The 2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown kicked off on Thursday with two big flights of the opening event and a one-day trophy tournament.
The $400 Limit Omaha 8 tournament awarded the first Showdown trophy of the series and it was a record-setting tournament. The 159-player turnout created the biggest Limit Omaha 8 field in our history, topping the 153 entries from the 2011 Poker Showdown and 2011 Summer Splash series.
WPT Borgata champ Donald Maloney showed he has skills in non-hold’em games and booked his first career SHRP title. He earned $9,236 after a four-way deal with Gary Webster, Thomas Millmore, and Michael Lee.
Event 1 is the opening, multi-flight tournament on the schedule and the $600 Deep Stack NLH game came in huge. The first two flights combined to put 1,245 into the game, easily surpassing the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool.
LHPO H.O.R.S.E. champ (and three-time WSOP Circuit winner) Nick Pupillo shares the current returning Day 2 chip lead with Seth Medoff, both coming back for Day 2 with 464,000. Rafaello Locatelli (413,000), Jill Bryant (398,000), and William Blais (378,000).
A total of 157 players booked a seat into Day 2 on Sunday at 2 pm with all of them already in the money.
Event 1 chip counts through Flight B
