Just because it’s summertime doesn’t mean all of the fun has to be outdoors. There’s plenty of thrilling poker action to be found all across North Florida. Bestbet Jacksonville and Daytona Beach Kennel Club hosted tournaments featuring $50K guaranteed prize pools.
At bestbet, 230 players entered the $340 buy-in event, cracking the guarantee for a prize pool of $69K. Ed Mrockowski locked up his second final table in as many months (he finished second to Ryan Settles in May) en route to the $10K first-place prize.
He’s a bestbet regular who has multiple final-table appearances all across the country. He also holds the trophy from bestbet’s All-In or Fold tournament. It wasn’t an easy road to the win; the final table was full of local pros, including Jie-Liu, Joe Stoecklein and Alan Percal.
Mrockowski started Day 2 with the biggest stack and maintained it. His win brought his summer total to $19K, and he took that money to the World Series of Poker.
DBKC: The $125 buy-in Summer Daze tournament leapfrogged the $50K guarantee as well. More than 600 players came out to Daytona to generate a $62K prize pool. Day 2 started with 173 players, each hoping to earn a spot at the final table. Pro Blake Wittington, who has multiple big cashes and wins in Florida, came up just shy of that goal, falling in 15th place. Local dealer Brad Burleigh made a strong run, but ended up 13th.
With those two sharks out the water, it would be a much easier swim to first place. It had been a long, grueling day of poker for everyone who made it to the final table, so when five players where left standing the prize pool was chopped, giving each player $7,920. Vincent White took home the trophy.
EBRO: In the Panhandle, the folks at Ebro are gearing up for the $15K Poker Challenge, where seats can be won throughout the summer with the final tournament this month. Be sure to call the poker room for more details.
— Charles Allison is Ante Up’s North Florida Ambassador. Email him at anteupcharles@gmail.com.
