Hollywood Poker Open Season 4 Championship Event

$2,500 Championship Event
Day: 2
Event Info

Hollywood Poker Open Season 4 Championship Event

Final Results
Winner
Prize
$297,644
Event Info
Buy-in
$2,500
Prize Pool
$1,477,025
Entries
655
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000

End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)

Level 22 : 8,000/16,000, 2,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Aaron Mermelstein us
Aaron Mermelstein
1,473,000
123,000
123,000
WPT 2X Winner
Thomas Muehloecker at
Thomas Muehloecker
1,402,000
352,000
352,000
Anthony Vaughn us
Anthony Vaughn
1,341,000
41,000
41,000
Mark Castaldo us
Mark Castaldo
1,273,000
568,000
568,000
Michael Tureniec se
Michael Tureniec
1,136,000
296,000
296,000
WSOP 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
Calvin Anderson us
Calvin Anderson
1,112,000
-388,000
-388,000
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 4X Winner
Brady Bullard us
Brady Bullard
1,052,000
112,000
112,000
Bryan Piccioli us
Bryan Piccioli
944,000
-56,000
-56,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Jesse Cohen us
Jesse Cohen
898,000
-12,000
-12,000
Dejuante Alexander us
Dejuante Alexander
762,000
10,000
10,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Jim Kasputis us
Jim Kasputis
716,000
166,000
166,000
Tobias Ziegler de
Tobias Ziegler
700,000
-270,000
-270,000
Nathan Bjerno us
Nathan Bjerno
661,000
196,000
196,000
Michael Aron us
Michael Aron
530,000
30,000
30,000
Pierre Neuville be
Pierre Neuville
464,000
-111,000
-111,000
Dan O'Brien us
Dan O'Brien
389,000
-71,000
-71,000
John Creed us
John Creed
322,000
-78,000
-78,000
Duke Lee us
Duke Lee
284,000
84,000
84,000
Julian Parmann us
Julian Parmann
281,000
-259,000
-259,000
Philip Randazzo us
Philip Randazzo
260,000
-2,000
-2,000
Keven Stammen us
Keven Stammen
225,000
-80,000
-80,000
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner

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Final Day Seat Draw and Chip Counts

Level 22 : 8,000/16,000, 2,000 ante
TableSeatNameChip Count
51Julian Parmann281,000
52Calvin Anderson1,112,000
53Michael Tureniec1,136,000
54Philip Randazzo260,000
55Michael Aron530,000
56DeJuante Alexander762,000
57Dan O'Brien389,000
    
62Nathan Bjerno661,000
63John Creed322,000
64Aaron Mermelstein1,473,000
65Thomas Muehloecker1,402,000
67Mark Castaldo1,273,000
68Keven Stammen225,000
69Bryan Picioli944,000
    
71Pierre Neuville464,000
72Jesse Cohen898,000
73Anthony Vaughn1,341,000
75Duke Lee284,000
76Brady Bullard1,052,000
78Tobias Ziegler700,000
79Jim Kasputis716,000

Aaron Mermelstein Leads Final 21 in HPO Championship Event

Level 22 : 8,000/16,000, 2,000 ante
Aaron Mermelstein
Aaron Mermelstein

Aaron Mermelstein finished on top of the counts on Saturday night to take the lead into the final day of the Hollywood Poker Open $2,500 Championship Event.

"I feel great," Mermelstein said after bagging up his stack of 1.473 million in chips. "I'm the chip leader, so I'm super happy with how things went today. The cream really rose to the top and there are a lot of good players left, but I feel good. I feel like I'm making good decisions, and I hope I can keep it up tomorrow."

When the day was done, there were 21 players remaining, and Sunday's finale will see a first-place prize of $332,338 up for grabs.

"I feel like I do well in these deep-stacked tournaments," Mermelstein, a two-time World Poker Tour champion, added. "We started with 25,000 chips and it's one-hour levels. It's a great structure and I feel like it kind of plays like a WPT, so I'm super comfortable. We'll see how it goes tomorrow, but this is my first time playing it and it has been a lot of fun so far."

Mermelstein will be joined by another WPT champion in Keven Stammen on Day 3, but more importantly Stammen is the defending champion of this event. Last year, he beat a field of 684 entries and earned $347,045. Stammen finished Day 2 on 225,000 in chips with the hopes of going back to back.

Other headliners included World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Calvin Anderson and the man who seems to have found the fountain of youth, Pierre Neuville. Those two bagged up 1.112 million and 464,000, respectively.

There was plenty of action on Day 2 of the event, with over 200 players from a starting field of 655 starting the day and the top 63 reaching the money. Some of those to bust before the money was reached included Toby Lewis, Ray Henson, Steven van Zadelhoff, Jeremy Ausmus, Craig Varnell, Connor Drinan, and Scott Davies.

When the players returned from dinner, the money bubble had arrived. Falling in 64th place was Travis Burch. He first lost with pocket kings to Justin Young's {A-}{Q-} when an ace hit the flop to fall crippled, and then Mark Herm finished him off despite Burch holding the dominating hand.

Young went on to finish in 27th place for $9,748, and Herm busted in 35th for $8,124.

Others to bust before Day 2 was done, but with a cash, included Adrian Mateos (25th - $9,748), Randal Flowers (30th - $8,124), Joe Serock (47th - $5,760), and 91-year-old Ray Cuny (49th - $5,760).

Cuny had a particularly impressive story having qualified for this event from his home venue of Hollywood Casino Joliet and making the trip after recently being diagnosed with bladder cancer. He's a player who plays poker for the fun and entertainment of the game, but making a great run with nearly $6,000 to show for it is quite the benefit as well.

Instead of the originally scheduled start time of 11 a.m. local time, the final group of players voted to delay Sunday's start time until 12 p.m. That's when we'll see you back here on PokerNews.com for continued coverage of this event as the field plays down to the Hollywood Poker Open Season 4 champion.

Tags: Aaron MermelsteinAdrian MateosCalvin AndersonConnor DrinanCraig VarnellJeremy AusmusJoe SerockJustin YoungKeven StammenMark HermPierre NeuvilleRandal FlowersRay CunyRay HensonScott DaviesSteven van ZadelhoffToby LewisTravis Burch

$2,500 Championship Event

Day 2 Completed