Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship (Freeze-Out)
Level 7: 400/800/100 Ante

A careful scan of the field on the dinner break shows seven players with at least 135,000 in chips, though only three of them left their players’ cards so we could ID them. (We’ll identify the others when they return from dinner break.)

1.  Brian Phillis  –  204,700  (256 bb)
2.  Nicholas Immekus  –  157,600  (197 bb)
3.  Chun Law  –  154,600  (193 bb)
4.  Ari Engel  –  153,200  (192 bb)
5.  Krystal Seiling  –  142,800  (179 bb)
6.  Ryan Tepen  –  142,600  (178 bb)
7.  Emil Soffer  –  137,700  (172 bb)

Brian Yoon  –  115,000  (144 bb)

Brian Yoon’s stack is probably in the top 15 or so. The players are scheduled to return from dinner at 7:45 pm ET.

With 612 players remaining from a field of 900, the average chip stack is about 44,100 (55 big blinds). Registration remains open until  until the beginning of Level 9 (about 10:00 pm).

Matt Stout (left) poses with David Somers (right), the winner of the CSOP event at SHRPO.

Last night the Seminole Hard Rock hosted a Charity Series of Poker event that raised over $33,000 for the Habitat for Humanity charity thanks to a record-breaking turnout of 232 players. The CSOP was started by Matt Stout, and we caught up with him during the charity event pre-party last night. Stout filled us in on the origins of the CSOP and how he has grown the tour. He also discussed organizing the CSOP event hosted here at the Seminole Hard Rock last night.

On his first involvement with charity work: “I started getting involved with Habitat for Humanity when I was seventeen. My brother was the president of the Johns Hopkins chapter of Habitat for Humanity. That was my first real knowledge of a charity, what really goes on, and what the goal is for what they’re doing. I got really involved with Habitat, and everything my brother and Johns Hopkins were doing for Habitat of Baltimore in Sandtown, which is a really economically-depressed area. They built a lot of houses in the same area and really revitalized the area. They’re vetting all of the Habitat house owners so they are people that really deserve to be helped by Habitat. I saw all of that and really got excited about everything they were doing, how much fun it was to go out there. I saw some work sites, and then I got more involved with the work sites in New Jersey. Two year later I ended up becoming the VP of Habitat for Humanity at my college, The College of New Jersey.”

On using poker tournaments to aid charities: “That was two years before I started playing poker for a living, but I was already starting to get the poker bug. It was right after I learned how to play. When I was VP, as a fundraising project I decided we should run a $10 re-buy tournament. I got prizes donated for the top three by the company my Dad was working for. I was just hustling when I was 19 trying to raise some money for Habitat. I ran it in one of the dorms where there was five floors with the same lounge. So as tournament director I was running up and down the stairs the entire time, making sure everything was OK. It was a step tournament if you will [laughs]. I think we got four or five tables on five floors, and I think we raised $900 for Habitat. So it was always in the back of mind when I started playing poker for a living that I wanted to do something out on the tour. I noticed that there weren’t that many charity events being run out on the tour that coincided with big events on the tour. It’s a missed opportunity because there are so many people in poker willing to help the cause, but they’re not going to organize it themselves because they have so many things going on. I saw an opportunity where I could set things up and then players could come and have fun, drink, and play in the tournament for charity.”

On how he chooses charities for CSOP events: “I wanted to start this to help Habitat for Humanity and other great causes. Other ones I’m considering for the future are St. Judes, Doctors Without Borders, and dog shelters. I keep it open because there might be a group of celebrities or certain casinos that want to run it for a particular cause. I like to be able to vet the causes, and I often volunteer with the charity before I ever run an event for them. The first CSOP event was last year. It was a $300 buy-in event with $100 re-buys at Planet Hollywood for the Three Square Food Bank Las Vegas. We raised $14,605 for the food bank. Which was great, but I was a little disappointed because I’m always shooting for the stars. So this year when we ran the same event and raised $42,000 for a 180-190 percent increase, it was a really good sign for things to come. I’m having a lot of fun running these things. We legitimately do have a blast in these events, and it’s taking on a life of its own. It’s not so much my thing that I’m really pressing people to show up for and support anymore. People are getting excited for the events, it’s what I expected.”

On running this recent event with the Seminole Hard Rock: “I have always loved the Hard Rock properties. They have been working on building up the SHRPO series a lot, and really trying to cement themselves as one of the main staples on the tour in the U.S. They’re doing a great job with it, and I knew they would be interested in tying this in and having a big opening event with a pre-party that kicks off the SHRPO main events. They’ve just gotten behind it like no other venue has. Without me even asking, they just called me up and told me they’re adding $25,000 in prizes to the event. They have been unbelievable and really have gotten behind it. They go above and beyond what I expected and what I was hoping for in terms of the support I would get. Between this being an event for Habitat, which is the closest charity to my heart, and the one that really got me started in charity work, I’m also honored to work with these guys and the way that they operate and handle everything for me. They really take a lot of the pressure off me and do a lot of things for me that I have to do at other charity events. It’s been an incredible experience working with these guys and seeing everything they’re willing to do to help out the charity.”

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship (Freeze-Out)
Level 7: 400/800/100 Ante

Level 6 comes to an end, and the players take a 75-minute dinner break. Action is scheduled to resume at 7:45 pm ET.

The tournament clock shows 612 players remaining from a field of 896, so the average chip stack is about 44,000 (55 big blinds). Registration remains open until the beginning of Level 9, which will be about 10:00 pm.

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship (Freeze-Out)
Level 6: 300/600/75 Ante

We have a few poker playing couples in the Championship today with the Brady gang being one of the best.

Esther Taylor-Brady has earned over $500,000 playing live poker tournaments including two WSOP Circuit final tables and a fifth place finish in the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event.

Matt Brady has cashed for more than $2.75 million in his career including a million dollar payout for winning the 2008 Aruba Poker Classic.

They are a formidable poker-playing family with a mini-Brady waiting in the wings.

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship (Freeze-Out)
Level 6: 300/600/75 Ante

We’re closing in on the dinner break and tournament staff released the guaranteed payouts as they stand right now. The last 150 players will get paid with the winner taking home a cool $1,000,000 payout.

1st:  $1,000,000
2nd:  $575,000
3rd:  $310,000
4th:  $220,000
5th:  $180,000
6th:  $150,000
7th:  $125,000
8th:  $100,000
9th:  $75,000
10-12th:  $50,000
13-15th:  $40,000
16-18th:  $35,000
19-21st:  $32,500
22-24th:  $30,000
25-27th:  $27,500
28-36th:  $25,000
37-45th:  $22,500
46-54th:  $20,000
55-63rd:  $17,500
64-72nd:  $15,000
73-81st:  $12,500
82-90th:  $11,250
91-99th:  $10,000
100-126th:  $8,750
127-150th:  $7,500

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship (Freeze-Out)
Level 6: 300/600/75 Ante

This tournament started 10-handed to accommodate the large field, but now that everyone is in the main tournament room, all of the tables have been shifting to nine-handed.

It looks like the entire field is playing nine-handed at this point, and they’ll continue playing nine-handed for the rest of the way.

There are currently 648 players remaining from a field of 895, for an average chip stack of 41,500 (69 big blinds).

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship (Freeze-Out)
Level 6: 300/600/75 Ante

Level 5 comes to an end, and Level 6 begins with increased blinds of 300-600 and a 75 ante. With about 660 players remaining from a field of 890, the average chip stack is about 40,500 (67 big blinds).

Registration remains open until the beginning of Level 9 (about 10:00 pm).

There will be a 75-minute dinner break at the end of this level (about 6:30-7:45 pm), and action should continue tonight until about midnight.

.@shrpo main has one of the most fun structures I’ve played other than 10handed. Not too fast not too slow. Wish others copy @SavagePoker

— Joseph Cheong (@subiime) August 15, 2015

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship (Freeze-Out)
Level 5: 250/500/75 Ante

Michael Mizrachi hasn’t been in the tournament long, but to paraphrase the fictional ballplayer “Nuke” LaLoosh, he has been announcing his presence with authority.

Four players saw a flop of . The small blind checked, and Mizrachi bet 2,500 from middle position. The cutoff and the hijack both called, and the small blind check-raised to 9,000.

Mizrachi thought for a bit before he put out a stack with all of his big chips, effectively putting the other players all in. The cutoff and hijack both folded — quickly.

The small blind looked at Mizrachi incredulously, and Mizrachi shrugged, smiled, and said, “It’s one of those days when I run good.”

The small blind continued to tank, and Mizrachi seemed like he was almost encouraging a call, saying, “Flip?” Then Mizrachi asked the table, “You can rebuy, right?” Several players immediately said no (this is a freeze-out), so Mizrachi reminded everyone that at least there’s another tournament tomorrow — the $2,650 No-Limit Hold’em event with a $1 million guarantee.

The small blind counted his own chips — he had 24,075 behind his bet of 9,000. He asked Mizrachi, “Ten-nine is no good?” Mizrachi pondered it a moment and replied, “It’s got potential.”

Shortly after that, the small blind folded, and Mizrachi took the pot.

Michael Mizrachi  –  85,000  (170 bb)

After the hand, Steve Gross said to Mizrachi, “You’ve been here, what, 25 minutes?” Mizrachi simply smiled.

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship (Freeze-Out)
Level 5: 250/500/75 Ante

Michael Mizrachi raised to 1,150 preflop on the cutoff and the button and big blind both called. The flop was dealt and Mizrachi bet 1,450. The button folded and the big blind called.

The fell on the turn and Mizrachi bet 4,000. The big blind raised to 10,000 and Mizrachi tanked before reraising to 16,000. The big blind tanked and eventually folded. Mizrachi stacked up 53,000 after the hand.