$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 6:  200/400/50 Ante

In the final hand of Level 6, Season X WPT World Champion Marvin Rettenmaier was all in from the hijack on the turn in a three-way pot against William Parker and WSOP November Niner Neil Blumenfield.

The board showed , and the river card paired the board with the . Blumenfield moved all in from the cutoff, and Parker tanked for a while before he called from the small blind.

Rettenmaier showed for trip queens, but Blumenfield turned over for trip queens with a higher kicker.

But neither hand was good. Parker flipped over to win the pot with an ace-high flush, eliminating both players on the last hand before the dinner break.

(Registration remains open until the end of the dinner break, so both Rettenmaier and Blumenfield have the option of re-entering one last time today.)

We’re not sure yet if this pot gave Parker the chip lead, but it does put him up near 180,000.

William Parker  –  178,775  (447 bb)
Neil Blumenfield  –  Eliminated
Marvin Rettenmaier  –  Eliminated

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

As William Parker continues to stack chips and deal with Neil Blumenfield and Marvin Rettenmaier, a new contender is starting to emerge at the table.

2014 WPT World Champion Keven Stammen has gotten into gear and is now up to 85,000 chips.  The ever-dangerous Stammen has already claimed a six-figure championship victory in 2015 and will look to add the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock n’ Roll Poker Open” Main Event title to his collection this week.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 6:  200/400/50 Ante

John Racener raised from middle position to 600, James Joyner called from the hijack, the button called, and the big blind reraised to 2,400. All three of the other players called.

All four players checked to the turn on a board of , and it checked to the button, who bet 5,000. The big blind folded, Racener called, and Joyner folded.

The river card was the , and both players checked. Racener showed for a set of sevens, and the player on the button rechecked his cards and held onto them for a surprisingly long time (one player jokingly yelled asked for a clock) before he mucked. Racener took the pot.

John Racener  –  48,000  (120 bb)

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 6:  200/400/50 Ante

Brian Altman won $723,008 here at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino back in February when he won the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship, and he almost won a second WPT title last week at WPT Montreal, where he finished fourth.

Altman just knocked out a fellow WPT champion, Jared Jaffee, to build his stack up to more than 150,000.

Brian Altman  –  156,000  (390 bb)

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

Earlier we’d mentioned the table filled with ambassadors from Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and another locale to the north. And right now Darryll Fish is getting the best of the showdown.

Fish is now up to 100,000 chips and climbing as he continues to carry his momentum from his runner-up finish at the World Poker Tour event in Montreal eight days ago.  Will Fish push one more spot higher and claim a title in his home state?  We’ll keep an eye on him as play continues this evening.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 6:  200/400/50 Ante

The day before Thanksgiving (two days ago), Gunther Rowohlt and Christopher Nomikos were seated side-by-side at the final table of Event 5, where they ended up finishing 3rd and 2nd, respectively, behind Ory Hen.

You can read about that final table by clicking here.

Now, on Day 1A of the Championship event, they are seated side-by-side again, just one table away from where they finished out Event 5. And both players are doing well, with above-average stacks.

Gunther Rowohlt  –  52,500  (175 bb)
Christopher Nomikos  –  51,000  (170 bb)

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

Asher Conniff was already known in poker rooms around the North East but a big run in April put him on everyone’s radar. Even the mainstream media types where writing about him.

He came into the 2015 Borgata Spring Open with one Borgata title already under his belt then walked away with another win in the opening event for $200,000.

Conniff was just warming up. He famously registered for an online satellite by accident into the $15,000 WPT Championship, one a seat, and went on to win it all once again. This time for nearly $1 million.

Conniff had his first Seminole Hard Rock Poker cash in August and back for a chance to run deeper. If he’s feeling a little homesick being away from the chilly weather, he found a friend waiting for him in the 1-seat in Matt Stout.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

If this afternoon’s registration number so far is any indication, the $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool is going to be shattered by the time registration closes tomorrow.

Day 1A has already reached 304 entries as we near the halfway point to making the guarantee.  Registration for tonight’s flight will close after the break following Level 6.

Among the newest entries in the flight is the highly successful Jared Jaffee who has taken a seat next to Brian Altman as the elite in poker continue to make their way to the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock N’ Roll Poker Open” Main Event.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 5: 150/300/50 Ante

One player becoming more and more familiar to the poker world is Jessica Dawley and once again she’ll be showing up in poker households across the USA.

Dawley will be taking part in the “Poker Night in America” tapings here at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino over the weekend including another edition of the show’s popular “Ladies Night” series.

Right now, Dawley and her 7,600 chips are just trying to survive Day 1A as she is currently taking on Chance Kornuth, Yigal Hen, Andre Crooks and Zoltan Czinkota at her table.

$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 5:  150/300/50 Ante

The players return from break to begin Level 5, with increased blinds of 150-300 and a 50 ante. A scan of the field during the break revealed eight players with at least 75,000 in chips, and one that came in just under.

Here’s the unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Eli Levy  –  127,575  (425 bb)
2.  Robert Zlatkiss  –  103,000  (343 bb)
3.  James Gilbert  –  84,350  (281 bb)
4.  Johnny Tang  –  82,700  (276 bb)
5.  Nipun Java  –  81,600  (272 bb)
6.  Marc Duquette  –  79,575  (265 bb)
7.  Yigal Hen  –  77,525  (258 bb)
8.  Scott Menard  –  75,475  (252 bb)
9.  Krzysztof Stybaniewicz  –  74,075  (247 bb)

And some of the notables further back in the pack:

Darryll Fish  –  70,150  (234 bb)
Ory Hen  –  57,750  (193 bb)
Matt Waxman  –  55,250  (184 bb)
Matt Affleck  –  51,175  (171 bb)
Erik Christensen  –  48,650  (162 bb)
Harrison Gimbel  –  46,250  (154 bb)
Aaron Massey  –  40,075  (134 bb)
Abbey Daniels  –  39,525  (132 bb)
Jessica Dawley  –  38,825  (129 bb)
Dan Shak  –  38,800  (129 bb)
Nancy Birnbaum  –  36,300  (121 bb)
Chance Kornuth  –  36,225  (121 bb)
Natasha Barbour  –  34,600  (115 bb)
Brian Altman  –  33,375  (111 bb)
Jonathan Duhamel  –  31,850  (106 bb)
Sam Panzica  –  25,700  (86 bb)
Jacquelyn Scott  –  22,450  (75 bb)
Marvin Rettenmaier  –  20,950  (70 bb)
Stewart Newman  –  18,750  (63 bb)
Vanessa Rousso  –  12,100  (40 bb)
Neil Blumenfield  –  9,725  (32 bb)
Ian O’Hara  –  4,875  (16 bb)