Event 1 (Flight A): Scott Swatscheno Takes Out Another

$300 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Flight A
$75,000 Guarantee | Structure
Level 14: 1,500/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining: 34 of 211

The player on the button raised all in for about 35,000 and Scott Swatscheno called from the big blind with 6d6s, racing with his opponent’s Jh8s.

The board ran out 5s4c7d2c7s, safe for Swatscheno to score the elimination.

Scott Swatscheno – 380,000

Event 1 (Flight B): Play Underway

$300 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Flight B
$75,000 Guarantee | Structure
Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 71

Event 1 Flight B is underway. Among those in the field at the start include Michael Tait, Raminder Singh, Robert Transue, Carlos Rodriguez and Pasquale Caiazza.

Registration closes at the start of Level 9 (about 10:30 p.m.) and the day will conclude after the completion of Level 14 (about 1:45 a.m.)

Event 1 (Flight A): Aces Hold for Scott Swatscheno

$300 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Flight A
$75,000 Guarantee | Structure
Level 13: 1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 ante
Players Remaining: 36 of 211

Scott Swatscheno
Scott Swatscheno

Scott Swatscheno raised to 5,000 from early position, a player in middle position three-bet to 11,000, Swatscheno four-bet to 30,000, the middle-position player five-bet shoved for about 110,000 and Swatscheno called with AcAh, leading his opponent’s KcKd.

The board ran out 6d5s4sJsJh, safe for Swatscheno to score the elimination.

Scott Swatscheno – 348,000

Event 1 (Flight A): Aces Cracked in Two Spots

$300 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Flight A
$75,000 Guarantee | Structure
Level 11: 800/1,600 with a 1,600 ante
Players Remaining: 55 of 211

Following a flop of Ks9s2h, a player in middle position was all in for 26,800 with Kd10c for a pair of kings against Carlos Rodriguez on the button who held AhAd.

The Kc turn and Qh river completed the board, giving Rodriguez’s opponent trip kings to double up. Down to about 31,000, Rodriguez busted shortly thereafter.

At a nearby table, with a min-raise to 3,200 and a three-bet to 7,000 in front of him, Pasquale Caiazza four-bet all in for about 65,000 from the button. Scott Swatscheno, the initial raiser, isolated the pot with KcKh, trailing Caiazza’s AdAh.

The board came down Ks3dJs2s7s, giving Swatscheno a set of kings to score the elimination.

Scott Swatscheno – 205,000
Carlos Rodriguez – Eliminated
Pasquale Caiazza – Eliminated

Event 1 (Flight A): Chip Counts From Around the Room

$300 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Flight A
$75,000 Guarantee | Structure
Level 10: 600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Players Remaining: 81 of 211

Ido Ashkenazi – 155,000
David Moreno – 99,000
Georges Boyadjian – 95,000
Marc Sacheli – 94,000
Dave Inselberg – 83,000
Eli Levy – 36,000
Scott Zakheim – 35,000
James Salmon – 35,000
Carlos Rodriguez – 35,000
Marsha Wolak – 33,000
Scott Baumstein – 24,500
Paul Domb – 18,500
James Hamburger – 9,000

Event 1 (Flight A): Registration Closed

$300 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Flight A
$75,000 Guarantee | Structure
Level 9: 500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 108 of 211

Registration has closed for Flight A of Event 1 with 211 entries, more than two-thirds of the way toward the $75,000 guarantee.

Flight A action will continue until the end of Level 14, where the remaining players will bag and return for Day 2 tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Pedro Catinchi Falls Two Chips Shy of a Chip-and-a-Chair Victory as Ben Boston Wins Event 1 in a Six-Way Deal

2019 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 1
$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guarantee
Entries: 4,699
Prize Pool: $1,579,640
November 20-24, 2018

Event 1 Champion - Ben Boston
Event 1 Champion Ben Boston

The 2019 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open got off to a fantastic start with 4,699 entries in Event 1, and on Monday afternoon, the final six players agreed to split the remaining prizepool based on the ICM values of their chip stacks.

Ben Boston had the most chips and was declared the winner, earning the title and the trophy, along with $133,918.

“It feels great,” said Boston. “I’ve toyed around with tournaments a little bit over the years, but I never really took them seriously. I’m a cash game player.”

Boston hasn’t been to Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood in quite a few years, and the property has changed a lot since then, culminating in the grand opening of the new Guitar Hotel, which just opened last month.

But something about this event got Boston’s attention, and he flew in from Los Angeles to play it.

“I wasn’t expecting to win anything,” said Boston. “It’s a $400 coin flip into a field of almost 5,000 people. Of course I thought I was torching the $400. But why not?”

Final Six Players Chopped Event 1
The final six players who chopped the remaining prizepool, clockwise from top left: Song O., John Two-Bears, Brian Mancilla, Pedro Catinchi, champion Ben Boston, and Ronald Campillo.

Thanks to their deal, the final six players all earned at least $114,000 each, which is 285x their $400 buy-in.

The biggest story from this event was the amazing comeback of Pedro Catinchi, who was knocked down to a single chip — just 1/4 of the big blind — before the dinner break on Day 2. But Catinchi managed to climb out of that hole, and when Day 2 came to an end with 13 players remaining, Catinchi bagged up the chip lead.

It took another three hours of play on Monday afternoon to get from 13 players down to six, and after playing six-handed for a while, that’s when they agreed to a deal.

At that point, Catinchi was just two chips behind Boston for the lead — 1/6 of a big blind. While Catinchi doesn’t get the full worst-to-first credit that would have come with a victory, it’s still an epic comeback, and an incredible ending to the first event of the 2019 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open.

Pedro Catinchi
When this photo was taken shortly after the dinner break on Day 2, Pedro Catinchi had no idea that his chip-and-a-chair comeback would take him all the way to second place.

Final Table Results:

1st:  Ben Boston  –  $133,918 + RRPO Trophy
2nd:  Pedro Catinchi  –  $133,776
3rd:  Song O.  –  $128,869
4th:  Ronald Campillo  –  $119,432
5th:  Brian Mancilla  –  $116,143
6th:  John Two-Bears  –  $114,897
7th:  Richard Leger  –  $39,605
8th:  Stuart Hankin  –  $27,625
9th:  Leif Force  –  $16,440

Event 1: Ben Boston Wins in a Six-Way Chop

$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 37:  300,000/600,000 with a 600,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 4,699

Ben Boston
Ben Boston

The final six players have agreed to an ICM deal based on their current chip counts:

Seat 1.  John Two-Bears  –  12,700,000  (21 bb)
Seat 2.  Song O.  –  16,950,000  (28 bb)
Seat 3.  Ben Boston  –  18,675,000  (31 bb)
Seat 4.  Ronald Campillo  –  14,000,000  (23 bb)
Seat 5.  Brian Mancilla  –  13,050,000  (22 bb)
Seat 6.  Pedro Catinchi  –  18,625,000  (31 bb)

As chipleader, Ben Boston won the trophy and the title, and will receive the most money. Stay tuned for the official results and a tournament recap.