$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Hollywood
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 13:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Flight B Players Remaining:  150 of 417

With the board showing on the turn and about 12,500 already in the pot, Roy Rubin got it all in from UTG+1 for 59,500 with for a set of fours. He needed to avoid a ten on the river to stay alive against the big blind’s (two pair).

The river card was the , and Rubin won the pot with his set to double up in chips.

Roy Rubin  –  131,500  (66 bb)

At another table, a player moved all in from middle position for about 16,000, and Nissim Vaknin called from the hijack with . His opponent turned over , needing to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Vaknin won the pot with a flopped pair of aces to eliminate his opponent from Day 1B.

Nissim Vaknin  –  165,000  (83 bb)

The player on the button moved all in preflop for 10,600, and Chad Eveslage called from the big blind with . The button turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came — the button paired his eight on the flop and turned two pair, but Eveslage rivered a five-high straight to win the pot and eliminate his opponent from Day 1B.

Chad Eveslage  –  110,000  (55 bb)

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Hollywood
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 13:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Flight B Players Remaining:  150 of 417

The players return from break to begin Level 13, with blinds at 2,000/4,000 and a 4,000 ante. With about 150 players remaining from a Day 1B field of 417, the average chip stack is about 83,500 (42 big blinds).

A scan of the field during the break turned up four players with at least 200K in chips, creating an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Casey Carroll  –  236,000  (118 bb)
2.  Darryll Fish  –  222,000  (111 bb)
3.  Sheddy Siddiqui  –  219,500  (110 bb)
4.  David DiBernardi  –  214,500  (107 bb)

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Hollywood
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 11:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Flight B Players Remaining:  190 of 417

James Calderaro was flying high before the dinner break, but ran into a rough stretch here after dinner.

With the final board showing on the river and roughly 20K already in the pot, Joshua Poe moved all in from the big blind for 16,900, and Calderaro went into the tank for a while on the button.

While he was tanking, Calderaro said he could only beat a bluff, but he thought Poe might have been on a diamond draw. Eventually, another player called for a clock on Calderaro.

Shortly after that, Calderaro called, and Poe turned over to win the pot with a full house, fives full of kings.

Calderaro said, “I couldn’t beat eight-five.”

Joshua Poe  –  53,000  (44 bb)
James Calderaro  –  83,000  (69 bb)

The next hand, the player in the hijack raised to 2,500, Calderaro called from the cutoff, Poe called from the small blind, and Yaroslav Nakonechnyy moved all in from the big blind for 24,200.

Everyone folded except for Calderaro, who called with . Nakonechnyy turned over , and he was dominated and facing elimination.

But the board came — Nakonechnyy flopped a flush and turned a king-high straight-flush to win the pot and double up in chips.

Yaroslav Nakonechnyy  –  54,600  (46 bb)
James Calderaro  –  59,000  (49 bb)

With about 190 players remaining, the average chip stack is about 65,800 (55 big blinds).

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Hollywood
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Flight B Players Remaining:  230 of 417

Registration has closed with 417 entries here on Day 1B, creating a two-day total of 784 entries. The final starting flight, Day 1C, begins tomorrow at 11:00 am.

With about 230 players remaining from this field of 417, the average chip stack is about 54,500 (55 big blinds), and action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 15, about 10:45 pm.

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Hollywood
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9: 400/800 with a 800 ante
Flight B Entries: 404

Time is running out in Level 9 and the WPTDeepStacks players are about to be sent on their 60-minute dinner break not long after the entry count crossed over 400. That is right in line with expectations and we will hit the $1,000,000 guarantee tomorrow afternoon. But there’s still time to play today with registration open until they return.

Two former WPT champs took advantage of the late registration period. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi is a two-time WPT Champions Club member and he’s two tables away from James Calderaro, the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Champion from 2014.

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Hollywood
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7: 300/500 with a 400 ante
Flight B Entries: 366

We are back in action in the Seminole Ballroom with a brand new leader. Robert Cahill was among the big stacks at the first break but the biggest after the second with 141,400. That’s only a few chips above Euro-grinder Lauri Saaskilahti who sits in second with 140,000.

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Hollywood
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 200/400 with a 400 ante
Flight B Entries: 353

Level 6 came to an end and WPTDeepStacks Day 1B players took another well-deserved break from the action. The field is up to 352 entries with registration open for more than three more hours, time to spin it up.

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Hollywood
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 200/400 with a 400 ante
Flight B Entries: 346

Day 1B of the WPTDeepStacks Hollywood event rolled into Level 6 with more than 300 entries pushing the combined total prize pool over $700,000. The $1,000,000 guarantee will be within easy reach tomorrow afternoon.

South Florida favorite Darryll Fish made his return to the Seminole Ballroom and trying to add a WPTDeepStacks to his WPT title. Technically, Fish is the defending WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Champion even though his title run came two years ago. We last ran the full main tour WPT stop here in 2018 and he took home the title in front of friends, family, and a busy live-stream for more than $500,000.

That was good enough for the biggest cash of the career but it only held up for a few months. In April of 2018, Fish finished second in the partypoker Millions Main Event in Canada for $1.2 million in Canadian dollars ($937K US).

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Hollywood
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 5: 200/300 with a 300 ante
Flight B Entries: 311

David Nathaniel Jr was an entrant before the first break and he’s been running really well over the last few months, good enough to sit atop the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year standings.

The SHRP POY race consists of 10 major tournaments across the state with Coco Poker, SHR Tampa, and Hollywood events on the calendar. The current run began with Seminole Casino Coconut Creek’s WSOP Circuit Main Event in October. Nathaniel Jr finished 10th out of 617 entries to start his campaign.

The second stop was Seminole Hard Rock Tampa for the Pinktober Poker Open Main Event. Nathaniel Jr had a bit of a better finish that time, winning it all for another $93,000 in his bankroll and a trip to the top of the POY leaderboard.

While the WPTDeepStacks Hollywood event was a point-eligible tournament last year, in 2020 the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship will take its place.

We are four tournaments into the POY chase so there’s plenty of time to catch the leader. After the WPT LHPO Championship, next up is the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Tampa next month. The Player of the Year will win a package valued at more than $25,000 and includes SHRP Championship/Main Event buy-ins plus hotel/food comps throughout the year.

You can find the complete schedule of eligible events, prize information, and updated leaderboard at HardRockPoker.com.

$1,100 WPTDeepStacks Hollywood
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4: 100/200 with a 200 ante
Flight B Entries: 285

Players returned to their seats and another nice group of players jumped into the game. We are aiming high and looking for a big turnout at the midpoint of the tournament.

There were several big stacks found while they were gone but none was bigger than Frank Russo. He returned to 92,800 out front and a nice lead on second place Robert Cahill with 87,000. But there’s still plenty of time to catch the leaders.