While players in the state of Pennsylvania await the launch of PA online poker, there has been plenty of action in the live poker scene across the Keystone State.

October has offered players multiple opportunities to get out of the house and into the card rooms to battle over large prize pools and the chance to a trophy or two to their collection.

In addition to the upcoming WPTDeepStacks tour setting up shop at the Rivers Casino Pittsburgh starting on October 17, the Parx Casino Big Stax XXXI festival Main Event wrapped up this week bringing to a close nearly a month’s worth of action from Bensalem, PA.

Grigoriy Shvarts Bounces Back In Main Event

New York’s Grigoriy Shvarts topped the field of 370 entries in the Parx Big Stax 1100 to take home the $82,549 first-place prize. It was the second-largest score of Shvarts’ career, right behind his fifth-place finish in the 2017 WPT Maryland Main Event where he picked up a score of just over $92K.

Headed into the final table as the chip leader, Shvarts almost didn’t even have the opportunity to get deep in the tournament when, according to PokerNews live reporting, Shvarts fell ill in the middle of a hand on Day 1, even going so far as asking the tournament director to reach out for an EMT.

He finished the hand, which he won, and promptly took some time away from the tournament. After returning on Day 1 and finding a bag that night, Shvarts admitted the illness may have been related to a night of heavy drinking the night before. He got the proper rest that evening and returned refreshed for Day 2 where he continues his run for the title.

Eventually, it all worked out for him. He took a healthy chip lead into the final table and battled his way to heads up against fellow New Yorker AJ Jamil. On the final hand of the tournament, Shvarts put in a raise on the button only to be three-bet by Jamil who held . Shvarts made the call and the pair saw a flop of . Jamil shipped his remaining stack and was snapped off by Shvarts who tabled the for the flopped straight. The turn was a leaving Jamil drawing dead. Jamil ended up with $57,793 for his second-place finish.

Pennsylvania’s Thomas Parkes exited in third place, collecting $37,154 for his efforts. This is only Parkes’ fourth career recorded live tournament result and comes on the heels of a 59th place finish in the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event where he earned a career-best score of over $142,000.

Parx Big Stax 1100 Final Table

1. Grigoriy Shvarts – $82,549
2. AJ Jamil – $57,793
3. Thomas Parkes – $37,154
4. Hal Rotholz – $24,402
5. Rafael Yaraliyev – $18,792
6. Peter Ippolito – $15,547
7. Rafal Kordys – $13,028
8. David Whitnah – $10,651

Victor Ramdin Returns To Big Stax 300 Winner’s Circle

The Parx Big Stax 300 ended up in a four-way chop with former PokerStars ambassador Victor Ramdin officially finishing in first place and taking home $48,777. Ramdin’s been having a stellar 2019, racking up his 19th recorded cash in the year which includes a victory in this very same event back in February where he earned over $87,000.

Langhorne, PA’s Joseph Agron Jr. booked the biggest score of his career by taking the runner-up spot for $45,455 while Bin Weng also took home a career-high cash of $39,493 as the third-place finisher.

New York’s Johnny Lau agreed to take home just over $36,000 for fourth place but he also walked away with just a tiny bit more. The final four players agreed to the money split but pulled high cards to see who would add the Big Stax 300 trophy to their mantle. Lau’s nine-hi card was best so despite officially taking fourth, he took home the trophy.

Parx Big Stax 300 Final Table

1. Victor Ramdin – $48,777
2. Joseph Agron Jr. – $45,455
3. Bin Weng – $39,493
4. Johnny Lau – $36,030
5. Dwayne Allen – $16,310
6. Po Ying – $12,283
7. Nate Lindquist – $9,423
8. Steven Petitte – $7,249
9. Jose Pereira – $5,718

Tam Nguyen Wins Big Stax 500

A field of 927 entries piled into the $550 Big Stax 500 to create a prize pool of $440,325 ensuring that whoever made the final table was going to earn a fantastic return on investment.

Pennsylvania’s Tam Nguyen took home his own career-high cash of $76,500 in an ICM chop with runner-up Jeffrey Grosso who locked up $65,770 in the deal.

Long-time East Coast grinder from New Jersey Michael Marder fell in third place after the final three players played a hand in which all three found themselves all-in. Nguyen had pocket aces, Grosso had pocket kings and Marder, who was at risk, held ace-king suited. Nguyen’s aces held and Marder hit the rail, adding $35,931 to his $1.3 million in career live earnings.

Parx Big Stax 500 Final Table

1. Tam Nguyen – $76,500
2. Jeffrey Grosso – $65,770
3. Michael Marder – $35,931
4. Vineet Pahuja – $26,331
5. Mitchell Brown – $19,683
6. Russel Rothstein – $14,795
7. Michael Linster – $11,360
8. Michael Kemeter – $8,718
9. Rafal Kordys – $6,913