Mary Darnell, a talented poker player who resides in Crawfordville, Florida, won $36,450 last Sunday evening at Event No. 1: $560 NLH during the 2022 bestbet Jacksonville Spring Series after a four-handed ICM deal on the final table. She had a small stack lead over other players as she emerged the winner and received the blue bestbet trophy.
They included Gregory Salem, Steve Zhang, and Marc Johnson. Salem won $35,673, Zhang won $30,000 and Johnson won $27,513.
There were 571 entrants in the opening event who generated a $274,080 prize pool in three starting flights. Yet, 71 players advanced to Day 2 and had an $867 guaranteed minimum payout. Hendon Mob states that Darnell had $71,174 as live poker earnings before she participated in the tournament.
Her victory made her excited and overwhelmed. She stated in an interview that she felt like a "yo-yo" on Day 2 as she was down one minute and up in the next minute. She was surprised when she reached the final two tables.
Darnell took a bad hit when she had more than one million chips, and two hands reduced them to 120,000 chips. She thought that she would get eliminated at that moment, but she didn't give up and managed to raise her chips to 1.3 million and advance to the final table.
Event No. 1: $560 NLH Final Table Results
- Mary Darnell from Crawfordville, Florida- $36,450
- Gregory Salem from Dorian, Alabama-$35,673
- Steve Zhang from Jacksonville, Florida-$30,000
- Mac Johnson from Jacksonville, Florida-$27,513
- Timothy Forsberg from Jacksonville, Florida-$14,178
- Brian Dumaplin from Hinesville, Georgia-$10,809
- Eric Chastain from Nashville, Tennessee-$8,336
- Edward Mroczkowski from Jacksonville, Florida-$6,504
Day 2 Action
The 71 entrants field quickly reduced to less than 50 players. Some of the players who exited the event early included Brenda Miller, Keith Jones, Mosse David Hughes, Gloria Jackson, and Michael Morusty, a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) champion.
Matthew Sundberg, Day 1b's chip leader, left the tournament at midday after his middle pair jammed a flop. Alexander Monroe used an open-ended straight draw to call before he got on the turn.
Darnell increased her stack and got a memorable hand when she claimed a pot from another player with a river jam while holding ace-high. She got another pot on Day 1 from Bryan Brockmeier. The former held pocket fours as the former had a set of fives.
Both players sat together at the same spot on Day 2 while reflecting on the pivotal hand. Brockmeier asked whether they would lead in chips at the final table, and Darnell replied that he hadn't introduced himself to her.
Justin Matecki, a two times World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit, exited the live-streamed final table after Darnell's ace-nine cracked his pocket tens. Edward Mroczkowski left the event in eighth place after his ace-queen lost to Darnell's ace-three. The latter then eliminated Brian Dumaplin after using king-queen to win a flip against pocket sevens.
Timothy Forsberg left the table in fifth place after his pocket jacks lost to Zhang's ace-three. The 2022 bestbet Jacksonville Spring Series has several other events left, like the $1,680 buy-in Main Event that will run from April 28 to May 1.
