$50,000 Super High Roller (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 41

HAND #12  –  Albert Daher moved all in from the small blind for about 475,000, and Jason Mercier called from the big blind with . Daher turned over , and he needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Mercier won the pot with his ace to eliminate Daher in seventh place.

Jason Mercier  –  3,070,000  (154 bb)
Albert Daher  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($79,540)

$50,000 Super High Roller (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 41

HAND #3  –  Jason Mercier raised from middle position to 40,000, taking the blinds and ante.

HAND #4  –  Everyone folded to Albert Daher, giving him a walk in the big blind.

HAND #5  –  Albert Daher moved all in from the small blind for 475,000, taking the blinds and ante.

HAND #6  –  Franklin Fok moved all in from middle position for 230,000, taking the blinds and ante.

HAND #7  –  Jason Mercier moved all in from the button, taking the blinds and ante.

HAND #8  –  Sam Sweilem raised from the button to 65,000, Franklin Fok moved all in from the big blind for 260,000, and Sweilem folded. Fok took the pot.

HAND #9  –  Giuseppe Iadisernia raised under the gun to 50,000, and Manig Loeser called from the big blind. The flop came , Loeser checked, Iadisernia bet 70,000, and Loeser folded. Iadisernia took the pot.

HAND #10  –  Manig Loeser moved all in from the small blind for about 340,000, taking the blinds and ante.

HAND #11  –  Jason Mercier raised under the gun to 40,000, Manig Loeser moved all in from the button for about 380,000, and Mercier folded. Loeser took the pot.

$50,000 Super High Roller (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 41

HAND #1  –  Giuseppe Iadisernia raised from middle position to 50,000, taking the blinds and ante.

HAND #2  –  Jason Mercier raised from the hijack to 40,000, Tom Boivin moved all in from the small blind for 130,000, and Franklin Fok moved all in over the top from the big blind for 360,000. Mercier folded.

Boivin turned over , and he needed his hand to hold to stay alive against Fok’s .

The board came , and Boivin won the pot with a spade-high flush to double up in chips.

Tom Boivin  –  320,000  (16 bb)
Franklin Fok  –  230,000  (12 bb)

$5,250 SHRPO Championship (Single Re-Entry)
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2: 100/200 with a 200 ante
Flight A Entries: 269

As with all things, there had to be a beginning. The first Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open was held at the end of August in 2013, an ambitious debut that featured a $10,000,000 guaranteed prize pool for a $5K Championship. The prize pool rose to $11,920,000 by the time registration closed, the biggest we’ve ever run.

Blair Hinkle outlasted the 2,384-entry field to become our first ever SHRPO Champion and he banked $1,745,000 for the feat. He returns every year hoping to be the first two-time SHRPO Champion and 2019 is no different.

$50,000 Super High Roller (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 41

There are about 55 minutes remaining in Level 16, with blinds at 10,000-20,000 with a 20,000 big blind ante.

The final seven players have taken their seats, and everything is set and ready to go. It’s time to shuffle up and deal!

We will be providing hand-for-hand coverage for this event. Here are the starting chip counts, with Jason Mercier holding a huge lead:

Seat 1.  Giuseppe Iadisernia  –  550,000  (28 bb)
Seat 2.  Albert Daher  –  465,000  (23 bb)
Seat 3.  Jason Mercier  –  2,635,000  (132 bb)
Seat 4.  Sam Sweilem  –  480,000  (24 bb)
Seat 5.  Tom Boivin  –  140,000  (7 bb)
Seat 6.  Franklin Fok  –  400,000  (20 bb)
Seat 7.  Manig Loeser  –  465,000  (23 bb)

$5,250 SHRPO Championship (Single Re-Entry)
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2: 100/200 with a 200 ante
Flight A Entries: 233

The Event Center is filling in as the Championship moves into Level 2. With any tournament of this quality, you’re always going to find a table or two with a stacked lineup. Today that is Table 17.

They are still waiting for a few players to draw their seat there but the lineup is already a tough one. From around the horn, we have Jonathan Dobson, Brian Hastings, Ralph Massey, Ian O’Hara, Darryll Fish, and Nancy Thomas.

That is a combined $12.5 million in career earnings, four WSOP bracelets, two WSOP Circuit rings, one WPT title, and one Aussie Million champion all sitting at a six-handed table.

$50,000 Super High Roller (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Returning to Level 16: 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 41

The 2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open’s largest buy-in event, the $50,000 Super High Roller (Single Re-Entry), is down to seven players and is in the money.

South Florida’s own Jason Mercier is the overwhelming chip leader, holding more than half of the chips in play and nearly five times as many chips as his nearest competitor. Mercier was already the chip leader at the final table when he eliminated Dan Shak on the money bubble, who was second in chips at the time. 

Here is the final table lineup, followed by the payouts:

Seat 1: Giuseppe Iadisernia – 550,000 (28 bb)
Seat 2: Albert Daher – 465,000 (23 bb)
Seat 3: Jason Mercier – 2,635,000 (132 bb)
Seat 4: Sam Sweilem – 480,000 (24 bb)
Seat 5: Tom Boivin – 140,000 (7 bb)
Seat 6: Franklin Fok – 400,000 (20 bb)
Seat 7: Manig Loeser – 465,000 (23 bb)

Payouts
1st: $715,860
2nd: $457,355
3rd: $288,330
4th: $198,850
5th: $139,195
6th: $109,370
7th: $79,540

The final table begins at 1 p.m. and hand-for-hand updates of the action will be provided by the SHRPO updates team.

$5,250 SHRPO Championship (Single Re-Entry)
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 100/100 with a 100 ante
Flight A Entries: 210

The SHRPO Championship draws players from around the world and a good number of them already have impressive wins before arriving. We found two of them in early action.

Joe Cada is best known as the 2009 WSOP Main Event bracelet winner but he didn’t stop there. He won three more bracelets since then including two in 2018 and has racked up more than $14,000,000 in career earnings.

Tony Sinishtaj is a member of the WPT Champions Club and he put his name on their Champions Cup right here. He captured the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship title in 2017 for a $661,000 payday.

$5,250 SHRPO Championship (Single Re-Entry)
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 100/100 with a 100 ante
Flight A Entries: 193

We have a few players in the game today who are freerolling the Championship. Aletha Franklin is one of them and she took her seat this morning.

We run a “Win a Seat” drawing for all of our Championship events and Franklin’s name was pulled from the virtual hat. She made her way to South Florida from the west coast of Florida and now has a shot to earn a piece of the $3,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.

That drawing closed this week but stay tuned for our next contest for the Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Championship.

$5,250 SHRPO Championship (Single Re-Entry)
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 100/100 with a 100 ante
Flight A Entries: 171

The clock hit 11 am and Tournament Director Tony Burns put cards in the air to kick off the 2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship.