All posts by Brittany Paige

Championship Day 1A: Dinner Break at Kuro


Players on dinner break have the option to dine at the acclaimed new-style Japanese restaurant located inside Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Executive Chef Alex Becker brings more than two decades of culinary experience to Kuro. The main dining room offers family kaiseki-style dining, in which each dish is designed with sharing in mind. Kuro delivers bold complex flavors using locally sourced and imported ingredients.

Along with their delicious food options, players can now enjoy three new handcrafted cocktails. Kuro’s drink selection is divided into categories based on the five flavor profiles: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umani.  Players can select a drink that most appeals to their particular palate.

New cocktails include the sour Jyu Go, combining a matcha-infused schochu with Falernum, passion fruit, lemon and lime. Created with summer in mind, the Jyu Go is a light freshing cocktail.

Representing salty is the Jyu Roku, made up of Pisco Porton, Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, strawberry, blackberry, pomegranate, lemon, lime, ichimi, and salt. Offering a multitude of flavors from the fruitiness of the pisco and smokiness of the mezcal, the Jyu Roky is a layered cocktail that provides dimension and variation.

The Jyu Nana highlights a bitter profile and is made with Montenegro Amaro, Cruzan Rum, honey, salt, hand whipped cream and chocolate, topped with puff soba crumbles. Crafted to be approachable the Jyu Nana can be enjoyed individually or paired with one of the restaurants delectable dessert creations.

Kuro’s cocktails pair harmoniously with Executive Chef Alex Becker’s artisanal cuisine. The new menu additions celebrate the summer season and offer a sensory excursion that is not to be missed.

Championship Day 1A: Zach Smiley vs Natasha Mercier

$5,250 SHRPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 300/600 with a 75 ante
Total Entries: 404

Natasha Mercier (left) Zach Smiley (right)

Zach Smiley who came here directly after bubbling the WPT Choctaw final table is looking for redemption. Smiley won WPT Maryland Live! almost one year ago, which was his first recorded live cash. He had been going to medical school and on a whim decided to drive to Maryland with a few of his friends and take a chance at the event. It turned out to be the chance of a lifetime when he won himself $320,948 and now plays poker quite often.

Five players checked the flop of Ah8s6c. The 9d came on the turn bringing a 1,300 bet from Smiley,  and Natasha Mercier called from the big blind. The Ad hit the river, Mercier checked, and Smiley bet 4,200 winning himself the pot.

Zach Smiley  –  48,000
Natasha Mercier  –  51,000

CHAMPIONSHIP DAY 1A: South Florida Pros in Vegas

$5,250 SHRPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed | Structure
Level 6: 300/600 with a 75 ante
Total Entries: 402

Chance Kornuth

Over at the WSOP this summer, three South Florida pros, not only made a final table together but finished top three. Harrison Gimbel was the eventual winner of the $3,000 No Limit Hold’em event good for $645,922 and the bracelet. Chance Kornuth came in second for $399,132 and Ryan Van Sanford ended up in third place taking home $285,148.

Harrison Gimbel

Chance Kornuth  –  23,500
Harrison Gimbel  –  18,000

Event 10: Payout Results from 52nd to 61st Place

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 19: 4,000/8,000/1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 51 of 633

Here is a list of the results of our 52nd to 61st place finishers.

52nd:  Kirk Morrison  –  $2,424
53rd:  Raymond Leone Sr  – $2,424
54th:  Robert Chusid  – $2,424
55th:  Michael Duek  –  $2,171
56th:  Brian Powell –  $2,171
57th:  Andy Spears  – $2,171
58th:  Mike Faloney  – $2,171
59th:  Michael Wang  – $2,171
60th:  Zachary Smiley  – $2,171
61st:  Reinaldo Troconis Trutschel – $2,171

Event 10: Payout Results from 62nd to 69th Place

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 18: 3,000/6,000/1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 61 of 633

Christian Harder Eliminated in 67th Place

Here is a list of the results of our 62nd to 69th place finishers.

62nd: Glenn Blumberg  –  $2,171
63rd:  Juan Rodraguez  –  $2,171
64th:  Isaac Galazan  –  $1,981
65th:  Lawrence Lipman –  $1,981
66th:  Robert Kuhn  –  $1,981
67th:  Christian Harder  –  $1,981
68th:  Randall Moller  –  $1,981
69th:  Jack Duong  –  $1,981

Event 10: Payout Results from 70th to 80th Place

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 17: 2,500/5,000/500 ante
Players Remaining: 69 of 633

Jeff Gross Eliminated in 74th Place

Here is a list of the results of our 70th to 80th place finishers.

70th:  Jose Reyes  –  $1,981
71st:  Victor Figueroa  –  $1,981
72nd:  Ana Freitas  –  $1,981
73rd:  Matthew Silva  –  $1,804
74th:  Jeff Gross –  $1,804
75th:  Jas Hwang  –  $1,804
76th:  Carlos Chang  –  $1,804
77th: Bernard Muhire  –  $1,804
78th: Fabio Beradinucci –  $1,804
79th: John Utley Jr –  $1,804
80th: Martin Zamani  –  $1,804

Ana Freitas Eliminated in 72nd Place

Event 10: The Money Bubble has Burst

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 17: 2,500/5,000/500 ante
Players Remaining: 80 of 633

With 82 players remaining on a final board reading Kc5c2c5d4c our chip leader Sean Perry held KsJh which was good against the bubble boy’s Kd6h. There was another bustout happening simultaneously to avoid hand-for-hand.

The remaining 80 players are officially in the money and vying for their share of the $633,000 prize pool.

1st: $118,157
2nd: $82,834
3rd: $53,349
4th: $38,581
5th: $29,605
6th: $23,782
7th: $19,762
8th: $15,749
9th: $11,818
10th-12th: $9,780
13th-15th: $7,786
16th-18th: $6,488
19th-21st: $5,317
22nd-24th: $4,494
25th-27th: $3,798
28th-36th: $3,121
37th-45th: $2,741
46th-54th: $2,424
55th-63rd: $2,171
64th-72nd: $1,981
73rd-80th: $1,804

Event 10: Christian Harder Gets Through

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 15: 1,500/3,900/500 ante
Players Remaining: 87 of 633

Christian Harder (left) Athanasios Polychronopoulos (right)

A player limped from middle position, Christian Harder checked from the big blind. The flop came Kh4d3s, Harder checked, middle position bet 7,000 and Harder called.

The 7c hit the turn, Harder checked, and middle position bet 10,000. Harder thought for a short while before putting it all in, his opponent folded winning Harder the pot.

Christian Harder  –  100,000

Event 10: Darryll Fish Eliminates One

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 14: 1,200/2,400/400 ante
Players Remaining: 117 of 633

Darryll Fish

A player under the gun moved all in for 14,900, it folded around to Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Darryll Fish who put it in.

Fish turned over Ac5h and was ahead against his opponent’s Kh10h. The board came Qs8d4s6s7s and Fish made the winning straight, scoring himself the knockout.

Darryll Fish  –  54,000