2016 Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Hollywood, FL
Event 2: $300 Omaha 8 or Better
Entries: 92
Prize Pool: $23,460
November 17, 2016

(Hollywood, FL) — Mike DeVeronica earned the first trophy of the 2016 Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open during the late night hours of Thursday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. The victory came following a four-way chop in Event 2, a $300 Omaha 8 or Better tournament that ran as part of the property’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker series, and earned DeVeronica $4,605 along with a token guitar pick trophy.

Running alongside the series-opening $360 buy-in, $1,000,000 guarantee, Event 2 drew a modest field of 92 entries. While it didn’t match the quantity of the no limit hold’em event filling the ballroom with more than 800 players on Thursday, it drew a quality field. The likes of reigning Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year, David Prociak, Joel Harwood, who owns multiple Omaha 8 final table appearances and Jordan Chizick, who claims two titles in the variation were among those who made it to the final few tables. Harwood and Prociak bowed out shy of the money, but Chizick enjoyed a top-12 finish and scored a minor payday in the process.

DeVeronica began the 10-handed final table toward the middle of the counts, but battled back. By the time four players remained he had 315,000 chips good enough for the lead. A chop was suggested and there wasn’t much deliberation as tournament staff broke down the stacks and calculated the players’ ICM value. DeVeronica went home the winner while second in chips Mitchell Meltzer earned $4,433, third in chips Mike Dolle earned $3,816 and fourth in chips Augusto Vacazzini earned $3,547.

The victory marked DeVeronica’s 34th career cash and propelled him over $180,000 in reported tournament earnings. He is a 69-year-old retiree from West Park, Florida.

The RRPO kicked off yesterday and runs straight through until November 30th. At the $360 pricepoint, the opening event is the first in Florida poker history to boast a $1,000,000 guarantee. In addition, the series is headlined by the $3,500 buy-in, $2,000,000 guaranteed Championship which begins November 25th.

Event 2 final results:

1st: Mike DeVeronica – $4,606
2nd: Mitchel Meltzer – $4,433
3rd: Mike Dolle – $3,816
4th: Augusto Cavazzini – $3,547
5th: Dave Carvara – $1,652
6th: Gabriel Ramos – $1,321
7th: Jerry Kowalsky – $1,100
8th: Gunther Young – $880
9th: Al Green – $662
10th: Harry Eisenberg – $481
11th: David Shmuel – $481
12th: Jordan Chizick – $481