First of Four Starting Flights In This $200,000 Guaranteed Main Event Draws 53 Entries |
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Day 1A of the 2018 Card Player Poker Tour Derby Lane $200,000 guaranteed no-limit hold’em main event is officially in the books. The first of four starting flights in this event attracted a total of 53 entries. After 18 levels of poker action that number was narrowed down to just nine players who advanced to Sunday’s day 2.
At the end of the night it was Nashaat Antonious who finished with the chip lead. The Tampa native has $225,972 in lifetime live tournament earnings prior to this event, and was able to hang around as one of the shorter stacks before going on a run in the final few levels of the day. He picked up pocket kings in two key spots that saw him win massive pots, knocking out two opponents in the process. When all was said and done he put 577,000 into the bag.
The next largest stack belonged to Jordan Joeckel, who ended with 503,000. Joeckel is no stranger to success in Florida, having finished second in a $2,200 event at the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open for $58,166 earlier this year.
The final nine will join the survivors of the three other flights on offer in this $1,000 buy-in main event. Day 1B will kick off at noon on Friday, Oct. 5, while Day 1C begins later that day at 6 PM. The fourth and final flight will get underway at noon on Saturday, Oct. 6. The survivors of all the starting flights will combine at noon on Sunday, Oct. 7 to play down to a champion.
Those who play the remaining three flights will start with 30,000 in chips. With just a $30 add-on players can receive an additional 20,000 for a total of 50,000 to start with. Blind levels will be 30 minutes in length for day 1. Those players who make it through the starting flights will combine into one field on Sunday, Oct. 7 for day 2, with levels increasing to 40 minutes in length for the remainder of the event. Play will continue until the next CPPT champion is decided.
“We are very excited to be partnering with the Card Player Poker Tour,” said Derby Lane Card Room Manager Pam Buzzetto. “We expect large turnouts and some very big prize pools for the players.”
Here is a look at the chip counts of the nine players moving on to day 2 form flight 1A:
| Rank | Player | Chip Count |
| 1 | Nashaat Antonious | 577,000 |
| 2 | Jordan Joeckel | 503,000 |
| 3 | David Dibernardi | 400,000 |
| 4 | Tommy Nguyen | 249,000 |
| 5 | Joe Hodge | 238,000 |
| 6 | Doyle Elliott | 212,000 |
| 7 | Thomas Tataris | 205,000 |
| 8 | Heinz Schuter | 202,000 |
| 9 | John Weikert | 64,000 |
About Derby Lane
Derby Lane is located in St. Petersburg, Florida, the second largest city in the Tampa Bay Area. The poker room is part of the St. Petersburg Kennel Club, which is the oldest continuously operating greyhound track in the world, having run their inaugural race back in January of 1925.
Throughout its history, Derby Lane was a hotspot for star athletes, and played host to players such as Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth. The track even served as a filming location in the movies Coupe de Ville in 1990, in Ocean’s Eleven in 2001, and again in The Infiltrator in 2015.
Derby Lane offers live racing and replays, with evening performances Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday starting at 7:30 p.m., and matinee performances Monday and Wednesday through Saturday starting at 12:30 p.m. Bettors can enjoy simulcast wagering on tracks from South Florida to New York, and even California with 50 large flat-screen TVs to watch all of the action. There are also plenty of table games available, including Three Card Poker, Fortune Pai Gow, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, the recently added Crazy 4 Poker, and High Card Flush.
Gamblers who work up an appetite won’t be disappointed with what Derby Lane has to offer. Circa 1925 is a six-tiered restaurant with panoramic views of the racetrack and was the winner of the Diners’ Choice award in 2016. It’s located next to The Prohibition, a bar that serves extraordinary cocktails and drinks. For more casual fare, check out the Gallery Lounge or Derby Club Four.
The Derby Lane Poker Room
The track added poker in 1997 for the first time, and in 2009, Derby Lane finished a $2.5 million renovation on the poker room, instantly making it one of the premier poker destinations in the state. The Derby Lane poker room spreads a variety of games and limits, including the popular $2-$5 no-limit hold’em game with table stakes buy in.
More than $200,000 is given back to players each month with jackpots and other various high hand promotions, and the players stay busy with plenty of daily tournaments including deep stacks, ultra stacks, mega deep stacks, and the popular Nickel tournament, a $500 buy-in event that features a big blind ante format.
After getting player feedback, poker room staff responded with new and improved tournament offerings, a new tournament area, new high-limit rooms, an improved Wi-Fi signal, and even a full lunch and dinner menu with extended hours for those that enjoy table-side dining.
“The room was updated with our players in mind to create an engaging gaming environment for all playing levels,” Buzzetto added.
The Derby Lane poker room is open Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 a.m., and is open 24 hours-a-day during the weekend. For more information about the poker room, visit the casino webpage or call (727)812-3339 ext. 214 to get the poker room directly.
For more information about the CPPT, visit the tour homepage.
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