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Championship: Day 2 Ends With Chance Kornuth Leading

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship

Chance Kornuth
Chance Kornuth

From the starting field of 410 entries, the final 135 players returned to the Pavilion today for the race to the money. Nine levels later, just 27 of them remain.

Chance Kornuth did the most work, finishing with 1,185,000 and the chip lead. He’s the only player with a seven-figure stack in the bag, and he’ll continue to set the pace when play resumes.

Here’s how the field will be laid out to begin Day 3:

Table 1
Seat 1: John Holley – 244,000 (24 bb)
Seat 2: John Depersio – 135,000 (14 bb)
Seat 3: Hunter Cichy – 162,000 (16 bb)
Seat 4: Jonathan Abla – 365,000 (37 bb)
Seat 5: Danny Notice – 197,000 (20 bb)
Seat 6: Josh Hillock – 240,000 (24 bb)
Seat 7: Tristan Wade – 130,000 (13 bb)
Seat 8: Matt Affleck – 628,000 (63 bb)
Seat 9: Andre Pillow – 386,000 (39 bb)

Table 2
Seat 1: Jean Gaspard – 564,000 (56 bb)
Seat 2: Brandon Miller – 122,000 (12 bb)
Seat 3: James Brown – 468,000 (47 bb)
Seat 4: Nathan Bjerno – 366,000 (37 bb)
Seat 5: Chance Kornuth – 1,185,000 (119 bb)
Seat 6: Bienvenido Santiago – 223,000 (22 bb)
Seat 7: T.K. Miles – 294,000 (29 bb)
Seat 8: Kevin Ho – 791,000 (79 bb)
Seat 9: Javier Zarco – 852,000 (85 bb)

Table 3
Seat 1: Shea Smith – 145,000 (15 bb)
Seat 2: Michael Laake – 560,000 (56 bb)
Seat 3: Alberto Rodriguez – 266,000 (27 bb)
Seat 4: Cord Garcia – 139,000 (14 bb)
Seat 5: Scott Zakheim – 102,000 (10 bb)
Seat 6: Peter Walsworth – 250,000 (25 bb)
Seat 7: John Dolan – 309,000 (31 bb)
Seat 8: Ioannis Patsourakis – 600,000 (60 bb)
Seat 9: Richard Leger – 529,000 (53 bb)

Cards go in the air at 2:00 PM, and they’ll play until a winner is determined. Everyone left is guaranteed at least $7,000, while the eventual champion will earn $264,000 and the Coco Poker Open Championship trophy.

Championship: Results for 28th-45th Places

Here are the results for the in-the-money finishers so far:

28th: Niel Blumenfield – $6,000
29th: Scott Efron – $6,000
30th: Evan Teitelbaum – $6,000
31st: Yu Tuan – $6,000
32nd: Zachary Goodman – $6,000
33rd: Jerry Wong – $6,000
34th: Steven McKoy – $6,000
35th: David Barbieri – $6,000
36th: Harvey Freedman – $6,000
37th: Mohammed Jaafar – $5,000
38th: Cory Burbick – $5,000
39th: Chris Bolek – $5,000
40th: James Carroll – $5,000
41st: Alfonso Perez – $5,000
42nd: Roberto Barreto – $5,000
43rd: Hans Winzeler – $5,000
44th: Stewart Newman – $5,000
45th: Eric Becks – $5,000

Championship: Neil Blumenfield Crippled, Eliminated

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 19: 4,000/8,000/1,000 Ante

Michael Ortiz limps in from the button, Neil Blumenfield completes from the small blind, and James Brown checks his option in the big.

The flop comes KcTc8s, and it checks to Ortiz, who moves all in for about 90,000. Blumenfield calls with the covering stack, and Brown folds out of the way. Ortiz is at risk, and the news is not good.

Ortiz: Kd3d (top pair)
Blumenfield: Th8h (bottom two pair)

The turn and river come 5s and 5d, and Blumenfield’s two pair are counterfeited. Ortiz wins with kings up, doubling up and reducing his opponent to less than 40,000 chips.

Blumenfield is eliminated on the next hand, signaling the end of Day 2.

Michael Ortiz – 210,000
Neil Blumenfield – Eliminated

Championship: Tommy Vu Eliminated by Chance Kornuth

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 19: 4,000/8,000/1,000 Ante

Under the gun, Tommy Vu moves all in for about 180,000, and Chance Kornuth re-shoves from the button with his towering stack. When the blinds fold, the cards are turned up.

“I need to get lucky,” Vu says.

Vu: 8s8d
Kornuth: AcKd

The board runs out AdAs6hQd5h, and Kornuth wins the pot with trip aces.

Vu is out in 31st place.

Chance Kornuth – 1,250,000
Tommy Vu – Eliminated

Championship: Steven McKoy Eliminated by John Dolan

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 19: 4,000/8,000/1,000 Ante

John Dolan opens the pot from early position, and Steven McKoy three-bet shoves for about 125,000 in the big blind. Dolan calls with the covering stack.

Dolan: QsQc
McKoy: AdTd

The KdJc7s flop gives McKoy two more outs, and the Qh turn gives him the lead with Broadway. The river is the 7d, though, and Dolan fills up to win the pot.

McKoy is out in 33rd place.

John Dolan – 320,000 (40 bb)
Steven McKoy – Eliminated

Championship: Play Resumes

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 19: 4,000/8,000/1,000 Ante

Chance Kornuth
Chance Kornuth

The purple T500 chips have been colored up and raced off, and the blue T25,000 chips are now in play. Cards are back in the air for the new level, and play will continue until 27 players remain.

There are currently five players with more than a half million chips, and one of them has a sizable chip lead over the field:

Chance Kornuth – 990,000 (124 bb)
Javier Zarco – 712,000 (89 bb)
Kevin Ho – 624,000 (78 bb)
Michael Laake – 550,000 (69 bb)
Scott Efron – 506,000 (63 bb)

Championship: Jason Mercier Eliminated on the Bubble

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 18: 3,000/6,000/1,000 Ante

Jason Mercier (Davie, FL)
Jason Mercier (Davie, FL)

Jason Mercier moves all in for 58,500 from late position, and T.K. Miles calls on the button. The action is held while the other tables finish up, and Mercier and Miles exchange information about their hands. Mercier doesn’t like the news he receives, and he begins packing up to leave.

“Hey, that’s bad luck,” Scott Efron admonishes from across the table.

Mercier just laughs. “It’s bad luck to have the hand I have against the hand he has,” he says. When the rest of the action is complete at the surrounding tables, the cards are turned over.

Mercier: AhQc
Miles: AsAc

The board runs out 8d4s4c5s7h, and Miles wins the pot with aces up. Mercier is eliminated on the bubble, and the 45 remaining players are all in the money.

T.K. Miles – 365,000 (61 bb)
Jason Mercier – Eliminated

Championship: Javier Zarco Advancing

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 17: 2,500/5,000/500 Ante

Javier Zarco opens to 12,000 in middle position, and Neil Blumenfield three-bets to 29,000. Zarco calls.

The flop comes 7d3d2d, and Zarco check-calls a continuation bet of 34,000. The turn is the Js. Zarco checks again, and Blumenfield checks behind.

The river is the 8h, and Zarco leads for 89,500. Blumenfield tanks and folds. The pot is pushed to Zarco, and he’s now nipping at the heals of the chip leader.

Javier Zarco – 390,000 (78 bb)
Neil Blumenfield – 410,000 (82 bb)