2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open 
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino 
Hollywood, FL
$300 CSOP/Jeff Conine Celebrity Poker Classic (Re-Entry)
Entries: 307
August 7, 2017

The Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open is about to get pretty serious, with the big-buy-in events arriving and the Big 4 drawing toward its finale.

It’s always nice to cut loose a bit before a long grind, and Monday’s charity event provided the perfect opportunity to lighten the mood and enjoy an evening of entertainment with poker as the backdrop. And all the fun was for a good cause, too.

The $300 re-entry event was run with the help of the Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) to benefit Conine’s Clubhouse, the invaluable nonprofit facility run by former Major League Baseball player Jeff Conine.

Conine’s Clubhouse serves as a home away from home for families of children who are under care at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. Located on the hospital campus itself, they can stay for free as long as necessary to have the best access to their child’s care.

“It provides all the amenities of a three-star hotel,” Conine said of his facility. “But, more importantly, [it] gives families a temporary place to call home when they need it most.”

So far, Conine’s Clubhouse has served more than 11,000 families thanks to events like this one. Visit their website for more information or to make a donation.

An elegant dinner party at Kuro opened the evening’s festivities at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. Cocktails were ordered, sushi was consumed, and elbows were thoroughly rubbed.

Once the cocktail hour ended, the group made the walk down to the tournament ballroom for the evening’s main event. And there were droves of them — a total of 307 entries by the time registration closed.

Conine’s ties to the local sports community attracted folks like baseball player Gaby Sanchez, hockey commentator Randy Moller, former professional wrestler Rocky Johnson, and local radio personalities Andy Slater and Kimmy B.

Miami play-by-play legend Dave Lamont served as the emcee for the show.

Matt Stout is the grunt behind the CSOP side of things, and he helped bring some of his fellow poker pros to the tables, too. Michael Mizrachi donated to the cause, as did Chance Kornuth, Kurt Jewell, Jessica Dawley, Neil Blumenfield, and Ronit Chamani, to name a few.

Stout was good for a few donations of his own throughout the course of the night.

The huge turnout raised $69,810 for Conine’s Clubhouse, and that number doesn’t include all the silent auction donations, sponsorships, and individual contributions that have yet to be tallied. It was the largest event for both the CSOP and the Conine Poker Classic in its six-year history.

There were some prizes reserved for the players, too. A cash prizepool of $16,150 was up for grabs, including payouts for the final 10 players and two $1,000 bonuses which were awarded at the first break. There was also a variety of additional prizes on the line for the finalists, ranging from deluxe gift baskets to Hard Rock tournament entries.

Patrick Eskandar claimed one of the $1,000 bonuses for having the chip lead at the first break, and Jonathan Cronin collected the other for being the most determined player in the field, tallying six entries himself.

The tournament’s guest of honor and “Mr. Miami” himself, Jeff Conine, outlasted about 200 players before ultimately succumbing to elimination.

Lamont dropped by for a tableside interview, and Conine took another opportunity to thank the players and facility staff in attendance for their support.

“You guys make it happen,” Conine said. “Thank you.”

The final table was reached around 1 a.m. as Gaby Sanchez exited in 11th place, leaving the final 10 players in the money. Here was the remaining lineup:

Seat 1: Adele Harrington – 95,000 (2 bb)
Seat 2: Hugh Joiner – 155,000 (4 bb)
Seat 3: Jeff Rose – 85,000 (2 bb)
Seat 4: Aron Dermer – 340,000 (9 bb)
Seat 5: James Scott – 495,000 (12 bb)
Seat 6: Jason Southwell – 270,000 (7 bb)
Seat 7: Matthew Yorra – 465,000 (12 bb)
Seat 8: Randy Moller – 430,000 (11 bb)
Seat 9: Jordan Rothenberg – 315,000 (8 bb)
Seat 10: Patrick Eskandar – 330,000 (8 bb)

The average stack was quite short at that point, and Aron Dermer won the war of attrition, defeating Jason Southwell in a two-hand heads-up match. He collected $5,000 in cash and a $5,250 seat to the upcoming SHRPO Championship for his efforts, and he promptly gave $1,000 of it right back to Conine’s Clubhouse.

Dermer is a marketer and investor from Miami, though his business has taken him all throughout Asia over the course the last decade. His transition from cash game grinder to tournament semi-pro is going well so far; he picked up 10 cashes at this summer’s World Series of Poker across a wide range of game types and is starting to gain some traction.

In his postgame interview, Dermer revealed that he almost passed on the event entirely. “Grinder made me late-register,” he said of Mizrachi, a longtime friend. “I was waiting to play the $10/10 PLO game, and he told me to come play in this.”

Mizrachi and Dermer both entered late with 10 big blinds, and both ran their stacks deep into the night. Mizrachi eventually dropped out with four tables left, but Dermer ended up as the very last man standing, posing for winner’s photos around 2 a.m. with an armada of prizes.

“I’m really excited to play the [Championship],” he beamed. “I get to play the $5k on a freeroll!”

As the evening wound down, the hard-working tournament staff finally had a moment to absorb the occasion, too.

“The event was a great success,” said Tony Burns, the Tournament Director for Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. “It was the largest charity event under my tenure, if not in the history of charity events here at Hard Rock.”

“We’re thrilled to host something that gives back to the community,” Burns continued. “It helps show our philanthropic side and the real culture of Hard Rock.

“With Jeff being such a big face of South Florida, with everything the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital does for the community, and with what we can do to host a premier event at Hard Rock — it was just a perfect storm. It feels good to give back.”

Results:

1st: Aron Dermer
2nd: Jason Southwell
3rd: James Scott
4th: Patrick Eskandar
5th: Jeff Rose
6th: Randy Moller
7th: Hugh Joiner
8th: Adele Harrington
9th: Matthew Yorra
10th: Jordan Rothenberg

Prizes: