You never know who you will encounter while walking through the crowded tables of one of the largest poker tournaments in the country. Many faces blend easily together but a few stand out. At the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $10 million guarantee championship event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida the biggest names in poker took their seats but scattered among the massive field were a few names who are well known outside the poker room.
Actress Shannon Elizabeth, actor and DJ Danny Masterson and musician Nelly were among the notable faces in the tournament. While celebrity appearances are not uncommon in poker tournaments that fact that all three made it to Day 2 and two of them made the money is unusual and impressive at the same time. Nelly was eliminated before the money bubble but Elizabeth and Masterson have secured cashes worth no less than $8,726 in a tournament that played host to some of the most accomplished and winningest players in poker.
Elizabeth has over $224,000 in poker tournament winnings, the bulk coming from her Final Four finish in the 64-player $25,000 NBC Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em Championship in 2007 for $125,000. In that tournament Elizabeth outlasted progressional players including Elizabeth also finished runner up to Phil Gordon for $79,776 in the 2010 World Series of Poker $5,000 Ante Up for Africa Charity tournament.
No matter where he finishes, Masterson will pick up his first major recorded tournament cash in this tournament.
Both Masterson and Elizabeth are seated along side some of the biggest names in poker and have already outlasted major tournament players including nine-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey, 1998 WSOP Main Event champion Scotty Nguyen, eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel, 2001 WSOP main event champion and all-time World Poker Tour top money winner Carlos Mortensen, two-time WSOP bracelet winner and two-time WPT champion Erik Lindgren and three-time WSOP bracelet winner Michael Mizrachi to name a few.
Continue to follow the live updates to see how deep Elizabeth and Masterson make it in the tournament.