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

There are no soft tables in the Championship today but Table 9 looks a little more rough than most. Besides superstar Jason Mercier, the lineup includes John Depersio, Michael Laake, Aaron Massey, Mike Linster, Dan Suied, and Tristan “Cre8ive” Wade.

The last two have been mixing it up over the last level. It looks a stalemate at this point, each a bit over 40K, and discussing dinner plans when not trying to knock each other out.

That lineup adds up to over $22 million in career earnings with four WSOP bracelets, five WSOP Circuit rings, two HPT titles, one WPT. and one EPT victory.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 5: 150/300/50 Ante

Table 18 had a lot to handle with Kelly Minkin, Victor Figueroa, and 2015 WSOP Colossus winner Cord Garcia at one end. Now they have one of the hottest players in poker, Aaron Mermelstein, on the other end.

Mermelstein only has two WPT final tables, he just happened to win them both. The most recent coming less than a week ago at Maryland Live for $250,000. That wasn’t his first WPT title of the year, that came in January at the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open for his biggest career cash.

In between those two titles, Mermelstein captured the $1,100 No Limit Hold’em title during the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in August in front of a live-stream audience.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 5: 150/300/50 Ante

In a room full of international poker sharpshooters, it is local regular Richard Leger sitting on top of the chip counts at the second break. He has a bunch of big names trying to chase him down but he’s not far from the 80K average stack of those who advanced to Day 2 yesterday.

Leger has over $100,000 in career earnings including a runner-up finish in the $560 No Limit Hold’em event during the 2014 Coco Poker Open. The guy who beat him for that title, Chris Bolek, is sitting just a few tables away.

James Carroll was the first break leader but came back to the field when he lost most of his big run up, now sitting with a chip or two over starting stack.

They’ll play two more levels and hit the 60-minute dinner break.

Top and notable counts:

Richard Leger – 71,300 (238 bb)
Jason Mercier – 66,075 (220 bb)
Jason Young – 65,475 (218 bb)
Scott Efron – 63,575 (212 bb)
Stuart Paterson – 62,900 (210 bb)
Noah Schwartz – 61,800 (206 bb)
John Dolan – 57,375 (191 bb)
Aaron Mermelstein – 55,025 (183 bb)
Ryan Van Sanford – 51,600 (172 bb)
Ryan D’Angelo – 49,300 (164 bb)
Victor Figueroa – 41,575 (139 bb)
Nick Pupillo – 40,650 (136 bb)
Tristan Wade – 37,675 (126 bb)
Jessica Dawley – 35,575 (119 bb)
Ory Hen – 35,450 (118 bb)
Cord Garcia – 34,550 (115 bb)
Matt Affleck – 33,175 (111 bb)
Chris Bolek – 32,725 (109 bb)
Paul Balzano – 30,650 (102 bb)
Nick Yunis – 29,700 (99 bb)
Harrison Gimbel – 29,700 (99 bb)
Kelly Minkin – 25,900 (86 bb)
Allen Kessler – 25,425 (85 bb)
T.K. Miles – 24,700 (82 bb)
David Diaz – 24,550 (82 bb)
Dan Suied – 19,750 (66 bb)
Darryll Fish – 19,225 (64 bb)
Natasha Barbour – 13,750 (46 bb)
David Jackson – 9,525 (32 bb)

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 4: 100/200/25 Ante

Players are off on their second break of the day with 110 entrants in the game. They have two more levels plus the hour-long dinner break to boost that number higher.

Next round of count updates when they return.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 4: 100/200/25 Ante

We have 107 entrants showing on the tournament clock as they near the end of Level 4. It should be a nice crowd by the time registration closes and we’ll keep an eye on newcomers. We mentioned Jessica Dawley earlier and we found another strong competitor here in Kelly Minkin.

Minkin already had three WSOP cashes this summer before she took her seat in the Main Event. After several days of play, Minkin was the “last woman standing” and finished 29th for $211,000. That wasn’t her first taste of big tournament success.

Minkin finished third in the WPT Seminole Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship for $262,000 and earned more than $150,000 for a runner-up finish in the 2013 Arizona State Poker Championship.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 4: 100/200/25 Ante

Poker pro Jessica Dawley may be playing some one-armed poker today, but she only needs one to beat a lot of people with her head. The former member of the Air National Guard had a big tournament run a few weeks ago and then went under the knife.

Dawley made the Event 1 final table during the Borgata Poker Open with some big money up top. The tournament drew nearly 4,000 entrants over six flights and she made it through most of them, going on to finish in fifth place for more than $90,000.

Two days later she was tweeting pictures from the hospital where she was having surgery performed to repair shoulder damage. Just another day in an interesting life. Dawley has eight WSOP cashes with five on the Circuit and another $70,000 earned for finishing deep in the 2010 Aussie Millions Poker Championship.

We have 105 entrants in the game at the start of Level 4 with another break on the horizon.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 3: 75/150/25 Ante

We are about to hit the triple digit mark for the Flight 1B as they move into Level 3. We’re already clear of yesterday’s count and it will continue to grow.

James Carroll (our local version, not the WPT winning James Carroll) is the early chip leader at the first break with plenty of chips to get through the day. The early lead is no guarantee of getting through the day; Erik Christensen was yesterday big first break leader but his stack was gone by the end of the day.

Richard Leger is also having a nice start to his day while pros Jason Mercier, Ryan Van Sanford, and Jason Young lurk not far behind.

James Carroll – 63,800 (425 bb)
Richard Leger – 59,300 (395 bb)
Raymond McDonough – 58,925 (393 bb)
Ryan Van Sanford – 48,675 (325 bb)
Daniel Notice – 42,825 (286 bb)
Jason Mercier – 41,925 (280 bb)
Paul Balzano – 40,675 (271 bb)
Jason Young – 37,725 (252 bb)
Ory Hen – 33,325 (222 bb)
Jessica Dawley – 29,675 (198 bb)
Corey Burbick – 28,075 (187 bb)
John Depersio – 25,450 (170 bb)
Allen Kessler – 25,325 (169 bb)
Natasha Barbour – 23,800 (159 bb)
Erik Christensen – 23,750 (158 bb)
Michael Laake – 22,150 (148 bb)
John Dolan – 20,875 (139 bb)
Kelly Minkin – 20,400 (136 bb)
Darryll Fish – 19,225 (128 bb)
Matt Affleck – 18,775 (125 bb)
Aaron Massey – 13,725 (92 bb)

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 2: 75/150

Flight 1B crossed over 80 entrants as they near the end of the second level of play. That puts us over yesterday’s number with five and a half hours left of late registration and re-entry. We expect the number will continue to climb steadily throughout the day and get us closer to the $1,000,000 Guarantee.

Jason Mercier was one of those late registrants to get us over 80 today. He’s not merely a common player to add to the pool, Mercier is arguably the best player in poker right now.

His list of deeds is too long for a single post but the short list shows $15.8 in career live tournament earnings to put him above every other Florida player in history. A clear $1.2 million over second place Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. That doesn’t include his huge online results that total $2 million for his career.

Mercier picked up his third WSOP bracelet this summer when he won the $5,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event. He has three seven-digit cashes and won the 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open High Roller in August.

Players will be heading off on their first break of the day in a few moments and we’ll track down the early leaders.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 2: 75/150

Another of our out of town favorites is back in the Pavilion when Aaron Massey joined the field as we approach yesterday’s count.

Massey brings a nice list of poker accomplishments with him including two WSOP Circuit rings and a reign as the 2014 Heartland Poker Tour Player of the Year, earning that honor with two HPT titles in two months. Massey’s biggest cash came during a 2012 Winstar Main Event when he earned more than $650,000 for the title.

He’s joined today by 76 other competitors as they move through the second level.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 2: 75/150

John Dolan is typically known for his big WSOP finish in 2010, but around here we also know him as the reigning Coco Poker Open Champion. He made the 2010 WSOP Main Event November Nine final table and finished in sixth place for a cool $1.7 million. (Also at that final table was Florida poker legend John Racener).

Dolan outlasted 418 other entrants in the 2014 Coco Poker Open Championship to take the title after a three-way deal and holding most of the chips in play. He earned $219,000 for his efforts and wouldn’t mind going back-to-back in a few days.

Also on Dolan’s list of results are three other WSOP final tables, one WSOP Circuit ring, and a runner-up finish in the 2012 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship.