Event 6: Edward Novak Wins Outright; Pockets $63K

2016 Coco Poker Showdown
Seminole Casino Coconut Creek
Coconut Creek, Fla.
Event #6
$350 No Limit Hold’em
Entries: 721
Prize Pool: $250,000
January 26-30, 2016

Event 6 winner Edward Novak
Event 6 winner Edward Novak

Coconut Creek, Fla. (January 30, 2015) — Edward Novak put on a convincing performance in the Coco Poker Showdown $350 buy in Event 6 Saturday night at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek. The 20-year-old newly-turned professional maneuvered through a 721-entry field before winning the event outright, pocketing $63,323 in the process.

“I ran pretty well when we started out,” Novak said of the late stages of play. “I had king-jack. I flopped a straight and held up against a flush draw. After that I clashed with a big stack and made a pretty big hero call with top pair […] I was just cruising. I had half the chips in play and there was no looking back from there — no thoughts of chopping.”

It’s not often poker players sell themselves short, but Novak did just that describing his stack as “half the chips in play”. In fact, Novak claimed nearly 6,000,000 of the roughly 8,700,000 chips in play five-handed. He never faltered en route to a heads up berth versus Fort Lauderdale pro Nancy Birnbaum. Birnbaum was at a severe disadvantage and chipped up only slightly before her pocket fives were bested by Novak’s Ad6d all in preflop. Birnbaum earned $36,906 for her runner-up finish. The score moved her over $600,000 in career earnings.

“I know [South][Florida] has a lot of good poker and some series were going on. I figured I’d take a trip [to][Coconut][Creek],” Novak, a resident of Simsbury, Conn., said.

Event 6 featured eight starting flights. The 721-entry field came up shy of matching the guarantee, but the property chipped in to get the prize pool to $250,000. All Day 2 players were in the money with notables Ory Hen (44th), Abbey Daniels (36th) and Adam Levy (11th) joining Novak in the money.

At only 20 years old, this marks Novak’s first major tournament score.

“I might have to be now. I don’t know,” Novak laughed when asked if he was a professional poker player.

Event 6 final results:

1st: Edward Novak – $63,323
2nd: Nancy Birnbaum – $36,906
3rd: Mike Chiappetta- $24,131
4th: Kimberly Jones – $16,313
5th: Paul Steiner – $11,438
6th: Andrew Smith – $8,891
7th: Ruben Ybarra – $6,844
8th: Sergio Alves – $5,047
9th: Mark Nahama – $3,547
10th: Sean Anderson – $2,594
11th: Adam Levy – $2,594
12th: Ryan Anderson – $2,594
13th: Steven Cohen – $2,047
14th: Manuel Soltera Luna – $2,047
15th: Gabriel Sack – $2,047
16th: William Handwerker – $1,719
17th: Willy Baptiste – $1,719
18th: Robert Williams – $1,719
19th: Michael Newman – $1,484
20th: Yuan Shen – $1,484
21st: David Barbieri – $1,484
22nd: Raymond Roberty – $1,484
23rd: Elliott Saydman – $1,484
24th: Oneil McCalla – $1,484
25th: David Shaw – $1,484
26th: Steven Jordan – $1,484
27th: Mike Chang – $1,484
28th: Joshua Wasserman – $1,259
29th: Scott Zakheim – $1,259
30th: Luke Doolittle – $1,259
31st: Joseph Patalano – $1,259
32nd: Clinton Bowles – $1,259
33rd: Courtney Rowe – $1,259
34th: Michael Cohen – $1,259
35th: Plamen Stoyanov – $1,259
36th: Abbey Daniels – $1,259
37th: Cory Blum – $1,059
38th: Kevin Almon – $1,059
39th: Scott Wyler – $1,059
40th: Jerry Wong – $1,059
41st: Louis Leo IV – $1,059
42nd: Eric Riley – $1,059
43rd: Giuseppe Lunetto – $1,059
44th: Ory Hen – $1,059
45th: Frank Scala – $1,059
46th: Colny Covington – $934
47th: Jorge Gomez – $934
48th: Scott Efron – $934
49th: Bryan Rodriguez – $934
50th: Zoltan Czinkota – $934
51st: Benjamin Robinson – $934
52nd: Lawrence Paden, Sr. – $934
53rd: Kevin Chan – $934
54th: Darren Stabinski – $934
55th: David Albertson – $834
56th: Robert Midgette – $834
57th: Timothy Shortell – $834
58th: Johnny Tang – $834
59th: Timothy Kegel – $834
60th: Robert Miller – $834
61st: Pedro Palacio – $834
62nd: Michael Merisier – $834
63rd: Edward Medoff – $834
64th: Carlos Loving – $725
65th: Juan Cardona Garcia – $725
66th: Dolphus Powers – $725
67th: William Beasley – $725
68th: Peter Fellows – $725
69th Francois Tremblay – $725

Event 6: Edward Novak Wins Outright

$350  No Limit Hold’em
Level 27: 40,000/80,000/10,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 1/721

Edward Novak
Event 6 winner Edward Novak ($63,323)

Edward Novak of Simsbury, Conn. won Event 6 of the Coco Poker Showdown outright. He outlasted 721 entries in the $350 no limit hold’em tournament to earn $63,323.

A full report on the win will be posted shortly. In the mean time, here’s a look at the tournament’s results:

Nancy Birnbaum
Nancy Birnbaum eliminated 2nd ($36,906)
Mike Chiappetta
Mike Chiappetta eliminated 3rd ($24,131)
Kimberly Jones
Kimberly Jones eliminated 4th ($16,313)
Paul Steiner
Paul Steiner eliminated 5th ($11,438)

Additional final table results:

5th: Paul Steiner – $11,438
6th: Andrew Smith – $8,891
7th: Ruben Ybarra – $6,844
8th: Sergio Alves – $5,047
9th: Mark Nahama – $3,547

Additional results available in the posts below

Event 6: Final Table Update; Edward Novak Crushing

$350  No Limit Hold’em
Level 26: 30,000/60,000/10,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 5/721

Edward Novak holds 5,700,000 of the 8,652,000 chips in play and leads the final five in Event 6 handily.

Seating assignments with chip counts:

Seat 1: Kimberly Jones – 580,000
Seat 2: Nancy Birnbaum – 1,725,000
Seat 3: Paul Steiner – 15,000
Seat 4: Mike Chiappetta – 585,000
Seat 5: Edward Novak – 5,700,000

Remaining payouts:

1st – $63,323
2nd – $36,906
3rd – $24,131
4th – $16,313
5th – $11,438

Updated final table eliminations:

Andrew Smith eliminated 6th ($8,891)
Andrew Smith eliminated 6th ($8,891)
Ruben Ybarra
Ruben Ybarra eliminated 7th ($6,844)
Sergio Alves
Sergio Alves eliminated 8th ($5,047)
Mark Nahama
Mark Nahama eliminated 9th ($3,547)

Additional results available in the posts below

Event 6: Final Table Seating Chart

$350  No Limit Hold’em
Level 23: 15,000/30,000/3,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 9/721

Following the back-to-back eliminations of Adam Levy 11th and Sean Anderson 10th, the Event 6 restart is down to the final nine players and consolidated to one table.

Out in front of the final playing session is Ruben Ybarra. He holds 1,773,000 chips and leads second place Edward Novak, Nancy Birnbaum and others.

The remaining 10 players are now on a 40-minute dinner break. Cards go back in the air at roughly 6:15 p.m.

Seating assignments and chip counts:

Seat 1: Kimberly Jones – 416,000
Seat 2: Nancy Birnbaum – 1,250,000
Seat 3: Sergio Alves – 809,000
Seat 4: Paul Steiner – 523,000
Seat 5: Mike Chiappetta – 1,104,000
Seat 6: Edward Novak – 1,450,000
Seat 7: Mark Nahama – 650,000
Seat 8: Ruben Ybarra – 1,773,000
Seat 9: Andrew Smith – 710,000

Remaining payouts:

1st – $63,323
2nd – $36,906
3rd – $24,131
4th – $16,313
5th – $11,438
6th – $8,891
7th – $6,844
8th – $5,047
9th – $3,547

Updated results:

10th: Sean Anderson – $2,594
11th: Adam Levy – $2,594
12th: Ryan Anderson – $2,594
13th: Steven Cohen – $2,047
14th: Manuel Soltera Luna – $2,047
15th: Gabriel Sack – $2,047
16th: William Handwerker – $1,719
17th: Willy Baptiste – $1,719
18th: Robert Williams – $1,719
19th: Michael Newman – $1,484
20th: Yuan Shen – $1,484
21st: David Barbieri – $1,484
22nd: Raymond Roberty – $1,484
23rd: Elliott Saydman – $1,484
24th: Oneil McCalla – $1,484
25th: David Shaw – $1,484
26th: Steven Jordan – $1,484
27th: Mike Chang – $1,484
28th: Joshua Wasserman – $1,259
29th: Scott Zakheim – $1,259
30th: Luke Doolittle – $1,259
31st: Joseph Patalano – $1,259
32nd: Clinton Bowles – $1,259
33rd: Courtney Rowe – $1,259
34th: Michael Cohen – $1,259
35th: Plamen Stoyanov – $1,259
36th: Abbey Daniels – $1,259

Additional results available in the posts below

Event 6: Updated Results

$350  No Limit Hold’em
Level 18: 5,000/10,000/1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 36/721

Cards are back in the air following the second break of the day in the Event 6 restart. With just 36 remaining, Steve Cohen from New York City appears to hold the chip lead with about 620,000.

All remaining players are assured $1,259.

Updated results:

37th: Cory Blum – $1,059
38th: Kevin Almon – $1,059
39th: Scott Wyler – $1,059
40th: Jerry Wong – $1,059
41st: Louis Leo IV – $1,059
42nd: Eric Riley – $1,059
43rd: Giuseppe Lunetto – $1,059
44th: Ory Hen – $1,059
45th:Frank Scala – $1,059
46th: Colny Covington – $934
47th: Jorge Gomez – $934
48th: Scott Efron – $934
49th: Bryan Rodriguez – $934
50th: Zoltan Czinkota – $934
51st: Benjamin Robinson – $934
52nd: Lawrence Paden, Sr. – $934
53rd: Kevin Chan – $934
54th: Darren Stabinski – $934
55th: David Albertson – $834
56th: Robert Midgette – $834
57th: Timothy Shortell – $834
58th: Johnny Tang – $834
59th: Timothy Kegel – $834
60th: Robert Miller – $834
61st: Pedro Palacio – $834
62nd: Michael Merisier – $834
63rd: Edward Medoff – $834
64th: Carlos Loving – $725
65th: Juan Cardona Garcia – $725
66th: Dolphus Powers – $725
67th: William Beasley – $725
68th: Peter Fellows – $725
69th Francois Tremblay – $725

Event 6: Multi-Flight Veterans Share a Table

$350  No Limit Hold’em
Level 15: 2,500/5,000/500 Ante
Players Remaining: 59/721

David Albertson
Event 1 winner David Albertson

Two players in the Event 6 restart are holding their heads a little higher than the rest of the field. About a week ago, David Albertson bested 1,156 entries in the opening event of the series — a $130 multi-flight tournament. The performance earned Albertson more than $25,000 and his third major tournament victory. The other Event 6 standout, Ryan Anderson, was the chip leader at the Event 1 final table before finishing 4th.

Now, a week later, the pair shares a table again deep in the Event 6 restart. Anderson again holds the advantage and appears to be one of the tournament’s chip leaders with just under 400,000 in chips.

Ryan Anderson
Ryan Anderson

Event 6: Day 2 Underway; Winner Earns Top Prize of $63K

$350  No Limit Hold’em
Level 13: 1,500/3,000/400 Ante
Players Remaining: 69/721

Event 6 chip leader Michael Cohen
Event 6 chip leader Michael Cohen

Day 2 of Event 6 is freshly underway with 69 players remaining from 721 starting entries. Michael Cohen went on a heater in last night’s Flight H, the eighth and final start day. He turned his 12,000-chip starting stack into 273,500 and now claims an advantage of more than 25,000 over second place Scott Zakheim.

Day 2 chip counts | Table draws | Prize Pool

All Day 2 players are in the money and have locked up at least $725 for their efforts thus far. The tournament’s top prize of $63,323, though, is reserved for the eventual champion.

Periodic updates will be posted throughout the tournament’s conclusion.

Coco Poker Showdown Day 10 Schedule (Saturday)

Seminole Casino Coconut CreekIt’s Championship Saturday at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek in Coconut Creek, Fla. The $1,100 #CocoPokerShowdown Championship featuring a $100,000 guarantee and 20,000-chip starting stack is set to steal the show on Day 10 of the 11-day series.

Joining the finale on the Day 10 schedule are Day 2 of Event 6 at noon and the kickoff of the ninth and final event at 6 p.m.

Here’s a look at the full schedule of play:

12PM: Event 6 Day 2  – $350 No Limit Hold’em

1PM: Event 8 – $1,100 Championship

  • $100,000 guaranteed prize pool
  • 20,000-chip starting stacks and 40-minute levels
  • Late registration/unlimited re-entry available until the start of Level 10 (about 7:30 p.m.)
  • Day 1 concludes following Level 14 or when 10 percent of the field remains
  • Day 2 begins Sunday at 1 p.m.
  • Championship structure sheet

6PM: Event 9 – $130 Pot Limit Omaha/No Limit Hold’em

  • $10,000 guaranteed prize pool
  • 10,000-chip starting stacks and 20-minute levels
  • Late registration/unlimited re-entry available until the start of Level 10 (about 9:15 p.m.)
  • Event 9 structure sheet

The complete tournament schedule and all structure sheets are available under the “Schedule and Structures” tab above.

Updates throughout the series’ completion will be available right here at SeminoleCoconutCreekPoker.com.

Event 6: Day 2 Table Draws

$350  No Limit Hold’em
Day 2 Blinds: 1,500/3,000/400 Ante
Players Remaining: 69/721

Flight A: 51 entries, 5 advanced
Flight B: 53 entries, 5 advanced

Flight C: 48 entries, 5 advanced
Flight D: 78 entries, 8 advanced
Flight E: 72 entries, 7 advanced
Flight F: 131 entries, 12 advanced
Flight G: 109 entries, 10 advanced

Flight H: 179 entries, 17 advanced
Totals: 721 entries, 69 advanced

TableSeatNameChip Counts
11DAVID SHAW149,500
12COURTNEY ROWE90,000
13PAUL STEINER78,500
14CARLOS LOVING51,700
15BEN ROBINSON141,000
16ONEIL MC CALLA108,500
17JOSEPH PATALANO135,500
18FRANK SCALA176,500
19MICHAEL COHEN273,500
21DAREN STABINSKI146,000
22BRYAN RODRIGUEZ73,000
23KEVIN ALMON152,500
24RAYMOND ROBERTY95,000
25WILLIAM HANDWERKER158,000
26ABBEY DANIELS89,000
27PETER FELLOWS75,000
28RUBEN YBARRA90,500
29MICHAEL NEWMAN137,000
31GIUSEPPE LUNETTO137,500
32SCOTT EFRON118,000
33LOUIS LEO IV57,000
34WILLIAM BEASLEY100,500
35GABRIEL SACK69,500
36LAWRENCE PADEN90,500
37KIMBERLY JONES67,000
38CORY BLUM105,500
39SERGIO ALVES157,500
41ZOLTAN CZINKOTA238,000
42STEVEN COHEN145,000
43FRANCOIS TREMBLAY92,500
44ORY HEN85,500
45MANUEL SOLTERO LUNA196,700
46ELLIOTT ZAYDMAN118,500
47DAVID BARBIERI192,500
48KEVIN CHAN78,000
49JERRY WONG130,000
51SEAN ANDERSON200,500
52EDWARD MEDOFF92,000
53SCOTT ZAKHEIM247,000
54WILLY BAPTISTE93,000
55JOHNNY TANG70,000
56ADAM LEVY145,500
57YUAN SHEN107,000
58PEDRO PALACIO86,500
59Robert Miller81,000
61TIM KEGEL137,000
62MIKE CHANG117,500
63RYAN ANDERSON100,000
64NANCY BIRNBAUM141,500
65MICHAEL CHIAPPETTA121,000
66TIMOTHY SHORTELL98,000
67STEVEN JORDAN89,000
69JUAN CARDONA GARCIA146,500
71CLINTON BOWLES217,500
72DOLPHUS POWERS41,500
73JORGE GOMEZ131,500
74ERIC RILEY57,500
75EDWARD NOVAK101,000
76MICHAEL MERISIER88,300
77JOSH WASSERMAN243,500
79SCOTT WYLER111,000
81ANDREW SMITH160,500
82MARK NAHAMA64,500
83LUKE DOOLITTLE117,000
84PLAMEN STOYANOV207,500
85ROBERT MIDGETTE127,000
87ROBERT WILLIAMS192,500
88DAVID ALBERTSON200,100
89COLBY COVINGTON110,500