Live Reporting

86 Entries$6,000 Prize Pool$5,000 for First

Event #8 - $300 NLH Closer

125 Entries$30,625 Prize Pool$7,976 for First

Live Reporting

Viva St. Jude Returns To Red Rock

CSOP 107: Viva St. Jude

CSOP 107: Viva St. Jude

We are with the Charity Series of Poker at the Pavilion Ballroom at Red Rock Casino tonight for the annual Viva St. Jude event, presented by Michael Godard Fine Art Associates and benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Doors opened at 5:00 PM. The cocktail reception and silent auction are underway, and cards will be in the air at 7:00 PM. A $10,000 cash grand prize is on the line, and twenty celebrity bounties will be scattered around the room. This year's theme is All That Glitters.

Tonight's tournament is the middle of a full weekend that started this morning with a 144-player golf scramble at The Arroyo Golf Club and wraps up Saturday with the Taste of Viva St. Jude, also here at Red Rock. All proceeds benefit St. Jude, where families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on their child's treatment.

This event is always a monster and the room will be filled with celebs, poker pros, and incredibly generous donors. Stay with us for coverage all the way to the final table!

Frederico Takes It Down And Gives It All Back

While the biggest winner was Construction Cares and all the people they help with their amazing work, We also had half a dozen people chop up the prize pool to earn $1,000 each. The winners also got some fun prize packages including Vegas Golden Knights tickets, ATV tours, and seats to future CSOP events.

Even though the cash portion of the prize pool was chopped, the heads up battle was intense and went on for nearly forty-five minutes. The winner would receive a celebrity cash game seat with some of the CSOPs favorite celebrity bounties. Previous celebrity cash games have included Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Katie Morgan, and big names from actors to poker pros and musicians and are always a ton of fun. The eventual winner, earning the trophy, the picture, and the celebrity cash game seat, was Jason Frederico.

Frederico, in a remarkable act of generosity, donated back the entire $1,000 cash prize to the charity! Thank you so much Jason, you are the hero of the day!

Final Table!

Two Trophies Already?!?!

Here at the CSOP, players can win trophies without even making a final table. After the first break, two trophies are awarded.

The Chipleader Trophy

The player with the most chips after the first break wins a trophy, a bottle of liquor, and a $300 value CSOP seat to any future event. The chipleader was Travis Aught, who amassed a monster stack.

The Rebuy Trophy

The player with the most rebuys also wins a trophy. In this case the real hero, who contributed more than any other to the charity tonight, was Omar Carpio, who also won a CSOP seat, a bottle of liquor, and a custom hat from Mas Vegas.

Registration Closed - Charity Wins! ($25,910)

At the close of registration here at the Palms, we have some impressive numbers. The first ever CSOP event benefitting Construction Cares has raised a total of $25,910! A fantastic showing for a first time charity!

We have five tables left, around forty players fighting for the $6,000 in cash award to the top three spots, and wonderful prize packages donated by our sponsors will also be awarded to everyone who makes the final table.

The 50/50 raffle was a huge success, with a total of $2,900 invested, and $1,450 going to the charity.

A Few Words From Construction Cares

"Construction Cares Inc is dedicated to supporting the construction community through mental health and wellness services, workforce development, and community empowerment. We focus on uplifting underserved individuals in the trades while helping the next generation build meaningful careers in construction. Together, we’re creating a stronger, healthier, and more inclusive industry."

Alavez Busts Resto

Jessica Resto went all-in as a short stack with AJo and Julio Alavez woke up with aces to send her to the rail.

Getting Ready To Rock At The Palms

The crowd is enjoying appetizers (including scrumptious wagyu sliders that earned five stars from our reporter) here at the stunning Moon nightclub on the top floor of The Palms here in Vegas. In addition to Ms. Nevada, picture above with CSOP founder Matt Stout, we have a host of celebrities and many of the usual regulars.

The setting for the event includes a balcony with one of the best views in the city. It doesn't get much better than perfect weather and balcony a thousand feet above the strip!

Davis Takes The Trophy

Event #8 - $300 NLH Closer

Event #8 - $300 NLH Closer

In a multi-way chip, Benton Davis takes the trophy in our final event here at BestBet. Congratulations to Benton and all of our winners from the last ten days.

Title Event: Alves Takes The Atlas Trophy

After a partial chop, our final three players in the title event played for $6,000, the trip to the PokerAtlas Title Event in Vegas, and the coveted Atlas Trophy. This was an incredible event and we loved every minute of our time here at bestbet. Congratulations to all of our winners and we look forward to seeing you next year.

Full Payouts

1st. Joao Marcos Alves — $46,565

2nd. Caleb Powell — $34,951

3rd. Andrew Difeo — $32,901

4th. Stephen Hughes — $19,724

5th. James Harris — $14,867

6th. Douglas Schoen — $11,335

7th. Blake Ellinghaus — $8,741

8th. Andrea Zedo — $6,820

9th. Hunter Wroten — $5,385

10th. Gil Levy — $5,385

11th. Matthew Tate — $4,302

12th. Shannon Scalice — $4,302

13th. Nicholas Stiles — $3,479

14th. Wendy Lu — $3,479

15th. Travis Simpson — $2,848

16th. Mark Perrott — $2,848

17th. Brian Hooser — $2,361

18th. Kyle Trammell — $2,361

19th. Ricardo Gonzalez — $2,361

20th. Michael Scalice — $2,361

21st. Chanthou Chau — $1,981

22nd. Keith Romanovitz — $1,981

23rd. David Worsham — $1,981

24th. Erik Nowosielski — $1,981

25th. David Trager — $1,684

26th. Robert Bloom — $1,684

27th. David Hughes — $1,684

28th. Mark Marcellus — $1,684

29th. Jie Liu — $1,684

30th. Stanley Bishop — $1,684

31st. Charles Kinard — $1,684

32nd. Liang Zhao — $1,684

33rd. Robert Moses — $1,450

34th. Tung Chan — $1,450

35th. Carlos Pereira — $1,450

36th. Caleb Larsen — $1,450

37th. Jeram Quin Capinpin — $1,450

38th. Kirk Chui — $1,450

39th. Kenneth Baker — $1,450

40th. Steven Tournas — $1,450

41st. Scott Michener — $1,264

42nd. Naim Abdullah — $1,264

43rd. Gregory Kimball — $1,264

44th. Sean Etheridge — $1,264

45th. Christopher McNally — $1,264

46th. Charles Chan — $1,264

47th. Richard Hammond — $1,264

48th. Tammer Ilcaffas — $1,264

49th. Joshua Gerjevic — $1,117

50th. Corey Zedo — $1,117

51st. Charles Johnson — $1,117

52nd. Debra Head — $1,117

53rd. Nicole Jammal — $1,117

54th. Kelly Andrews — $1,117

55th. Stephen Strout — $1,117

56th. William Beecher — $1,117

57th. Luke Fraga — $1,001

58th. David Tuthill — $1,001

59th. Bradley Peterson — $1,001

60th. Michael Kelly — $1,001

61st. Daniel Vonk — $1,001

62nd. Joseph Burns III — $1,001

63rd. Pablo Valdivieso — $1,001

64th. Charles Warnock — $1,001

65th. Donald McGee Jr. — $909

66th. Iva Cabero — $909

67th. John Connors Jr. — $909

68th. Nicholas Raio — $909

69th. Rashad Green — $909

70th. Justin Bold — $909

71st. Frank Turi — $909

72nd. Alexander Sosa — $909

73rd. Andrew Difeo — $1,800 (Double Bag Bonus)

Meet The Final Table!

Seat 1: Joao Marcos Alves (1,200,000)

Joao Marcos Alves hails from St Augustine and has been playing poker for 15 years. He began his poker journey in home games, which laid the foundation for his experience in the game. Alves's biggest result to date is a $5,000 tournament win. Outside of poker, he is a business owner.

Seat 2: James Harris (450,000)

James Harris is from Jacksonville, Florida, and has been playing poker for a decade. He began his poker journey in home games, which sparked his interest in the competitive side of the game. Harris's most notable achievement in poker came when he placed 234th out of 4,000 participants in the WSOP Seniors event in 2026. Outside of poker, he works as a Technical Trainer for JEA.

Seat 3: Blake Ellinghaus (600,000)

Blake Ellinghaus, hailing from Plainfield, Illinois, has been playing poker for seven years. He began his poker journey in live home games held in a garage. Earlier this year, Blake achieved his biggest result by taking first place in a Daytona event, earning approximately $35,000. When he's not at the poker table, he enjoys spending time with his girlfriend, taking her on walks and vacations.

Seat 4: Caleb Powell (2,700,000)

Caleb Powell, from Jacksonville, Florida, and has been playing poker for a decade. He initially got into the game through live games and has since transitioned to playing full-time, having previously worked as a dealer. Powell's most significant achievement in his poker career so far is a $120,000 win in Las Vegas.

Seat 5: Douglas Schoen (780,000)

Douglas Schoen lives in Daytona Beach and has been playing poker for seven years. He initially got into the game through the Orlando Felt pub scene and local tournaments. His most significant achievement in poker came when he secured a second-place finish at the June 2025 Summer Series in Daytona Beach, earning over $24,000. Schoen transitioned from a career as a derivatives trader to working as a poker dealer in Orange City.

Seat 6: Andrea Zedo (560,000)

Andrea Zedo, hailing from Maitland, FL, has been playing poker since 2007. She began her poker journey in home games, gradually honing her skills over the years. Her most notable achievement to date is a significant result in the $10,000 Mystery Bounty event in Orange City. Outside of poker, Andrea works as an Account Executive. Despite her accomplishments, she humorously notes that she hasn't won enough money to earn a nickname yet.

Seat 7: Stephen Hughes (230,000)

Stephen Hughes, from Fernandina Beach, Florida, and has been honing his poker skills for 20 years. He initially began his poker journey by playing tournaments but eventually transitioned to cash games, although he still participates in tournaments occasionally. Hughes's most notable poker achievement is a $52,000 tournament win.

Seat 8: Hunter Wroten (450,000)

Hunter Wroten hails from St. Augustine, Florida, and has been playing poker since 2004. Primarily an online player, Wroten achieved his biggest result in live poker by winning the bestbet $400 opener, earning $72,000. Outside of poker, he owns a landscape installation company.

Seat 9: Andrew DiFeo (3,700,000)

Andrew DiFeo, hailing from Saint Augustine, has been playing tournament poker for two years. Although he dabbled in the game during his college days, it wasn't until recently that he began to pursue it more seriously. DiFeo's most notable achievement came when he secured nearly $70,000 in a Venetian tournament, concluding with a heads-up chop for the first place prize.

Outside of poker, DiFeo works as a car dealer, primarily representing the Hyundai brand. Known among his friends as a go-to source for the latest in the tournament scene, he is as passionate about following poker as others are about the NFL.

Title Event Final Table!