Poker players around Pennsylvania will once again flock to Philadelphia in March for another popular poker tournament series from Parx Casino.
The latest Parx Casino Big Stax XXIV opens with a $2,500 High Roller and events hosted in the new poker room in the main casino building. The new room was part of a $75 million expansion project for the casino, which debuted last month.
Parx Big Stax
Coverage of the poker series 2018 Big Stax XXV, including results. 2018 Big Stax XXV 2018 Big Stax XXV May 02, '18 - May 25, '18 Parx Casino (Bensalem, PA) Complete Schedule of Events.
The tourney will feature its usual $300, $500, and $1,500 Main Events. The Big Stax $300 and $500 kick off at 10 a.m.
The Day 1 flights and Day 2 will play out at Parx East, the old poker room. The final day’s events and most side events will take place in the new poker room in the main casino building, according to the Parx Big Stax blog.
Here’s the full schedule:
| Date | Time | Buy-in | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2/28/18 | 10 a.m. | $340 | Big Stax 300: Day 1a | Parx East |
| 3/14/2018 | 3 p.m. | $340 | Pot Limit Omaha/NL Hold'em Mix | Parx |
| 3/2/2018 | 10 a.m. | $340 | Big Stax 300: Day 1c | Parx East |
| 3/3/2018 | 10 a.m. | $340 | Big Stax 300: Day 1d | Parx East |
| 3/4/2018 | 11 a.m. | $340 | Big Stax 300: Day 2 | Parx East |
| 3/5/2018 | 12 p.m. | $340 | Big Stax 300: Final Day | Parx |
| 3/5/2018 | 5 p.m. | $430 | NL Hold'em: Double Black Chip Bounty | Parx |
| 3/7/2018 | 12 p.m. | $560 | NL Hold'em: Survivor ($5,000 winners) | Parx |
| 3/8/2018 | 10 a.m. | $550 | Big Stax 500: Day 1a | Parx East |
| 3/9/2018 | 10 a.m. | $550 | Big Stax 500: Day 1b | Parx East |
| 3/10/2018 | 10 a.m. | $550 | Big Stax 500: Day 1c | Parx East |
| 3/11/2018 | 11 a.m. | $550 | Big Stax 500: Day 2 | Parx East |
| 3/12/2018 | 12 p.m. | $550 | Big Stax 500: Final Day | Parx |
| 3/21/2018 | 2 p.m. | $2,500 | Big Stax 2500: Final Day | Parx |
| 3/15/2108 | 11 a.m. | $225 | Super Satellite to Big Stax 1500 w/ Green Chip Bounty | Parx |
| 3/15/2018 | 7 p.m. | $350 | Super Satellite to Big Stax 1500 w/ Black Chip Bounty | Parx |
| 3/16/2018 | 11 a.m. | $1,600 | Big Stax 1500: Day 1a | Parx East |
| 3/16/2018 | 5 p.m. | $375 | Super Satellite to Big Stax 2500 | Parx East |
| 3/17/2018 | 11 a.m. | $1,600 | Big Stax 1500: Day 1b | Parx |
| 3/17/2018 | 5 p.m. | $300 | Super Satellite to Big Stax 2500 | Parx East |
| 3/18/2018 | 12 p.m. | $1,600 | Big Stax 1500: Day 2 | Parx |
| 3/18/2018 | 5 p.m. | $340 | Super Satellite to Big Stax 2500 | Parx |
| 3/19/2018 | 1 p.m. | $1,600 | Big Stax 1500: Final Day | Parx |
| 3/19/2018 | 12 p.m. | $2,500 | Big Stax 2500: Day 1 | Parx |
| 3/20/2018 | 1 p.m. | $2,500 | Big Stax 2500: Day 2 | Parx |
| 3/21/2018 | 12:15 p.m. | $80 | Wednesday Deep Stack Turbo NL Hold'em | Parx |
| 3/1/2018 | 10 a.m. | $340 | Big Stax 300: Day 1b | Parx East |
Big Stax Standalone
In December, Big Stax enabled players to get in on a standalone event, the Big Stax 200, with a lower buy-in. The 2,100 entries created a prize pool of about $375,000.
The final three players worked out an ICM deal:
- Vitaly Kovyazin:~18.4M chip count, $31,430
- Matt Sullivan:~12.2M, $28,045
- Zhenjie Hou: ~4.5M, $21,127
Remembering Big Stax XXIII
The last Big Stax, which ran last October, ended in multiple chops and a total prize pool of almost $580,000. The largest event was the $1,100 + 100 No Limit Hold’em Bix Stax 1100.
The top three:
1st: Mark Perry ($100,680)
2nd: William Corvino ($89,78)
3rd: Joseph Liberta ($79,180)
The other events to bring bigger payouts include:
- Big Stax XXIII 300 – Dan Ciancio and Rich First agreed to an ICM chop. Ciancio ended with 33.4 million chips; First held 22.725 million. The final payouts were $75,948 and $69,947, respectively.
- The Big Stax XXIII 500 – Greg Nerenberg took the title for the second time (only the second time in Big Stax history that went back-to-back) in an even three-way chop. The players negotiated the payouts of $61,395 for first, $61,394 for second, and $61,393 for third.
Side events galore in XXIII to continue
As shown in the schedule, the other events to return this year are:
- Double Black Chip Bounty
- NL Hold’em Survivor
- Pot-Limit Omaha/NL Hold’em Mix
- Wednesday Deep Stack Turbo NL Hold’em
Super satellites are also on the schedule with five opportunities to get into the bigger events:
- Super Satellite to Big Stax 1500 with Green Chip Bounty on 3/15 at 11 a.m.
- Super Satellite to Big Stax 1500 with Black Chip Bounty on 3/15 at 7 p.m.
- Super Satellite to Big Stax 2500 (x2) on 3/16, 3/17, and 3/18 at 5 p.m.
Notable wins from Big Stax past
In the Big Stax XXII, the winners were:
- Joseph Palma (Big Stax 300, $120,000)
- Kevin Grabel (Double Black Chip Bounty, $9,500)
- Kent Wuethrich (Seniors [50+], $6,252)
- Greg Nerenberg (Big Stax 500, $94,467)
- Gary Kosakowski (Pot Limit Omaha/No Limit Hold’em Mix, $6,023)
- Tyreem Williams (No Limit Hold’em Survivor, $2,887)
- Maxwell Young (Big Stax 1500, $120,930)
- Orville Arthurs (Purple Chip Bounty, $10,002)
- Eli Englard (No Limit Hold’em Survivor, $4,729)
- Reed Orem (Deep Stack Turbo, $1,994 for 2nd)
In the Big Stax XXI, a familiar face in the poker world, Joe McKeehen took the top event for $106,126, his then third six-figure score in two months. He also took third at the Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship and won the $2,200 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown side event.
The former World Series of Poker Main Event champ secured the win at the Parx Big Stax XXI 1100 when his luck continued four-handed. He defeated Travis Greenwalt durig heads-up play.
Photo by Lisa Lake / Stringer
Friends, I would appreciate your support in my effort to start growing the game of poker again. One of the very basic ways we can achieve this is to support regional poker tournaments that bring in the casual players. This is what I have in mind with the newly designed Parx Big Stax Poker Series. I discarded all schedules of old, been there, done that, poker series in the past and started completely fresh.
I designed the entire Big Stax series with the casual poker player in mind. There will be no $5,000, $10,000 or bigger buy-ins during the Parx Big Stax in February. We have other venues in poker that serve that cater to the professional poker players and do it well, but it has done nothing recently to grow the game or create interest from the average guy. The best way to grow the game on the ground level is to let the casual players enjoy the same game we do by offering smaller buy-in tournaments with great main event structures.
During the Parx Big Stax Series we will be hosting 3 Main Events! Three well structured deep main events with tons of starting chips at three different price levels. In all three main events the winner will receive a Parx Trophy and be placed on the Parx Wall of Champions. We will be running mega satellites almost every day on the schedule with a guarantee of 4 seats in each. There will also be other smaller field deep stack and other events throughout the Big Stax Series.
| The Big Stax 300 | $300+30 ($150,000 guarantee) | Feb 6-10 |
| The Big Stax 500 | $500+50 | Feb 10-13 |
| The Big Stax 1500 | $1500+100 ($500,000 guarantee) | Feb 14-18 |
This schedule and structures were designed for the casual poker player. A reasonable buy-in, and yet the respect of playing a tournament with a main event structure. After putting together these events from scratch I thought it wise to consult with Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler in a move to make sure I got it right for you guys. A few structure improvements and I was able to secure the ‘Chainsaw Stamp of Approval’ for all 3 Big Stax main events. You can’t do better than that! #nowaynohow
Each Big Stax event has the same exact level structure with 45 min levels on day 1s and then a completely different mode of 90 min levels thereafter. Think about that for a minute. 45 min levels on all day 1s with unlimited re-entry and then once you achieve day 2 status you have deep 90 min levels the rest of the way to the final table.
The starting stacks will be huge, but you probably already guessed that from the name ‘Big Stax’. 30,000 chips, 40,000 chips & 50,000 chips for the three events in succession. The Big Stax 300 and Big Stax 1500 will each have 3 starting days to choose from and the Big Stax 500 in the middle will have its own 2 starting days. All 3 events will be unlimited re-entry from start to finish on all Day 1s so that the casual player can take a shot on whichever day that fits best in his or her schedule. On the other side of the table the grinder or grindette will have the opportunity to play Day 1a knowing that if things don’t work out he or she will have access to the next starting day to do it all over again.
My partnership with Parx has always been based on the idea that the best way to grow our business at Parx is to also grow the entire game of poker from the ground up. We have been making significant improvements in our poker room over the last several months to satisfy all the needs of the poker player. Such amenities as a brand new poker kitchen that serves food right to the poker tables. We installed free wifi throughout the entire poker room. (so far it has been lighting fast). And we have now secured $59/nt hotel rates 7 days a week for all poker players, based on availability. I expect that by attracting so many new casual players to our poker room we will also attract the growing contingent of east coast pros – the local legends. Parx is a rather large poker room but we are still relatively new. Did you know that it is likely Parx Poker Room has recently become the 4th highest grossing poker room in the country? The new Big Stax Series and our prime metropolitan location is a perfect combination to grow even bigger.
Those of you in the Philadelphia & South Jersey area already know us and our property well but those of you that live in the NYC area might not yet realize that we are only 64 miles from Staten Island. There is no other poker room our size within that radius of NYC. And that is 64 miles of pure highway – just 14 minutes off the New Jersey Turnpike Exit 6.
To the pros: I am expecting a large turnout of newer players and asking my many east coast friends in the poker world to please join me to show the casual player what great fun a poker tournament can be. I ensure you that I along with the great staff at Parx will do everything to make your stay the best it can be. I would personally appreciate the support from each and every one of you.
To the casual players: If we have yet to meet please introduce yourself. As your host at Parx, I make it a priority to see your experience is the best. Let me know how things are going when you visit and always feel free to give me your thoughts on how we can improve. I will be playing in most of the events and I will certainly make myself available as much as possible to you throughout the Big Stax Series.
Oh, and a couple fun promotions. We are giving away seats to the Big Stax 500. I want to get players here early, right from the start on the opening day of the series. The top 10 chip counts at the end of day 1a in the first event, Big Stax 300 on Feb 6th, will be awarded a seat to the Big Stax 500. The top 5 chip counts at the end of day 1b in the first event, Big Stax 300 on Feb 7th, will also be awarded a seat to the Big Stax 500. These seats are all added by Parx and do not come out of the prize pool.
Parx Poker Big Stax 2018 Season
In addition; the player who pays the highest dollar amount in entry fees (not buy-ins) during the entire Big Stax Series – you will win a $2,500 cash bounty. Exactly what it sounds like. Love that one!
Here’s a look at the schedule.
Parx Poker Big Stax 2018 Dates
Structure links.
Parx Blog Big Stax
Big Stax $300
Big Stax $500
Big Stax $1,500