The Studz Poker Club at Calder Casino & Race Course wrapped up its first tournament series, the Miami Gardens Poker Classic, on Feb. 12. The six-event series featured more than $200,000 in guarantees, culminating with a $440 main event that had a $100K guarantee and drew 222 players.
“For our first tournament series, we’re happy with the results,” director of poker operations Chris Trabue said. “We weren’t anticipating an overlap in tournament competition when we had originally planned this series, but we drew pretty solid fields considering what was going on at other properties.”
Trabue was alluding to a local busy tournament schedule that included the Hard Rock Hollywood’s WPT Lucky Hearts series.
“We got to speak to a lot of tournament players that were new to our room,” Trabue said. “We got a lot of positive comments about our room and our dealers, and a lot of great feedback to help us build an even stronger tournament series in the future.”
Like many events these days, the main event concluded in a five-way equity chop, leaving Jason Jochem as the champion. Jochem of Hollywood, Fla., was a familiar face in the room, after chopping for $3,252 earlier in the week in Event 2.
Richard Sanchez captured Event 5, a $350 no-limit hold’em tournament, for $7,524.
Miami Gardens Poker Classic, Feb. 3-12
Event 1 • $225 NLHE
Entries: 248 • Pool: $50K
1. Brent Philbin, $11,919
2. Fedner Oralien, $10,519
3. Jesus Abreu, $5,366
4. Dolphy Garricks, $3,413
5. Kelvin McClendon, $2,439
6. Victor Milian, $2,097
7. Garfield Riley, $1,610
8. Paul Riley, $1,171
9. Arturo Garcia, $1,112
10. Francois Gagne, $1,073
Event 2 • $150 NLHE
Entries: 169 • Pool: $22K
1. Pedro Oaiz, $3,252
2. Jason Jochem, $3,252
3. Nikki Morgan, $1,568
4. Robbie Rench, $1,014
5. Tammy Mendez, $744
Event 3 • $100 NLHE
Entries: 67 • Pool: $5,700*
1. J.C. Pardi
2. Mark Bernstein
3. Mauricio Yepes
4. Fraesic Abeir
5. Mercy Algino
6. Richard Perea
7. Andrea Kaiser
8. Nigel Cauley
9. Kelvin McClendon
* Nine-way chop
Event 4 • $150 NLHE
Entries: 77 • Pool: $13K
1. Oscar Rodriguez, $3,110
2. Andre Bryan, $3,110
3. Josh Bisnett, $3,110
4. Michael Johnson, $1,301
5. Jesus Abreu, $966
6. Atef Nassall, $738
7. Dolphy Garricks, $590
8. Mauricio Yepes, $483
Event 5 • $350 NLHE
Entries: 52 • Pool: $25K
1. Richard Sanchez, $7,524
2. Maurice Lightner, $4,613
3. Orlando Maldonado, $2,990
4. Morris Heider, $2,059
5. Pedro Ortiz, $1,485
6. Carmelo Difiore, $1,129
$440 Main Event
Entries: 222 • Pool: $100K
1. Jason Jochem, $16,000
2. Joseph Ebelhar, $15,000
3. Derrick Simon, $14,500
4. Yezniel Pulido, $14,500
5. Juan Peralta, $7,998
6. Richard Freire, $4,238
7. Daniel Genachte, $3,252
8. Jonathan Gold, $2,365
9. Ray Slack, $2,267
10. Raciel Cruz , $2,168
