$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 9: 400/800/100 Ante

Brian Altman hasn’t moved from his spot among the black curtains and palm trees across the back of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino ballroom all of this flight.  And he managed to avoid giving that seat up in a critical spot.

On a board of , Altman re-raised Fabrizio Gonzalez’s bet putting his 48,000 chip stack at risk.  After taking some time, Gonzalez made the call and Altman turned up for the flush.  Gonzalez mucked and Altman doubled-up to stay alive.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 9: 400/800/100 Ante

Nipun Java is staring across the table from the Allen Kessler/Bruce Kramer combo and is doing just fine, thank you.

Java is among the chip leaders for Day 1A with 247,000 chips and is looking for more at a dangerous table.

153 players remain alive here in tonight’s flight with around 75 minutes of play to go.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 9:  400/800/100 Ante

Earlier today, Season XI WPT Player of the Year Matt Salsberg tweeted that the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino was “the best poker venue in the country.”

Now, Season VIII WPT Player of the Year Faraz Jaka is weighing in with a similar sentiment:

In Hollywood, FL for @shrpo 2-Mil guaranteed. Love that I have an excuse to be here 3 times a year. Best place to play poker in the US imo

— Faraz Jaka (@FarazJaka) November 28, 2015

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 9: 400/800/100 Ante

Here’s a combo you don’t see every day.

Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler has found his way to be seated to next to Bruce “SkullCrusher” Kramer.  Both are sporting black jackets and rough sounding nicknames as they face off this evening.

Right now, Kramer is getting the best of things sitting on 90,000 chips while Kessler is grinding along at 42,400.  Will the Chainsaw or the SkullCrusher reign supreme tonight? We’ll find out in about 90 minutes.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 9:  400/800/100 Ante

In the second-to-last hand of the last level, Patrick Eskandar got it all in preflop for 8,675 with against the of Ricky Perez, who barely had him covered.

The board came , and the pocket kings held up for Eskandar to win the pot and double up in chips.

Patrick Eskandar  –  19,000  (24 bb)
Ricky Perez  –  425  (<1 bb)

Another player at the table pointed at Perez and said, “Watch this guy, because he’s going to make a big comeback.”

The next hand (the last hand of Level 8), Kamran Siddiqui raised under the gun to 1,400, the UTG+1 player called, and Perez called all in for 350. Eskandar called 1,400 from the cutoff, and the small blind called as well. In addition to the main pot worth 2,775, there was a side pot worth 4,200.

The flop came , and all four active players checked. The turn was the , the small blind checked, and Siddiqui bet 2,000. The UTG+1 player folded, Eskandar called, and the small blind folded.

The river card was the , putting a full house (aces full of nines) on the board. Siddiqui bet 4,000, and Eskandar tanked for a while before he called. Siddiqui turned over for a full house, aces full of kings, and Eskandar mucked.

Perez hadn’t looked at his hand yet, because he was so short he was shoving with any two cards. He needed an ace or pocket nines to stay alive, and he turned over — . Perez won the main pot to more than sixtuple up (6.5x) from 425 to 2,775.

Kamran Siddiqui  –  45,000  (56 bb)
Ricky Perez  –  2,775  (3.5 bb)

Update: While Perez made it to the break with hopes of continuing his comeback, he was unfortunately eliminated in the first hand of Level 9.

Ricky Perez  –  Eliminated

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 9:  400/800/100 Ante

Here is the unofficial leaderboard from the break, with everybody we could find with at least 170,000 in chips:

1.  Dan Ishaki  –  221,900  (277 bb)
2.  William Parker  –  209,800  (262 bb)
3.  Robert Zlatkiss  –  190,400  (238 bb)
4.  Fabrizio Gonzalez  –  179,000  (224 bb)
5.  Yves Fequlere  –  172,300  (215 bb)

With about 180 players remaining from a Day 1A field of 334, the average chip stack is about 55,700 (70 big blinds).

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 9: 400/800/100 Ante

Action has now resumed here in the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship Event.  Two more levels stand in the way of our players and the chance to move on to Day 2 on Sunday.

Play resumes on Level 9 with blinds at 400/800 with a 100 ante.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 8: 300/600/75 Ante

We have reached the final break of the evening.   The players will be taking a fifteen minute time-out before returning for the final two hours of play here in Day 1A.

We are still listed at 180 players left as we get ready for the homestretch of our opening flight of the Championship Event.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 8: 300/600/75 Ante

As the number of players in Day 1A slowly drops, we found two players who are headed in the right direction this evening.

Mike Massri has managed to put together an impressive 230,000 chips while facing off with Vanessa Rousso and the rest of his tablemates. Robert Zlatkiss has also been making some waves and is up to 187,625 looking to advance to Day 2.

180 players remaining alive here in Day 1A of our Championship Event.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 8:  300/600/75 Ante

Justin Zaki is in the field today after recently signing on as a player ambassador for the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa.

Zaki burst onto the scene in 2011 at the first major tournament to be held in the state of Florida — the inaugural WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown, finishing 3rd at that televised final table to win $415,680.

Zaki made it a habit of cashing in high-profile WPT events in his home state of Florida, cashing in five of the first six WPTs held here (83%), and eight of the first 12 (67%). Zaki won his first Seminole Hard Rock title this summer in Tampa, winning Event 1 of the Summer Deep Stack Poker Series for $51,782.

Justin Zaki  –  20,000  (33 bb)