$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 10: 500/1,000/100 Ante

The clock is paused with 10 minutes left, and a card is drawn. It’s a five, so each table will play that many more hands before bagging and tagging for the night.

Aaron Mermelstein is the overall chip leader right now, with Corey Burbick, Danny Notice, Jason Mercier, and Tristan Wade all in the mix. The full results for Day 1B will be posted once play concludes and the stacks are verified.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 10: 500/1,000/100 Ante

Level 10 begins, and this will be the last level of Day 1B. As it starts, another table is being broken, leaving just five tables in play. That means 45 players remain from the 124 that started the day.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 9: 400/800/100 Ante

The last check on Tristan Wade’s stack finds the Florida pro with nearly twice as many chips as he had just a few minutes ago. His near-double came courtesy of a big confrontation against former chip leader Neil Blumenfield, and Wade was kind enough to relay the details:

Cord Garcia opened to 2,300 under the gun, and Wade called in middle position. Blumenfield three-bet to 6,000 from the small blind, Garcia folded, and Wade called to go heads up.

The flop came , and Blumenfield continued for 12,400. Wade called. The turn was the , and Blumenfield checked. Wade bet 17,000, his opponent called, and the river brought the . Blumenfield checked again, and Wade bet 50,000, leaving just over 10,000 chips behind.

After a soak in the tank, Blumenfield piped up. “I think you have nines, tens, or jacks,” he correctly surmised, eventually calling the river bet.

Wade tabled to win with a set of nines, wrestling the pot and the chip lead away from Blumenfield in the process.

“I had the assist on that one,” Garcia finished Wade’s story with a smirk.

Tristan Wade – 188,000 (235 bb)
Neil Blumenfield – 120,000 (150 bb)

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 9: 400/800/100 Ante

A player in early position limps in, and Cord Garcia raises to 3,500 in the next seat over. The big blind calls, the limper calls, and it’s three ways to the flop.

It comes , and it checks to the raiser. Garcia continues for 2,700, the big blind folds, and the original limper calls.

Heads up now, the turn is the , and both players check. The river completes the board, and the limper leads out for 11,500. Garcia spends about a minute eying up his opponent, then calls.

The limper shows for king-high, and Garcia waits to see it before tabling his , wining the pot with aces up.

“Nice call,” his opponent offers as Garcia stacks the pot.

Cord Garcia – 145,000 (181 bb)

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 9: 400/800/100 Ante

The players return from their final break of the evening, and the green T25 chips have been raced out of play.

So far, there are five players who’ve crossed into six-figure territory:

Neil Blumenfield – 181,000
Danny Notice – 158,200
Jason Mercier – 120,600
Cord Garcia – 120,300
Scott Efron – 117,600

Javier Zarco bagged up the big stack on Thursday’s Day 1A, and his finishing count of 202,400 is the number to beat tonight.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 7: 250/500/75 Ante

In the 45 minutes since dinner, one table has been broken, and a few familiar faces have disappeared. Ryan D’Angelo, Matt Affleck, and Darryll Fish are all missing in action and presumed to be eliminated. They have the option to try again on Day 1C.

There are 72 players remaining in this Day 1B flight.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 7: 250/500/75 Ante

Jason Mercier opens to 1,050 in early position, and Victor Figueroa calls one seat over. Mike Linster calls from the small blind too, and Dan Suied makes it a four-way pot with a defense of his big blind.

All four players check through the flop, and the turn is the . The blinds check, and Mercier bets 1,900. Figueroa calls, Linster calls, and Suied folds.

The river is the , and Linster checks for the third time. Mercier bets 6,800, Figueroa calls, and Linster folds.

Mercier shows , winning the pot with a wheel. Figueroa flashes the .

Jason Mercier – 64,000 (128 bb)
Victor Figueroa – 34,000 (68 bb)

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
End of Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

Flight 1B still has 30 minutes left on their dinner break but we know who will be leading them when they return for the last two levels of the night.

Joelle Guarino jumped ahead of everyone else and closing in on a six-digit stack. She’s followed closely by Daniel Notice as the only other player over 90,000.  They will return to blinds at 250/500 with a 75 ante.

Top and notable counts:

Joelle Guarino – 98,900 (198 bb)
Daniel Notice – 95,775 (192 bb)
Noah Schwartz – 88,700 (177 bb)
Neil Blumenfield – 80,400 (161 bb)
Scott Efron – 75,375 (151 bb)
Mike Linster – 70,550 (141 bb)
Stuart Paterson – 67,250 (135 bb)
Aaron Mermelstein – 63,975 (128 bb)
Chris Bolek – 61,175 (122 bb)
Tristan Wade – 60,425 (121 bb)
John Dolan – 60,275 (121 bb)
Cichy Hunter – 59,800 (120 bb)
Josh Kay – 57,950 (116 bb)
Richard Leger – 53,600 (107 bb)
Jason Mercier – 49,200 (98 bb)
Corey Burbick – 48,250 (97 bb)
Stewart Newman – 46,550 (93 bb)
Victor Figueroa – 42,575 (85 bb)
John Depersio – 40,925 (82 bb)
Michael Laake – 36,400 (73 bb)
Ory Hen – 32,900 (66 bb)
Harrison Gimbel – 29,400 (59 bb)
David Diaz – 29,260 (59 bb)
Natasha Barbour – 22,400 (45 bb)
Kelly Minkin – 21,275 (43 bb)
Darryll Fish – 21,075 (42 bb)
Matt Affleck – 20,000 (40 bb)
Ryan Van Sanford – 17,675 (35 bb)
Dan Suied – 15,850 (32 bb)

While players are on their 60-minute dinner break, tournament staff are kicking around potential ideas for the 2016 Coco Poker Open. They are considering an additional event to coincide with Championship weekend, this new tournament would run during Day 2 of the Championship for those making it forward.

The two options are below, hit us up @STAX_Poker on Twitter with your opinion.

$1,650 No Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty

— or —

$1,100 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
End of Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

Level 6 has come to an end signaling players to take a break for 60 minutes. Registration is still open this time and we should see a few more player push the count over the current 122.

Back in a bit with updated counts.