$360 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Level 26: 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 178

Alan Phillips raised to 90,000 on the button and Ronald Higgins called from the big blind. The flop was and Higgins moved all in for about 550,000.

Phillips snap-called and showed , good for trip kings. Higgins was drawing to runners with his , but the came on the turn and the came on the river to eliminate Higgins in fourth place.

Higgins took home $4,270 for his finish and Phillips opened up a big chip lead over Alik Sitnyakovsky and Cameron Collins as three-handed play begins.

Alan Phillips – 1,725,000
Ronald Higgins – Eliminated 

$360 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Level 25: 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 178

Alan Phillips raised to 55,000 from under the gun and Ronald Higgins three-bet to 100,000 out of the big blind. Phillips called and the flop was .

Higgins bet 125,000 and Phillips moved all in. Higgins asked the dealer for a count and to pull in the dead money. The dealer informed Higgins that it was another 308,000 to call.

Higgins called and the cards were tabled. Higgins showed and needed a queen against Phillips’ .

The turn was the and the river was the to send the pot to Phillips and take a big chunk out of Higgins’ stack.

Alan Phillips – 860,000
Ronald Higgins – 585,000

$360 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Level 24: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 178

On a flop of , Vikci Holmes moved all in for about 195,000 from the cutoff and Cameron Collins called on the button.

Holmes showed , but needed to improve against Collins’ .

The turn was the , leaving Holmes drawing dead. The river was the and Holmes was eliminated. Collins took the pot and was the first player over the million chip mark. Holmes took home $3,204 for her finish.

Cameron Collins – 1,050,000
Vicki Holmes – Eliminated 

$360 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Level 24: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 178

Alik Sitnyakovsky got his last 171,000 into the middle from the big blind and Alan Phillips called from the small blind.

Phillips tabled and needed to improve against Sityakovsky’s .

The board ran out and Sitnyakovsky doubled up.

Alik Sitnyakovsky – 357,000
Alan Phillips – 500,000

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
End of Level 16: 1,200/2,400 with a 400 Ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 126

Sixteen levels are complete, and the final nine players have bagged up their chips for the night, with Stephen Chidwick and Adam Geyer way out in front of the pack and neck-and-neck for the chip lead. Here’s the remaining lineup:

Seat 1: Patrick Eskandar – 96,000
Seat 2: Adam Geyer – 314,000
Seat 3: Brian Hastings – 172,500
Seat 4: Stephen Chidwick – 314,500
Seat 5: Raffaello Locatelli – 140,500
Seat 6: James Dorrance – 95,500
Seat 7: Tom Nguyen – 101,000
Seat 8: Aaron Massey – 113,000
Seat 9: Derek Bowers – 164,500

Everyone left is guaranteed to earn at least $3,024 tomorrow, with a top prize of $41,850 and a trophy reserved for the champion. Play resumes at 2:00 PM and will continue until a winner is crowned.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock RRPO Championship
End of Level 20: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 48 of 760

From a starting field of 760 entries, just 48 players remain as Day 2 concludes in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open $3,500 Championship Event.

Texas pro Upeshka De Silva holds a big lead at the end of the night, bagging up 1,938,000 chips to set the pace heading into Day 3. Ari Engel (1,116,000) is the only other player with a seven-figure stack. Super high roller Matt Berkey was the first one to really assert himself atop the leaderboard on Day 2, crossing into seven figures earlier than anyone probably should have. Berkey rode his mighty stack to a relatively easy day, ending in third place with just shy of a million chips.

The day began with 283 players still in contention, and the early eliminations came at a torrid pace. Noah Schwartz, Allen Kessler, Tom Marchese, Tristan Wade, Brian Hastings, Ryan Riess, Joe McKeehen, Chris Moorman, the brothers Massey, Jerry Wong, and High Roller winner Ben Tollerene were among the casualties, sent home empty handed during the day’s opening hours of action.

The bubble burst late during the night’s penultimate level, with former November Niner Russell Thomas earning the unfortunate title of Bubble Boy. His elimination left the 72 remaining players in the money, and another 24 of them would fall before the end of the night. Some of those included Keven Stammen (64th place), defending champion Jake Bazeley (60th), Chino Rheem (58th), Matt Stout (56th), Matt Affleck (51st), and Ryan D’Angelo (49th).

The 48 who did survive the day are set to return to the ballroom on Monday for another long day of poker. Here’s what the top of the leaderboard will look like when play resumes:

1. Upeshka De Silva – 1,938,000
2. Ari Engel – 1,116,000
3. Matt Berkey – 972,000
4. Matt Humphrey – 914,000
5. Jessica Dawley – 840,000

Dawley leads the way for Team Seminole Hard Rock Poker, but four of her teammates will represent some stiff competition for her and the rest of the field tomorrow. Jason Mercier (378,000), Mukul Pahuja (333,000), Natasha Mercier (194,000), and John Racener (190,000) will all return for Day 3 with their sights set on the trophy.

Everyone left is guaranteed to earn at least $8,998, with a top prize of more than $560,000 awaiting the eventual champion. Blinds will be 6,000/12,000 to start the day, putting the average stack just under 40 big blinds. Day 3 begins Monday at noon, with the goal of playing down to the final 18 players.

Day 3 Chip Counts  |  Day 3 Seat Draw

$360 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Level 23: 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 178

Wally Maddah got the last of his chips into the middle preflop with against Alan Phillips’ .

The board ran out clean for Phillips and he eliminated the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Ambassador. Maddah picked up his third cash of the series and earned $2,670 for his finish.

Alan Phillips – 505,000
Wally Maddah – Eliminated 

$360 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Level 22: 6,000/12,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 6 of 178

Eric Rivkin moved all in on the button for about 130,000 and Ronald Higgins called out of the big blind.

Rivkin showed and needed to hit an ace against Higgins’ . The flop was and even though Rivkin hit an ace, Higgins flopped middle set and left Rivkin drawing to runners.

The turn was the and Rivkin was officially drawing dead to the river. Higgins dragged the pot and Rivkin was eliminated in seventh place. He took home $2,136 for his finish.

Ronald Higgins – 480,000
Eric Rivkin – Eliminated 

$360 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Level 22: 6,000/12,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 178

David Ward raised to 25,000 from under the gun and Vicki Holmes three-bet to 100,000 on the button. The blinds folded and Ward moved all in for about 300,000. Holmes called and Ward was at risk.

It was a flip for over 600,000 in chips with Holmes’ up against Ward’s .

The board ran out and Holmes won the flip. Holmes took the chip lead and Ward hit the rail in eighth place. He earned $1,602 for his deep run.

Vicki Holmes – 660,000
David Ward – Eliminated