Day 1 of the Lone Star Poker Series $1 Million Guarantee event hasn’t even concluded, but the tournament has already easily surpassed its seven-figure guarantee, in case you were looking for another example of live poker being back with a vengeance.
Even in Texas where poker, and gambling in general, has long been frowned upon by local politicians. There are no traditional card rooms in the Lone Star State. Instead, they operate as social clubs due to state laws that prevent rake-based gambling. Players pay a membership fee to the club for admission and then a seat fee instead of rake. Doing so keeps the games and the clubs from operating illegally, although some naysayers argue the clubs still aren’t operating legally.
Champions Club in Houston is hosting the historic $1,300 buy-in event, which features the largest prize pool in Texas poker history. With four of five Day 1 sessions in the books — Day 1F is on Saturday — the prize pool has already reached $1,356,200 (1,179 total entries). Saturday’s session should be another huge one and the tournament could end up with over $2 million in the pot.
Lone Star Poker Series a Who’s Who of Poker Stars
The historic Lone Star Poker Series $1 Million Guarantee brought out the heavy hitters. Pros such as Chris Moneymaker, Darren Elias, Greg Raymer, and Matt Berkey traveled to Houston to compete. Berkey deserves an “A for Effort” trophy for persevering through eight buy-ins. But on his eighth and final attempt at bagging chips, he came through and finished the session with 65 big blinds heading into Day 2, which begins on Sunday.
Another player who will be coming back for Day 2, and with a big stack, is Dmitri Nobles. If that name sounds familiar, you probably watched the 2006 WSOP coverage a time or two. Nobles, who had never previously cashed in a live poker tournament, built up a massive stack fairly late in the tournament. He then infamously blew through his stack quickly with some erratic, essentially just giving away chips. But he certainly proved to be entertaining to ESPN viewers.
The Texas native ended up going out in 76th place for $65,973, a nice chunk of change but a disappointment considering the eventual winner, Jamie Gold, won $12 million. Nobles has less than $20,000 in recorded live tournament cashes in the 15 years since. But he just might add to that figure this coming week in the Lone Star Poker Series Main Event.
On Day 1B, Nobles bagged the largest stack of the session, and will enter Day 2 with a massive stack, right where he was late in the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event. Maybe this time around he’ll do a better job holding onto those chips.
