$1,100 WPTDeepStacks NLH (Single Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 12: 600/1,200 with a 200 ante Flight A Players Remaining: 144 of 369
Jaime Wiegrefe
Flight A is moving right along with 16 tables remaining and some big names still around including Kathy Liebert among the big stacks.
But the biggest belongs to SHR regular Jaime Wiegrefe closing in on 240,000 with only a handful of levels remaining in their day. The Miami grinder has a dozen career live tournament cashes with seven of them coming right here.
While the WPTDeepStacks event continues to play down to the end of their day, the Omaha/8 tournament hit their final table in the meeting room. Tournament staff moved the final ten players across the hall to play it out in the ballroom and they are back underway.
It’s a pretty nice lineup vying for the first trophy including former SHRP champs Michael Moed and David Shmuel.
Seat 1: Donald Maloney – 87,000 Seat 2: David Shmuel – 118,000 Seat 3: Philippe Goureau – 90,000 Seat 4: Jason Lepesilvero – 62,000 Seat 5: Jason Balcaitis – 8,500 Seat 6: Carey Pickens – 119,000 Seat 7: Jordan Stone – 152,000 Seat 8: Cheryl Parker – 50,000 Seat 9: Michael Moed – 82,000 Seat 10: Joel Farris – 12,000
$1,100 WPTDeepStacks NLH (Single Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 10: 400/800 with a 100 ante Flight A Players Remaining: 189 of 369
Jon Borenstein
The big brains crunched the numbers and Flight A of the WPTDeepStacks event officially drew 369 entries to put it on pace to top the $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool sometime on Saturday.
We found Jon Borenstein making his way through post-dinner action and he has a bit of success in both WPT and SHR tournaments. He made the final table of the inaugural Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Big 4 $2,650 Freeze-out and finished third in the SHR Showdown opening tournament for another $60,000.
Borenstein’s biggest cash came in the WPT500 Las Vegas this summer when he picked up $230,000 for earning the title to push him over $1.5 million in career earnings.
$1,100 WPTDeepStacks NLH (Single Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 10: 400/800 with a 100 ante Flight A Entries: 369
The dinner break is complete and cards are back in the air for the WPTDeepStacks event. The unofficial count shows 369 entries in the first flight and we are waiting on the accounting to complete before that number is locked in.
They will play six more levels today, with a break in the middle, before the survivors bag up their chips for a Day 2 return on Sunday.
While most people settled down in their WPTDeepStacks seats, some players will spend their day playing their favorite four-card, split-pot poker game.
Event 2 kicks off at 11 am and the $300 buy-in Omaha/8 tournament is a one-day LHPO trophy event. It will be a smaller field but a very talented one as well.
Omaha/8 players will sit down to 10,000 starting stacks and play 30-minute levels throughout the day. Late registration is open until the start of Level 9 at 3:30 pm with unlimited re-entries available during that time. They have a 40-minute dinner break scheduled at 5:30 pm and will return to play down to the first LHPO champion later this evening.
Players begin with 10,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
Much of our live reporting efforts will be concentrated on the WPTDeepStacks opener today, but we’ll provide highlights from the Omaha/8 event including the final results and a winner’s photo.
The new year is upon us and it is time to roll out the first big Seminole Hard Rock Poker series of 2018. And the Lucky Hearts Poker Open is coming out strong from the very start.
The series kicks off with the $1,100 buy-in/$1,000,000 Guarantee WPTDeepStacks opening event. This tournament is always one of the biggest draws on their circuit and we expect another great crowd as it moves to the front of the series schedule.
The tournament features three starting flights with each scheduled to play 15 full levels. Players will start out with 25,000 stacks and the tournament will run 40-minute levels throughout. There is a 60-minute dinner break scheduled after Level 9 at 5:30 pm and registration will close at 6:30 pm when they return.
Late registration is available during that time but players are restricted to a single re-entry per flight. If they max out their entries today, the second flight runs on Friday at 11am with the same format.
Cards go in the air at the top of the hour and we will have all the action from start to finish.
$1,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Players begin with 25,000 in chips and 40-minute levels
Late registration available until start of Level 10
Single re-entry allowed per flight
Day 1 will end after Level 15 or Tournament Director discretion
2017 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Florida Championship $3,500 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Entries: 585 Prize Pool: $2,000,000 November 24-29, 2017
After one week of preliminary tournaments, the Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood rolled out the Championship event with some of the best players in the game. The Championship featured a $2,000,000 prize pool and it was local regular Michael Newman closing it out for the major title and a $374,240 payday.
“It’s probably the best thing that I’ve ever done in poker,” Newman said after his victory. “Money’s great, money’s always great, but (it’s great) to get through the toughest field I’ve ever played against in my life.”
The Championship drew 585 entries over the course of two starting flights and they were all aiming for the huge first place prize at the end. The tournament drew players from around the world including WSOP bracelet winners, WPT Champions Club members, local regulars, and amateurs taking their shot at glory.
Of those 585, there were still 215 around when they joined together for Day 2 with WSOP bracelet winner Michael Wang leading them. Eight Seminole Hard Rock Poker team members made it through their opening flight with Faraz Jaka returning with the third biggest stack of the day.
Joining Jaka for the SHRP team were Mukul Pahuja, Sheddy Siddiqui, Jared Jaffee, Matt Affleck, Michael Laake, Darryll Fish, and Matt Stout along with the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa’s Wally Maddah and Natasha Mercier. Other notables making it through included 2015 WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen, Florida poker legend Robert Mizrachi, and Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Tilly.
Tilly made it deep into the tournament but fell short of making it into the money. With 79 players taking home part of the $2,000,000 prize pool, Day 2 played at a slow pace until they burst the money bubble shortly before the dinner break. Day 2 ended with 34 players moving on and Day 3 proved to be a short afternoon.
Day 3 featured four tables of tough players including former SHRPO Champ Dan Colman, high roller master Tom Marchese, eight-time WSOP Circuit winner Ari Engel, and three SHRP team members with Siddiqui, Fish, and Jaka still in the race. The Championship was scheduled to play down to the last 18 players and it took less than four hours to finish their day.
With the big money in sight, Day 4 would continue until only six players remained for the Poker Night in America live-stream and televised final table. WPT Champions Club member Matas Cimbolas held the chip lead and continued to stay ahead for most of the day.
David Peters, Lily Kiletto, Jean “Prince” Gaspard, and McKeehen were early exits while Shaun Deeb and Engel began chipping up along the way until the Championship was down to the last ten players.
Former WSOP Big One for One Drop champ Colman was one of the toughest players at the last table and the table was relieved when he was eliminated in tenth place. Deeb saw his luck leave him as he went from a big stack to a ninth-place finish.
Brazilian Joao Simao was knocked out in eighth place and took his excitable rail with him. With the elimination of Denis Cyr in seventh place, the feature final table was set to battle it out in front of the cameras.
The RRPO Championship final table
The final table featured six successful grinders with combined live tournament earnings exceeding $28 million. Engel began the last day with the chip lead but lost it on the first hand when he doubled up Newman. The hand saw Engel make a move on the turn, putting Newman all in, but it went wrong when it was called and Engel was drawing dead.
“The first hand was very pivotal. I had top pair with the nut flush draw on the turn.” Newman said later. “I was like, ‘The first hand I’m going to be out?’ but I had to call, and I was right.”
Short-stacked Marchese was the first eliminated from the final table and he was quickly followed by Engel. Siddiqui’s day came to an end when he ran his top pair into Newman’s aces and Fish followed suit after losing a big pot against the leader.
Newman held a 7-to-1 chip lead over Cimbolas at the start of heads-up play and the match lasted only three hands before Newman won a race to take the title along with the $374,240 first place prize.
Michael Newman (left) and Matas Cimbolas
“I always like a challenge and I always want to be playing against the best. That was the best of the best. It was absolutely amazing.”
Newman’s stack was the third biggest of the final six and he came back ready to play despite a restless night at home.
“I didn’t sleep, not even one second, last night,” Newman admitted. “I was so excited about today. I played really well and my cards held and I won.”
The 48-year-old New York native used to work on Wall Street and is still in the banking industry now that he lives in Florida. Even though he plays a lot of poker and has the results to show for it, Newman still does not consider himself a professional player.
“I’m glad I’m able to play at this level, but it would take a lot of time to be a pro,” Newman said. “As much as I love the game, I don’t know if I could handle the ups, the downs, and the swings. No matter how good you are, you also need the luck.”
Newman is a familiar face in our tournament fields and he already won owned SHRP trophies before he added this huge fifth title. He plays all levels of tournaments, regardless of the buy-in, and works on his game.
“I love the game,” Newman commented. “That’s why I even play the small events – the $150s – I just love the action.”
“I love to try to better myself and become a better player each time I play,” he continued.
This Championship title is the biggest cash of Newman’s career, topping his previous high from a 12th place finish in this tournament in 2015. He had the biggest cheering section of all players at the final table and it was obvious his friends and family were as excited as he was with the accomplishment.
Congratulations to Michael on the RRPO Championship win and to everyone who cashed in the tournament along the way. It was a great event and he represents the best of what our players have to offer.
Final table results:
1st: Michael Newman – $374,240 + Trophy 2nd: Matas Cimbolas – $262,440 3rd: Darryll Fish – $168,920 4th: Sheddy Siddiqui – $121,920 5th: Ari Engel – $93,560 6th: Tom Marchese – $75,380
$100 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $20,000 Guarantee | Structure Level 1: 50/100
Event 17 is the last chance for players to take home a Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open trophy and it’s a great value for our regular grinders.
The last tournament of the RRPO series has a $100 buy-in with big starting stacks and $20,000 guaranteed prize pool. The price and prize pool are sure to make it a fine way to close out the series
Each entrant will sit down to a 15,000 starting stack and they’ll play 20-minute levels throughout. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until ~9:05pm and we will crown the last RRPO champion before the night is through.
$20,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Players begin with 15,000 in chips and 20-minute levels
Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
The Championship heads up match did not last long. They traded a few pots before Matas Cimbolas took his stand. Michael Newman opened his button for all the chips and Cimbolas called with a chance to double up.
Cimbolas: Newman:
It was not the standard race and Cimbolas needed to dodge Newman’s over cards to get back in the match. The was safe, as was the turn. Newman jumped up and the rail cheered when Newman spiked the river to take the title along with $374,240. It was a great run for Cimbolas after leading large parts of the tournament and took home $262,440 for his runner-up finish.
Final table results:
1st: Michael Newman – $374,240 + Trophy 2nd: Matas Cimbolas – $262,440 3rd: Darryll Fish – $168,920 4th: Sheddy Siddiqui – $121,920 5th: Ari Engel – $93,560 6th: Tom Marchese – $75,380
was safe, as was the 
turn. Newman jumped up and the rail cheered when Newman spiked the 
river to take the title along with $374,240. It was a great run for Cimbolas after leading large parts of the tournament and took home $262,440 for his runner-up finish.