$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 1: 50/100

The entrant count hit 50 at the midway point of the first level with some players still finding their seats. Late registration is open until 7:20, plenty of time for them to get down to the Pavilion.

Our out of town guest are also beginning to arrive including tour regular Allen Kessler. Never one to shy away from a big prize pool, Kessler made his way to South Florida when he found out about the $1,000,000 guarantee.

Kessler has over $3 million in career tournament earnings with half of that coming in WSOP or WSOP Circuit events. He has three Circuit rings, 44 WSOP cashes, and another 34 on the Circuit tour. Kessler’s biggest cash came with a runner-up finish in the 2010 WSOP $10,000 Stud/8 Championship. He lost heads up to Frank Kassela, the soon-to-be WSOP Player of the Year.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 1: 50/100

Players are beginning to take their seats for the second flight of the $1,000,000 Guaranteed Coco Poker Open Championship and we’re looking at a bigger day than yesterday.

We had 79 entrants yesterday with 24 of them bagging up chips to return for Day 2 on Sunday. It was a slow start but we’re building into the weekend and expect some big names in the field today.

The structure is deep and slow, giving players 25,000 starting stacks and hour-long levels throughout the day. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 7 after the dinner break. They will continue through ten full levels and stop for the evening.

Tournament staff are performing the daily reading of the rules and they will be underway shortly.

Main Event Schedule

12PM: Championship Day 1B – $2,500 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (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
• Championship Structure Sheet

7PM: Event 10 – $200 Deep Stack Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• $20,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 16,000 in tournament chips and 20-minute levels
• $115 goes to prize pool, $50 to bounty prize pool
• Late registration/re-entry available until end of Level 9
• $2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship Seat Bonus to Winner
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 10 Structure Sheet

Secondary and Satellite Schedule

10AM: $285 Qualifier Into Championship Event (1-in-10)

• 3 seats guaranteed into $1,000,000 Guarantee Championship Event
• Players begin with 7,500 in tournament chips and 15-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until end of Level 8
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• $285 Championship Event Qualifier Structure Sheet

2PM: $75 Turbo Step Satellite into Championship Qualifier (1-in-5)

• 20 seats guaranteed into $285 Championship Qualifer
• Players begin with 5,000 in tournament chips and 20-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until end of Level 6
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• $75 Championship Step Qualifier Structure Sheet

5PM: $285 Qualifier Into Championship Event (1-in-10)

• 10 seats guaranteed into $1,000,000 Guarantee Championship Event
• Players begin with 7,500 in tournament chips and 20-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until end of Level 6
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• $285 Championship Event Qualifier Structure Sheet

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

The clock has run out on Day 1A, and 24 of the original 79 players have bagged up for the night.

Spanish pro Javier Zarco did the most work today, bagging up 202,400 at night’s end. Here’s the full list of those who made it through the first ten levels:

Javier Zarco – 202,400
Larry Klur – 129,400
David Sultan – 105,900
Ryan Dunn – 102,900
Roberto Barreto – 100,400
Blair Hinkle – 100,300
Dominique Moseley – 99,300
Jerry Wong – 98,000
Yaroslav Nakonechnyy – 97,900
Brandon Miller – 94,200
Mukul Pahuja – 90,900
Hans Winzeler – 83,300
Bruce Freedman – 82,900
Kamran Siddiqui – 81,500
Ian O’Hara – 80,200
Mike Beasley – 64,100
Kane Kalas – 59,700
Bruce Snell – 52,400
Steven Rosen – 52,100
Trevor Doughty – 46,500
Nathan Horton – 40,900
Kevin Ho – 37,300
Mike Wang – 37,000
Ido Ashkenazi – 35,600

The survivors have two days off to relax before Sunday’s Day 2, if they choose to take them. Since this is a best-stack-forward event, though, they may also enter either (or both) of the two remaining flights in an attempt to amass a bigger stack.

Day 1B begins Friday at 12:00 PM.

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

The clock is paused with ten minutes left on the clock, and a card is drawn. It’s the , so each table will play four more hands before the bags come out.

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

The clock has ticked over into Level 10, and this will be the final level of Day 1A.

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

The Day 1A field is shrinking quickly here in the late evening hours. A table has just been broken, reducing the field to four tables of nine.

There are 36 players left.

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

Hans Winzeler opens to 1,700 in early position, and the button calls. Robert Barreto tries to call from the small blind, but he mistakenly commits 2,700 chips to the pot. That’s a raise, and Winzeler reraises to 8,700. The button folds, Barreto calls, and it’s heads up to the flop.

Both players check through the , and Barreto leads for 8,000 on the turn. Winzeler calls. The river is the , and both players check.

Barreto shows for the queen-high straight.

“Just the nuts,” Winzeler realizes aloud, spinning his cards into the muck.

Robert Barreto – 64,000 (80 bb)
Hans Winzeler – 49,000 (61 bb)

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

The board shows 38 players remaining as the new level begins.

$2,500 Coco Poker Open Championship
End of Level 8: 300/600/75 Ante

The first eight levels are in the books, and the players are off for their final break of the evening. While they’re away, the green T25 chips are being colored up and raced off.

Below are some of the notable stacks heading into the new level. Blinds will be 400/800 with a 100-chip ante, and there are two levels remaining in Day 1A.

David Sultan – 123,100 (154 bb)
Jerry Wong – 110,800 (139 bb)
George El-Khoury – 100,000 (125 bb)
Dominique Moseley – 77,200 (97 bb)
Ian O’Hara – 72,300 (90 bb)
Blair Hinkle – 64,800 (81 bb)
Mike Wang – 59,300 (74 bb)
Mike Beasley – 55,500 (69 bb)
Trevor Doughty – 47,100 (59 bb)
Mukul Pahuja – 40,800 (51 bb)
Kane Kalas – 38,700 (48 bb)
Hans Winzeler – 31,300 (39 bb)
John Depersio – 28,600 (36 bb)
John Holley – 27,400 (34 bb)
Erik Christensen – 24,800 (31 bb)