2016 Rock n’ Roll Poker Open 
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino 
Hollywood, FL 
Event 11: $1,650 No Limit Hold’em Bounty (Single Re-Entry) 
Entries: 126
Prize Pool: $126,000 + $63,000 in bounties 
November 27-28, 2016 

Patrick Eskandar made his way to South Florida all the way from Southern California. With the 2016 Rock n’ Roll Poker Open nearing a close, Eskandar will be making the long flight back across the country, but he’ll be making the trek with some hardware in his luggage.

Eskandar took down the $1,650 no limit hold’em bounty tournament on Monday evening in a heads-up chop with Tom Nguyen. He topped a field of 126 players to take home the trophy and $35,642.

Eskandar eliminated three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Brian Hastings to give him a big chip lead against Nguyen as heads-up play was about to begin. Eskandar offered up a deal and after a few minutes of negotiation, they reached an agreement and Eskandar took the title.

“It feels great,” said Eskandar. “It was the tail end of the main and it was good to have a little recovery there and walk away with a pretty cool little trophy.”

Eskandar owns and operates medical clinics in his home state of California and he spends most of his free time traveling around playing poker tournaments against the best players he can find.

“I like to play some of the bigger events and wrestle with the pros,” said Eskandar. “It’s always fun to get on their turf and just punch through a little bit. You take some beatings, but every once in a while you punch them out.”

It wasn’t any different in this event for Eskandar. He had to punch through a very tough field and a final tabled that featured Hastings, Stephen Chidwick, Adam Geyer, James Dorrance, and Paul Balzano.

“It was definitely having to dodge a lot of sticky situations and a lot of really good players,” said Eskandar of the field he beat. “I just had to find some spots and get in there and chip up. I was able to find a few good spots and finally took it down.”

Eskandar was also able to take advantage of the bounty aspect of the tournament. For each player knocked out, the winner of the hand earns an extra $500. The bounty format gave Eskandar a little bit of an edge and some added entertainment.

“It definitely makes it fun,” said Eskandar. “You definitely may jump into a couple of pots that you wouldn’t normally play. Or you may realize that some people are taking advantage of that and punish them for it.

“And actually, that helped me quite a bit. There were like two spots where I knew two people were just going for the bounty and I was able to show some strength and win some pots and takes the bounty as well.”

Here is a look at the results:

1st: Patrick Eskandar – $35,642
2nd: Tom Nguyen – $29,500
3rd: Brian Hastings – $15,624
4th: Raffaello Locatelli – $11,214
5th: Stephen Chidwick – $8,190
6th: Derek Bowers – $6,300
7th: Richard Geyer – $4,914
8th: James Dorrance – $3,654
9th: Aaron Massey – $3,024
10th: Paul Balzano – $2,646
11th: Mike Poss – $2,646
12th: Alexander Ziskin – $2,646

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry) 
Level 23: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 126

Patrick Eskandar and Tom Nguyen have reached a deal and will chop this event before heads-up play begins. Eskandar had the chip lead and will take home $35,642 and the trophy. Nguyen will earn $29,500 for his second place finish.

A recap will be posted later tonight.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock RRPO Championship
Level 25: 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 18 of 760

With Day 3 of the 2016 Rock n’ Roll Poker Open Main Event in the books, the final 18 players have bagged up chips for the day and Upeshka De Silva will take a very heavy bag into Day 4.

De Silva has a massive chip lead over the rest of the field and finished the day with 6,160,000, more than a quarter of the chips in play. He has more than three times his closest competitor, which is Matthew Zarcadoolas with 1,745,000.

When play started today, there were 48 players returning, hoping to make a run at a title, but after just over four levels of play, 30 players were eliminated and the final 18 players were reached.

Day 4 starts at noon on Tuesday with one hour and 23 minutes remaining in the level with blinds of 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante.

Levels will be 90 minutes long and the field will play down to the final six players before bagging and tagging chips for the day. One of the two tables will be live streamed on a 30-minute delay with cards face-up throughout the day.

Here is a look at the seating arrangement and chip counts for Day 4:

Table 1 (Featured Table)

Seat 1: Will Failla – 280,000
Seat 2: Upeshka De Silva – 6,160,000
Seat 3: Matt Humphrey – 1,715,000
Seat 4: Ari Engel – 715,000
Seat 5: Gerald Karlic – 1,020,000
Seat 6: Mark Dube – 1,175,000
Seat 7: Neal Corcoran – 650,000
Seat 8: Matthew Zarcadoolas – 1,745,000
Seat 9: Jacobo Fernandez – 1,075,000

Table 2

Seat 1: John Curcuru – 610,000
Seat 2: Ben Keeline – 1,190,000
Seat 3: Fariborz Zojaji – 645,000
Seat 4: Zoltan Czinkota – 1,000,000
Seat 5: William Jennings – 965,000
Seat 6: Patrick Mahoney – 675,000
Seat 7: John Spadevecchia – 1,565,000
Seat 8: Billy Pilossoph – 1,075,000
Seat 9: Robert Womack – 360,000

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
Level 22: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 126

Patrick Eskandar completed from the small blind, and Brian Hastings checked his option in the big.

The flop was . Eskandar checked, Hastings bet 20,000, and Eskandar called. The turn was the , and Eskandar quickly moved all in. Hastings had just less than 300,000 chips left in front of him, and he eventually called to put himself at risk.

Eskandar: (queens up)
Hastings: (pair of kings)

The river was the , and Eskandar won the pot with two pair, eliminating Hastings in third place.

Eskandar is now heads-up with Tom Nguyen for the trophy in Event 11.

Patrick Eskandar – 910,000 (91 bb)
Tom Nguyen – 600,000 (60 bb)
Brian Hastings – Eliminated in 3rd place ($15,624)

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
Level 22: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 126

Brian Hastings raised to 25,000 in the small blind, and Tom Nguyen three-bet to 100,000 in the big blind. Hastings shoved, and Nguyen called all in for 293,000 to put himself at risk.

Hastings:
Nguyen:

The board ran out , and Nguyen doubled up with a ten-high straight.

Tom Nguyen – 589,000 (59 bb)
Brian Hastings – 400,000 (40 bb)

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock RRPO Championship
Level 25: 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 18 of 760

Ari Engel raised to 65,000 from middle position and Erik Christensen moved all in for 215,000 on the button. William Jennings moved all in for about 590,000 from the small blind and Engel folded.

Jennings showed and was in the lead against Christensen’s .

The board ran out and Jennings’ tens held up to eliminate Christensen in 19th place. Christensen will take home $12,890 for his efforts and that will end play for the day.

The remaining 18 players will bag up and a complete recap of the day’s action will be posted shortly.

William Jennings – 890,000
Erik Christensen – Eliminated 

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
Level 22: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 126

Brian Hastings completed in the small blind, Tom Nguyen raised to 25,000 in the big blind, and Hastings called.

The flop was . Hastings checked, Nguyen continued for 20,000, and Hastings check-raised to 55,000. Nguyen called. The turn was the , and Nguyen called another 65,000. The river was the , and Hastings moved all in for 174,000. Nguyen called to put him at risk.

Hastings showed for treys full, and Nguyen exposed his as he paid off Hastings’ double.

Brian Hastings – 641,000 (64 bb)
Tom Nguyen – 495,000 (50 bb)

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock RRPO Championship
Level 25: 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 19 of 760

Will Failla moved all in from the cutoff for 115,000 and Neal Corcoran called from the small blind. Upeshka De Silva folded his big blind and the cards were tabled.

Corcoran showed and was in the lead against Failla’s .

“I got a flush,” joked Failla as the dealer was getting ready to burn and turn.

The flop was and Failla got up from the table until he sees he also has a flush draw to go with his pair. The turn was the , keeping Corcoran in the lead, but the came on the river to give Failla a flush and secure his double up.

Will Failla – 265,000
Neal Corcoran – 590,000

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
Level 22: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 126

Brian Hastings opened the button to 25,000, Raffaello Locatelli called in the small blind, and Tom Nguyen defended his big blind to create three-way action.

The flop was . Locatelli checked, Nguyen bet, Hastings folded, and Locatelli called. Heads-up, the turn was the , and Locatelli check-called another 40,000. The river was the , and Locatelli checked again. Nguyen moved all in for about 140,000 effective, and Locatelli eventually called all in to put himself at risk.

Locatelli: (pair of jacks)
Nguyen: (Broadway straight)

Nguyen won the pot with the nuts, eliminating Locatelli in fourth place.

Tom Nguyen – 660,000 (66 bb)
Raffaello Locatelli – Eliminated in 4th place ($11,214)

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock RRPO Championship 
Returning to Level 25: 15,000/30,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining: 19 of 760

Championship players are on a 60-minute dinner break and return one elimination away from ending the night.

Feature Table
Seat 1: Robert Womack – 355,000 (12 bb)
Seat 2: Zoltan Czinkota – 1,100,000 (37 bb)
Seat 3: — Empty —
Seat 4: Gerald Karlic – 1,200,000 (40 bb)
Seat 5: — Empty —
Seat 6: John Curcuru – 615,000 (21 bb)
Seat 7: Matthew Humphrey – 1,525,000 (51 bb)
Seat 8: — Empty —
Seat 9: Patrick Mahoney – 710,000 (24 bb)

Table 18
Seat 1: — Empty —
Seat 2: — Empty —
Seat 3: Fariborz Zojaji – 810,000 (27 bb)
Seat 4: Billy Pilossoph – 1,160,000 (39 bb)
Seat 5: Will Failla – 125,000 (4 bb)
Seat 6: John Spadavecchia – 1,600,000 (53 bb)
Seat 7: — Empty —
Seat 8: Neal Corcoran – 740,000 (25 bb)
Seat 9: Upeshka De Silva – 6,040,000 (201 bb)

Table 27
Seat 1: Ari Engel – 715,000 (24 bb)
Seat 2: Ben Keeline – 1,060,000 (35 bb)
Seat 3: Jacobo Fernandez – 1,200,000 (40 bb)
Seat 4: Erik Christensen – 275,000 (9 bb)
Seat 5: William Jennings – 665,000 (22 bb)
Seat 6: Matthew Zarcadoolas – 1,800,000 (60 bb)
Seat 7: — Empty —
Seat 8: — Empty —
Seat 9: Mark Dube – 1,250,000 (42 bb)