$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 9: Blinds 400/800/100 ante
The good news for JRB and Mukul Pahuja was their table broke.
The bad news is Pahuja ended up right next to Carlos Mortensen and Bellande is next to Jarred Jaffe, Luis Santoni and Daren Stabinski.
At least they have position.
$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 9: Blinds 400/800/100 ante
Players have returned from break in Day 1 of our Championship Event. The big board currently lists 144 players left out of 259 entries. It’s the players’ final break with two hours of play to go before our survivors bag up for the evening.
$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 8: Blinds 300/600/75 ante
While no table in the room is going to be as loaded as the Mizrachi/Mercier/Phillips/Derrick Simon table, there are a few other intriguing matchups taking place on the remaining 16 tables.
Poker fans can enjoy the three-way battle on Table 33 between Daryll Fish, Noah Schwartz and Chile’s #1 ranked player Nick Yunis.
Table 35 features 2001 WSOP Main Event Champion Carlos Mortensen facing off with 2014 WSOP bracelet winner and the #1 player from Belarus, Alex “Diesel” Bolotin.
Finally on Table 36, the World Poker Tour Season XII Player of the Year Mukul Pahuja is staring across the table at Jean-Rober Bellande.
These tables here in the Main Event are full of intrigue tonight and tomorrow should be nothing short of spectacular with even more top pros coming in to take their shot at this prestigous title.
$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 8: Blinds 300/600/75 ante
Players are off on their final break of the day with less than 140 remaining of the starting 259.
They’ll return to play two more levels before bagging up and return on Sunday for Day 2.
$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 8: Blinds 300/600/75 ante
Being in the Miami area, you expect to a lot of hats and gear for “The U”, the Dolphins and even some Florida State and University of Florida for the daring.
But one you don’t see in the Sunshine State every day is….North Dakota State? You betcha!
Tom McCormick is always around proudly sporting his Bison (properly pronounced “bi-ZON”) hat. McCormick hopes he can get on a roll in this tournament like the three-time defending NCAA FCS football champions. For the record, NDSU begins their run at a fourth straight title starting next week in the second round of the NCAA playoffs.
We’ll see if McCormick can bring home another title this weekend for Bison Nation!
$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 7: Blinds 250/500/75 ante
Poker superstar Mike Leah may have a little more on his mind tonight than the current matter at hand.
Leah currently stands 2nd in the Bluff Magazine Player of the Year race behind 2014 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event champion Daniel Colman. Leah lost that heads-up match with Colman in August but quickly bounced back realizing a life-long goal by winning a WSOP braclet this October in Australia.
Leah trails by a little over 300 points but a big win here could open the door for Mike to overtake Colman. Could Leah put a POY title and the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock N’ Roll” Poker Open Main Event trophy next to his WSOP bracelet in one fell swoop? Only time will tell over the next few days here in Hollywood, FL.
$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 7: Blinds 250/500/75 ante
Five combined WSOP bracelets, over $27 million in career tournament earnings, and the top two players on the all-time list for Florida separated by a dealer.
Good luck Table 12 dealing with Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi in the 1-seat and Jason Mercier in the 9-seat.
Additional big money at the table, 2008 November Niner Dennis Phillips is sitting in the 6-seat with his $5.7 million career total.
$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 7: Blinds 250/500/75 ante
One of poker’s most eccentric figures has made his way to Hollywood.
Jean-Robert Bellande, known for mastery of “broke living” and most recently finding his way into the WSOP One Drop Tournament, has bought into Flight 1A and has taken his seat. Could Bellande be the next Seminole Hard Rock “Rock N’ Roll” Poker Open Champion? No matter what, he’ll have a great time trying.
$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$2 Million Guaranteed
Level 7: Blinds 250/500/75 ante
Elliott Zaydman found a bottle of super glue to fix his cracked kings.
Zaydman had his tournament life on the line with 
against his opponent whose 
flopped a full house on an 
board. He got no help with the 
on the turn. But just as he was getting up, he spiked the 
on the river for the double-up. Zaydman left his oppenent with around 1,000 chips and chair and stayed alive here on Day 1A.
Carolyn Zegeer has been a regular in the ballroom during the 2014 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open” and she’s back in action for the Championship event. She’s a full-time lawyer, some-time TV host, but poker is her passion.
“I love the game, I think it really hits my passions; I’m a very competitive person.” Zegeer said. “I have a lot of interests so this puts everything in a neat, little package. If I could do this more often, and travel the circuit, I would do it.”
Zegeer has been practicing law for 10 years as a graduate from Duquesne University and the University of Florida but she picked up poker at a young age.
“My grandfather has four grandchildren, three boys and me, the only girl and he’s my only grandfather. We always had a really special relationship.” Zegeer recalled.
“We went on a trip when we were much younger and he wanted to teach the boys how to play poker, and of course I’m the favorite so I tagged along. I’m the only one who picked it up. I fell in love with (poker) ever since then.”
Zegeer only has one result during this series, cashing in Event 1, but she found success in the secondary events and has a “trophy” to prove it (pictured below). The secondary events draw a different crowd and she is trying to transition her success in those events to the bigger tournaments.
“I actually think there’s a hole in my game for the bigger events; I think I take them too seriously because I want it so bad.” Zegeer laughed, “My personality doesn’t come out as much and I notice when I’m just myself, I just relax and have fun with it and joke around, the hands start hitting in a strange way.”
“These bigger events, because I’m new to them, have gotten into my head a little bit. But that’s going to change because I’m aware I’m doing it.”
Zegeer also thinks her career as an attorney helps with her game at the tables. The two have a lot in common and it might give her an edge.
“Poker is a lot like practicing law.” Zegeer explained, “If you’re a trial lawyer, your job when you’re negotiating is to know where you’re at, to know how strong the other person is and how serious they are and when they’re not.”
“You’re trying to see where the holes and weakness are in your case and poker is the same way. The psychology of it is very much like law.”
Zegeer set her passion for poker aside for a few years but that changed when her Grandfather passed away in 2012. Since then she’s picked the game back up and hoping to do well.
“He passed away two years ago this December and ever since then I’ve had a renewed passion for the game.” Zegeer explained, “I’ve played in home games and smaller tournaments for a long time but really in the last year I’ve said, ‘I’m going to start playing in the bigger tournaments.’
“I practice law, I can afford to do it, and I’m going to go deep in one of these big events. I hope this is the one.”
While this is Zegeer’s first large tournament series, she likes how the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino runs the bigger series.
“This is the closest you’ll get to a WSOP-type event outside of Vegas for the Florida area. You’ve got the massive fields, with the ballroom and tables lined up.” Zegeer said, “They really go out of their way to make this feel it’s equivalent to any of the big events you find out in Vegas.”
“For people who are local, who are just starting to think ‘Could I go on the circuit? Could I travel for an event?’ this is a chance for them to whet their appetite and see if they can do it.” She continued, “Nobody else really provides that other than the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.”
