Championship Day 1A: Agnello Leads Early

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 3: 75/150/25 Ante
Day 1A Entrants: 105

Chris Agnello
Chris Agnello

Players are back in their seats and they are all chasing Chris Agnello in early action. While walking among the empty tables, it was pretty clear Agnello was coming back to the top stack in the room with nearly twice his closest competitor. He was the other player in the hand when Vanessa Rousso had her kings cracked and that set him on the path to more than 80,000 at the first break.

SHRP regular Erik Christensen also had a nice first two levels and is closing in on a double starting stack.

Notable Championship stacks:

Chris Agnello – 82,000 (547 bb)
Erik Christensen – 46,200 (308 bb)
Aaron Massey – 40,000 (267 bb)
John Dolan – 29,700 (198 bb)
Marsha Wolak – 27,500 (183 bb)
Paul Balzano – 25,700 (171 bb)
Ian O’Hara – 24,850 (166 bb)
Neil Blumenfield – 24,700 (165 bb)
David Prociak – 24,600 (164 bb)
Victor Figueroa – 24,500 (163 bb)
Mike Beasley – 24,300 (162 bb)
John Depersio – 22,800 (152 bb)
Stuart Paterson – 20,725 (138 bb)
David Diaz – 19,700 (131 bb)
Zoltan Czinkota – 18,300 (122 bb)
Vanessa Rousso – 18,100 (121 bb)
Brian Hastings – 16,500 (110 bb)

Championship Day 1A: Climbing Towards Triple Digits

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 2: 75/150
Day 1A Entrants: 90

Neil Blumenfield
Neil Blumenfield

The entrant count continues to climb as we move deeper into the afternoon hours and the Championship should hit 100 players before the first break.

John Dolan isn’t the only former November Niner in today’s field. 2015 WSOP Main Event final table member Neil Blumenfield has been a regular presence in South Florida since his 3rd place finish in the big game and would be happy to duplicate Dolan’s Championship win after his November Nine appearance.

Championship Day 1A: Rousso Joins; Gets Cracked

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 2: 75/150
Day 1A Entrants: 75

Vanessa Rousso
Vanessa Rousso

Vanessa Rousso is a multi-talented individual and today she is putting her poker skills to work. Last night was a different story, she was the guest DJ at the player’s party as she continues to make her name in that field.

It wasn’t a kind first level for the former Big Brother cast member. We caught the action at her table with the board reading Qd7c4dTd6c and she was facing an all-in bet for 13,600. After several minutes of thinking/talking it through, she called with kings only to have her opponent table Kd9d for the turned flush. Rousso still has chips but has some work to do to build her stack back up.

2016-coco-rousso-hand

Championship Day 1A: Dolan Going for Two

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 1: 50/100
Day 1A Entrants: 60

John Dolan
John Dolan

We put 30 minutes into the books and added another ten players during that time. John Dolan is among the early entrants and the former November Niner is trying to add a second Coco Poker Open Championship to his mantle.

Dolan added to his $4 million in career earnings when he captured the title in this event in 2014. He picked up nearly $220,000 after they made a three-way deal at the final table and the Florida grinder was a happy man.

Championship Day 1A: Sleepless Prociak

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 1: 50/100
Day 1A Entrants: 50

David Prociak
David Prociak

Play kicked off with 50 entrants in the game at the start, including recently crowned Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year David Prociak. He was absent from the player party last night where he was set to pick up his POY trophy, but he had a very good excuse.

Prociak was busy finishing 10th in the World Poker Tour event in Atlantic City. A fine reason to be late but he wasted no time getting back to South Florida for the Coco Poker Open Championship.

2016-coco-david-prociak-2

Championship Day 1A: Going Big Early

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 1: 50/100

2016-coco-poker-open-09146

The Coco Poker Open kicked things off on Wednesday with some warm-up tournaments and satellites but now it’s time to get the Championship rolling. Unlike previous years, the Championship runs at the front of the schedule with a big $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool that will get players in their seats.

Cards will go in the air at noon for the first of two Championship flights and everyone will be aiming to make it through ten full flights for a Day 2 return on Sunday.

Entrants start with 25,000 in their stack and will play 60-minute levels all day long. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 7 after the one-hour dinner break. Everyone with chips at the end of Level 10 will put them in a bag and put them to use on Sunday.

Players are beginning to take their seats and we will be underway shortly.

  • $1,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
  • Players begin with 25,000 in tournament chips and 60-minute levels
  • Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
  • Day 1 will end after Level 10 or Tournament Director discretion
  • Championship Structure Sheet

Coco Poker Open Day 3 Schedule

Main Event Schedule

12PM: Day 1A – Coco Poker Open Championship Event (Re-Entry)

  • $1,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
  • Players begin with 25,000 in tournament chips and 60-minute levels
  • Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
  • Day 1 will end after Level 10 or Tournament Director discretion
  • Championship Structure Sheet

6PM: Event 4 – $240 No Limit Hold’em / Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)

  • $20,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
  • Players begin with 10,000 in tournament chips and 30-minute levels
  • Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
  • Tournament plays until completion or Tournament Director discretion
  • Event 4 Structure Sheet

Secondary and Satellite Schedule

10AM: $270 Coco Poker Open Championship Mega Turbo Satellite (Re-Entry)

  • 2 seats guaranteed into the $1M GTD Coco Poker Open Championship
  • Players begin with 10,000 in tournament chips and 15-minute levels
  • Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
  • This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
  • Championship Mega Satellite Structure Sheet

3PM: $270 Coco Poker Open Championship Mega Satellite (Re-Entry)

  • 5 seats guaranteed into the $1M GTD Coco Poker Open Championship
  • Players begin with 10,000 in tournament chips and 30-minute levels
  • Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
  • This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
  • Championship Mega Satellite Structure Sheet

Coco Poker Open Championship Begins Tomorrow; $1M Guaranteed, Points Eligible in SHRP POY Race

Seminole Coconut Creek

The Coco Poker Open Championship begins with the first of two starting flights tomorrow at 12-noon. The finale features a $2,500 buy-in, a $1,000,000 guarantee and is points eligible in the new Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year race. In addition to a six-figure score, the tournament’s champion is set to go home with a seat in the season-ending Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship which takes place next August in Hollywood.

The Coco Poker Open Championship sees its players sit to deep 25,000-chip stacks and they’ll log 60-minute levels throughout. Registration and re-entry are available each day until about 7:30pm with Day 1s concluding at about 11:45pm.

Championship details:

12PM: Coco Poker Open Championship Event (Re-Entry)

  • $1,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
  • Flight A Friday at 12-noon, Flight B Saturday at 12-noon
  • Players begin with 25,000 in tournament chips and 60-minute levels
  • Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
  • Day 1 will end after Level 10 or Tournament Director discretion
  • Day 2 begins Sunday, September 25 at 1pm
  • Championship Structure Sheet
Matt Affleck, 2015 Coco Poker Open Champion
Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Matt Affleck is the defending Coco Poker Open Championship winner.

Last year’s event saw poker pro and Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Matt Affleck top a tough field of 410 entries to earn $264,000. This year’s installment is expected to again draw some of the best players from South Florida and beyond to create a true Championship field.

Updates throughout the Championship’s conclusion will be posted right here at SeminoleCoconutCreekPoker.com.

Event 2: 2015 SHRP POY Ory Hen Juicing the Prize Pool

$130 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (Re-Entry)
Level 3: 100/200
Entries: 171

Ory Hen
Ory Hen

With 171 entries midway through Level 3, the prize pool in tonight’s $130 deep stack is just over halfway to its $30,000 guarantee. Doing his part to help juice the kiddie is South Florida regular Ory Hen. Hen, the 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year, went bust early, promptly re-entered and has already been spotted active in a handful of pots. He’s among the notables shaking things up during the early stages of play.

Here’s some of others we recognized:

Carl Vidal
Carl Vidal
Charlemagne Benjamin
Charlemagne Benjamin
Zoltan Czinkota
Zoltan Czinkota