The $300 Omaha Hi-Lo event is into the 11th level of the day, with registration closing about an hour ago.
The field drew 73 players which generated a prizepool of $18,615. There are 20 players remaining with the final nine players earning a payday.
David Prociak is near the top of the counts and looking to earn his second trophy of the series. Prociak took down the $360 Pot Limit Omaha event last week for $9,078.
2016 Rock n’ Roll Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood, FL Event 12: $150 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry Entries: 1,611 Prize Pool: $193,320 November 28-30, 2016
Dylan Drazen was having a horrible month of poker until Wednesday night. Drazen took home the final trophy of the 2016 Rock n’ Roll Poker open in a 10-way chop of the $150 no limit hold’em re-entry event.
Drazen got credit for the win and topped a field of 1,611 entries to take home $25,011 along with his second career tournament win. Even though it is just his second career tournament win, he understands the variance that comes with tournament poker.
“It’s really, really hard to win a tournament and beat all those players,” said Drazen. “You have to play so many tournaments to find a spot to have actual success. It takes incredible volume and patience. Inhuman patience.”
The win comes at the tail end of a terrible month. After grinding the whole tournament series and coming up empty, this event put him back in the black.
“I had a really rotten month this series,” said Drazen. “It was awful for me. So to do this in the last final event and actually show a profit for the month is something I didn’t expect. But pleasantly surprised.”
Drazen has been a professional poker player for several years now, but before he made his transition to poker, Drazen spent his time as a techno DJ in New York.
After spending more than a decade behind the turn tables, Drazen discovered poker in his late twenties during the Moneymaker boom. Drazen found himself wanting to spend less time spinning tracks and more time at the card table.
After slowly increasing his win rate and steadily beginning to earn more money from poker than as a DJ, he decided to take the plunge and go pro in 2011. He left New York and headed down to South Florida to play live.
Drazen cut his teeth as an online limit hold’em pro, but tried to play live no limit hold’em after deciding to move to Florida and play for a living. The first stage of his live professional career didn’t go very well for him.
“When I moved down here in 2012, I had a really hard time,” said Drazen. “I hit a losing streak the moment I moved here. I moved down here and immediately started losing.”
After enduring a downswing, he opted to go back to his bread and butter.
“I decided to go back online and do what I do best,” said Drazen. “Which is play limit hold’em online.”
Drazen left the live arena for several years before he had enough of the limit variant of the game. Earlier this year, he had enough of sitting in front of a computer screen and came back to sit at the live felt.
“It was only a couple months ago where I started to just hate limit hold’em,” said Drazen. “I decided to give live another shot. And here I am.”
Drazen feels that as he gets older, live poker is more suited for him. This transition back to the live arena has gone much smoother.
“As I get a bit older, my concentration wanes,” said Drazen. “To play online, it requires incredible sustained concentration. When you play short-handed and the games are getting more aggressive and tougher, it’s extremely intense. It’s hard to describe.
“So transitioning back to live is relaxing.”
The extra $25,011 in his pocket will also help him relax a little bit.
$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 28: 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining 10 of 1,611
As soon as the players got to the final table, they immediately began talking about an ICM chop. After running the numbers, all of the players came to an agreement and Dylan Drazen will take home first place money and the trophy.
$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 28: 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining 10 of 1,611
With the elimination of Arif Amirali in 11th place, there is a slight break in the action while they redraw for seats at the unofficial final table of ten.
Here is a look at the seating arrangement and chip counts of the final 10 players:
$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 27: 25,000/50,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining 11 of 1,611
After unknown action, Peter Fellows is eliminated in 12th place. With one more elimination, the final 10 players will redraw for seats at the final table.
$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 27: 25,000/50,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining 12 of 1,611
Ben Robinson limps in under the gun and Eliott Zaydman moves all in for 405,000 from the cutoff. “Hercules” calls from the big blind and Robinson folds.
“Hercules” shows and is in trouble against Zaydman’s .
The board runs out and Zaydman earns a double up with his rockets.
$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 27: 25,000/50,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining 12 of 1,611
Bryce McVay got all in from under the gun against Adam Morck on the button. Morck showed and was up against McVay’s .
There was a king on the flop, leaving McVay drawing to two outs. He couldn’t hit a two outer on the turn or the river and he hit the rail in 13th place.
McVay earned $1,450 for his efforts and Morck chipped up. Everybody remaining gets a pay jump and is guaranteed at least $1,856.
After two more eliminations, there will be a redraw for the unofficial final table.
$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 27: 25,000/50,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining 13 of 1,611
Spencer Champlin raises to 100,000 from middle position and Arif Amirali moves all in from the cutoff. Action folds back to Champlin, who calls and is all in for 565,000.
Champlin is on the right side of a cold deck with his against Amirali’s .
The board runs out and Champlin doubles up.
Spencer Champlin – 1,225,000 Arif Amirali – 640,000