COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (October 3, 2014) – The $1 million guaranteed Coco Poker Open Championship kicked off on Thursday in the Pavilion at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek and the competition will continue until a winner emerges on Monday, October 6.
Championship Event Day 1A had 123 entrants, with 36 players slated to return from this flight on day two.
While the featured attraction of the Coco Poker Open will consume the final five days of the 12-day tournament, there was plenty of action leading up to the main event.
Among the big winners early on was Steven McKoy, from Birmingham, Ala., who captured the $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em event. He finished first among the more than 980 entrants and took home $42,130 for his efforts.
Other event winners included Robert Campbell ($240 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better), Chris Bolek ($560 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack), Daniel Genachte ($200 No Limit Hold’em) and Richard Kessler ($250 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty).
Just prior to the start of the Coco Poker Open Championship, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek held a VIP party in NYY Steak’s Legends Lounge. The top 10 players in the inaugural Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player-of-the-Year program were honored including the Player-of-the-Year, Ngoc Vu, who received a prize package valued at more than $30,000 which featured entries and casino-based incentives for Seminole Hard Rock Poker’s most prestigious poker events throughout the following year.
More than 7,600 players participated in last year’s Player-of-the-Year program with over 40,000 entries registered in the four major Seminole Hard Rock Poker events – Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open (Seminole Casino Coconut Creek), Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown (Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood), Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Summer Poker Open (Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa) and Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood).
Party guests also included sports radio talk show host Andy Slater (South Florida’s 940AM WINZ), Josh Cohen (Josh Cohen & the Hometown on ESPN 106.3 in West Palm Beach) and Victoria Rafaeli (Season 16 of the Big Brother reality TV series).
