Matt Bretzfield Wins CPPT Isle Casino Title After Five-Way Chop

CPPT VI - Isle Casino Pompano Park - $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em $250K GTD - Poker tournament live updates, including big poker hands played in the event.

Posted: Mon, Aug 27, 18, 2:03 PM

It’s rare that a poker tournament produces more than one winner, let alone five, but that’s exactly what occurred at the Isle Casino at Pompano Park on Monday.

A total of 310 players put up the $1,100 buy-in for the Card Player Poker Tour Isle Casino main event, creating a prize pool of $305,350. In the end, the lion’s share of the prize pool was actually split evenly between the final five players, who each took home $35,443.

In a time where players obsess over ICM (Independent Chip Model) considerations, Matt Bretzfield, Ernie Bush, Gautam Lillaney, Matthew Smith, and AJ Gambino each agreed to chop the prize pool despite their differences in stack sizes.

Bretzfield, who held the lead by just one chip at the time of the deal, was officially credited with the win. The victory caps off an impressive month for the New York native, who finished 10th in the $5,000 buy-in Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open main event for $62,415, and then ended up getting second place in the opening event of this CPPT series, banking another $22,374.

The final table opened with the elimination of short stack Albert Destrade. The former Survivor: South Pacific contestant was at his second career CPPT final table. He previously finished fourth in the 2017 CPPT bestbet Jacksonville main event.

After the eliminations of Zack Mullenix and Fernando Halac, the final five players traded chips back and forth until a huge cooler occurred between Gambino and Lillaney. Gambino turned trips while Lillaney made a full house. While Lillaney scored the full double up, Gambino was left with just three chips.

Gambino’s fifth-place finish was a foregone conclusion, until he doubled up numerous times to get back into contention. On his final double, he managed to crack pocket queens with 10-9 suited. It was after that crucial pot that the players began discussing and ultimately agreeing to a deal.

Isle Casino Pompano

Here are the final table results.

About Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park

Poker isn’t the only reason to visit the Isle Casino, which also offers nearly 1,500 slot machines, as well as Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Three Card Poker, and the ultimate one card poker game, War.

The Isle Casino now offers the lowest gaming limits in South Florida, with table limits as low as $5. Known as “The Winter Home Of Harness Racing,” Isle Casino is also an ideal spot for track bettors, offering simulcast wagering on horse racing from all over the United States and Canada. Thanks to the warm climate, the harness racetrack can also offer live racing for 10 months each year.

The Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park also recently announced a big project to develop 223 acres of land around the property for “a new world-class, mixed-use entertainment and hospitality destination” that will include a new hotel and “upscale retail, dining and entertainment to South Florida.”

Players looking for a bite have the option of something quick at B-Express, something casual at Myron’s Delicatessen & Cafe, something more refined at Farraddays Steakhouse, or whatever they want at the Farmer’s Pick Buffet. If you’re looking to shake off a bad beat or celebrate a big win, Fling Lounge has you covered with cocktails and live music entertainment.

The Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park is located at 777 Isle of Capri Circle in Pompano Beach, Florida, just 15 minutes west of the beach, and 20 minutes north of Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport. For more information, visit the casino’s homepage.

For more information about the CPPTvisit tour homepage.

Isle Casino Pompano Poker Room

I drove right from the Miccosukee poker room in Miami to The Isle (as it's known) in Pompano Beach – just about thirty minutes north. Both are large, impressive rooms, offering many different types of low-limit poker.

Isle Of Capri Pompano Poker Tournament Schedule

The Isle was warm, inviting, and relaxed. Specifically, the Isle allows writing, reading, telephones, and headsets at the table. Unlike bizarre rules in some less hospitable poker rooms, at The Isle you can put your name on as many lists as you'd like. They allow you to move your short stack from one table to another without forcing you to buy back up to $100. And if you're a little over $100 when you transfer tables, you can continue to play from your complete stack – without having to put the amount in excess of $100 into your pocket.

Isle Casino Pompano Poker Tournaments

The Isle staff smiled and were very helpful in explaining all of their policies. They even offered to lead me to any of the many places I needed to go – to the cashier, restaurants, and bathroom. The dealers at Pompano Park had a 'player friendly' attitude with regard to the rake, sometimes 'forgetting' the rake on the small pots – or forgetting the extra buck when the pot got large.

The room is smoke-free, meaning that the air was okay to breath and the high-end equipment unmarred with cigarette burns and smoke odor. The chairs were downright luxurious, with very comfortable cushioning and rollers at their base, making easy the frequent repositioning I like to do to keep my circulation going.

There were enormous, larger-than-life television screens surrounding the room, which was done up in excellent recessed lighting and muted pastel shades. Everything about the room had a very classy feel – including the chips and the cards.

The room had just about everything you'd want in a Florida poker room, given the $5 limit on the size of the fixed-limit bets and the $100 limit to the no-limit buy-ins. There were 38 tables that were completely full at 2:30 on a Tuesday afternoon. They had sit-'n'-goes, multi-table tournaments, Omaha-8, hold'em, and stud limit games. The games filled quickly; players moved freely from game to game as the spirit moved them. There were a fair amount of regulars – I'd say about 40 to 50 percent. The rest of the place was filled with tourists and poker newbies out to have a good time, from what I could gather in my three hours of play.

I found the Omaha-8 game eminently beatable – even with the standard 10%, $5-maximum rake, and the $1 bad-beat jackpot drop. That's typically an impossible rake to beat in a low-limit split pot game – since the winnings on split-pot hands tend to be negligible. Even so, there were so many calling stations – folks who didn't have a clue about how the game was played – that I think a skilled Omaha player could turn a nice $5- to $10-an-hour profit in the long run (in a $2/4 game, no less). I'm not so sure about the stud game. Though I played for 90 minutes and managed to win $60 or so in this $2/4 game, I got very lucky with some huge draws and hit a couple of monsters by chasing with a huge draw. I suspect that the rake would really grind down my winnings over the long run, however, since the players were so passive and tight that the pots would always be raked at the full 10%. Nearly all of the stud players, unlike the Omaha-8 and hold'em players I observed, were at least fairly skilled. Even so, it was fun to have a stud game.

Pompano Park is a harness racing track. So if you fancy betting on standardbreds this is the place for you. They even have simulcasting of many other tracks as well – so you can indulge your thoroughbred interests. The poker room is right on the ground level of the large complex. It's open from noon to midnight seven days a week.

I loved this place. The next time I'm in southeastern Florida I'm coming back to the Isle to play again. And next time I'm going to eat at the highly recommended and not terribly expensive Myron Cohen's Deli.

Isle Casino Pompano Poker Schedule

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