10 players secured their seat at the final Aruba tournament through UB a few months back. Half the players had already secured an Aruba Poker Classic Main Event seat and the other half who won their spot were here solely for the fine piece of German engineering.

I’d throw a photo up but something’s wrong with the internet connection here in Aruba and we’re having a little trouble getting photos up. Must be the rain. Yup, it’s raining. All day, apparently. Should make for a fantastic final table – outdoors (see the post below).

Robert Mizrachi – 1,980,000
Eric Baldwin – 1,570,000
Chase Steely – 1,300,000
Brock Parker – 1,240,000
Brandon Hall – 442,000
Matt Ross – 301,000
Roberto Santos – 211,000

The Children’s Home Imeldahof offers temporary home and guidance to children who are unable to remain in their own homes due to mental, physical and sexual abuse, neglect, and alcohol or drug abuse by parents. The Home provides more than just physical shelter for the resident children, with an emphasis on providing for their emotional well-being as a priority. 

The proceeds Imeldahof receive from UB’s Charity Hold’em event will contribute to their purpose-built activity centre, which still needs a new roof, a paint job and appropriate games and accessories before it will be available to the 52 children who are housed under their roof at any given time.

“We are proud to support such a worthy cause for local kids in Aruba, and we invite everyone – poker player or not – to turn out at the Radisson ballroom to participate,” said Annie Duke Cardroom Consultant for UB. “Come along and help UB raise thousands of dollars in donations that will directly assist Imeldahof complete this project and provide an environment in which their children can relax, have fun and be safe.”

On this occasion, 100 percent of the $100 rebuys from the APC  fundraiser will be donated directly to the chosen children’s charity, and UB will match the money made from the rebuys dollar-for-dollar to boost the donation total, up to $5,000.

For the past eight years, UB has been welcomed to the island paradise of Aruba, where it has hosted its signature land based poker festival. The Charity fundraiser is one way that UB is able to repay the outstanding local hospitality it receives each year, and the leading online poker site enjoys giving something of value back to the island community.

Follow the action of the APC with regular updates, pics and articles, available at: http://www.ub.com/aruba-poker-classic

For further information on the Kinderhuis Imeldahof, email imeldahofaruba@setarnet.aw or call (297) 587 6085

This is his third year at the Aruba Poker Classic. After playing in ’06 and ’07, and then sitting out for a year, it’s fairly obvious that Favaloro used that one-year hiatus to hone his game like a champion. After Day 1A and 1B wrapped up, Favaloro topped the chip count list with an impressive 88,575 in chips. Jon credits his success so far in the Main Event not to any one monster hand that catapulted him to chip lead status, but rather to a slow and steady game that allowed him to chip up slowly.

“I had no big confrontations in Day 1,” notes Favaloro. “I just slowly picked up chips here and there and eventually took the lead.”

It’s that same slow and steady strategy that earned him a spot in the Main Event to begin with. Favaloro made his way to Aruba through UB’s 50-seat Guaranteed Super Satellite where he managed to squeeze his way into the top 50 and earn an $8,500 prize package.

Favaloro plays mostly online, preferring it to land-based poker tourneys.

Favaloro heads into Day 3 in 2nd place with 255,300 in chips, just behind chip leader Robert Mizrachi who’s sitting with 353,200.

1 – Jon Faualoro – 88,575
2 – Robert Mizrachi – 80,600
3 – Casey Kastle – 78,300
4 – Matthew Ross – 75,100
5 – Ryan Caldwell – 74,475
6 – Chase Steely – 73,525
7 – William Cruz – 70,050
8 – Tristan Wade – 64,450
9 – Justin Young – 61,700
10 – Gylbert Drolet – 59,375

Phil Hellmuth is sitting like a pro in 10th place so stay tuned for more details on what happens to him tomorrow.

1st – Jon Faualoro – 88,575
2nd – Ryan Caldwell – 74,475
3rd – Chase Steely – 73,525
4th – Tristan Wade – 64,450
5th – Gylbert Drolet – 59,375
6th – Ryan Howard – 54,100
7th – Kazuhito Oshima – 52,325
8th – Jamie Armstrong – 52,175
9th – Majd Ibrahim – 50,450
10th – Phil Helmuth – 49,175

The Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa is jampacked with poker players, the biggest pros, celebrities, and even clowns. Yes clowns (more on that later).

But this is anything but a circus. The weeklong event is a well-organized, fine-tuned tournament hosted by tournament director Matt Savage and run by the biggest and best online poker site celebrating 10 years of dealing cards online. The first hand of the Main Event was dealt at Noon today and we’ll be keeping tabs on who got knocked out, who’s got the massive chip lead and who threw the biggest tantrum.

Stay tuned.