Parx Big Stax tournament crowns rare co-champions

The Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, has done something that has only been done a few times in poker history. In the $1,600 Parx Big Stax XXIV 1500 tournament, it awarded first-place titles to not one, but two players, resulting in both of them being crowned as champions of the event.

Anthony Garofalo and Greg Weber found themselves going heads-up with almost identical chip stacks in the tournament before they made a deal to chop the pot. The agreement was accepted by the tournament officials; however, Weber will be the recorded winner on the books since he took $104,000 to Garofalo’s $97,000. The victory is the second for Weber in the past six month, having taken second place and $471,059 in the WPT Borgata Poker Open $3,500 Main Event last September.

The 10-man final table saw some impressive action, starting with an all-in preflop by Greg Himmelbrand. He pushed in with a stack of 11 big blinds holding ace magnets that held up to their name. An A-J combo held by Joe Reddick found its match on the flop, sending Himmelbrand to the rail with $8,316.

Scott Blumstein, who took down the 2017 WSOP Main Event, was then sent packing in ninth place. His 20 big-blind push with A-4 didn’t stand a chance against Christian Harder’s pocket rockets, and Blumstein was forced to step away from the table. For his efforts, Blumstein took home a little more than $10,000.