$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)
$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 5: 150/300/50 Ante
It’s turning out to be a very successful opening flight with plenty of time to get in the action. There are 287 entered as we get ready to move into Level 5 for a nice pace with with more than three hours left to register.
We tracked down another November Niner in the field and it’s John Racener back in town for some action. He’s third on the Florida all-time money list, behind Jason Mercier and Michael Mizrachi, with a nice chunk of that coming from his runner-up finish in the 2010 WSOP Main Event.
Racener also holds a WSOP Circuit ring and a tenth place finish this summer during the 2015 WSOP High Roller for One Drop.
$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 4: 100/200/25 Ante
Vanessa Rousso is another South Florida grinder who has gone on to make a name for herself around the world playing the game. She has $3.5 million in career earnings, good enough for a top ten spot on the Florida all-time list, including two WPT final tables (and two final table bubbles). Rousso’s most recent win came a few weeks ago in the WPT National Johannesburg 6-Max event.
She’s with us today as the Championship field takes off on their second break of the day.
$3,500 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Championship
Level 4: 100/200/25 Ante
The 2015 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship had a deep final table and two of them are back in the ballroom with some nice results since last February.
We found Kelly Minkin and Brian Altman sitting in the 1-seat adjoining tables. Minkin came close to becoming the first open-field WPT champion when she finished third while Altman went on to win the title for over $700,000.
Since that final table, Minkin went on to become to be the “last woman standing” in the 2015 WSOP Main Event, finishing in 29th for more than $200,000.
Altman cashed four time during the 2015 WSOP and is coming off a fourth place finish at the WPT Montreal event.
