$250 Big Stack (re-entry) Flight A
$50,000 Guarantee | Structure
Level 13: 1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 BB Ante
Players Remaining: 36/258
A player in middle position opened to 6,500, the player in the hijack called and Nick Yunis three-bet shoved from the big blind for 42,000. The initial raiser isolated the pot with a shove his own, showing 
. Yunis tabled 
.
The board ran out 
, safe for Yunis to double up with eights and fours.
Nick Yunis – 93,000 (37 bb)
$250 Big Stack (re-entry) Flight A
$50,000 Guarantee | Structure
Level 12: 1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 BB Ante
Players Remaining: 43/258
Raminder Singh raised to 5,500 from under the gun, Ory Hen reraised all in from the hijack for 10,000 and Singh called.
Singh: 
Hen: 
The board came down 
, not enough help to Hen, locking up the pot for Singh with aces and queens.
Raminder Singh – 170,000 (85 bb)
Ory Hen – Eliminated
$250 Big Stack (re-entry) Flight A
$50,000 Guarantee | Structure
Level 10: 600/1,200 with a 1,200 BB Ante
Players Remaining: 72/258
Ido Ashkenazi – 165,000
Howard Mash – 70,000
Larry Klur – 49,000
Raminder Singh – 39,000
Dimitry Agrachov – 33,000
Nick Yunis – 23,000
Ory Hen – 20,000
Matthew Zarcadoolas – 11,000
$250 Big Stack (re-entry) Flight A
$50,000 Guarantee | Structure
Level 9: 500/1,000 with a 1,000 BB Ante
Players Remaining: 90/258
Registration has closed for Flight A of Event 1. With 258 entries, the $50,000 guarantee has already been surpassed.
Flight A action will continue until the end of Level 14, where the remaining players will bag and return for Day 2 tomorrow at 2 PM.
Primary Event Schedule
11 AM: Event 1 Day 1A – $250 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
7 PM: Event 1 Day 1B – $250 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
Tournament updates begin at about 3:30 PM.
Seminole Turnpike Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Seminole Casino Coconut Creek
Hollywood/Coconut Creek, Florida
$250 Buy-In No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 1,696
Prize Pool: $356,160
December 12-16, 2018
Final results:
| FINISH | NAME | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | JOSEPH BLOCK | $44,375 |
| 2 | GEORGE HORTELANO | $41,670 |
| 3 | YI DING | $28,220 |
| 4 | GABRIEL SACK | $27,360 |
| 5 | NEAL CORCORAN | $26,680 |
| 6 | SCOTT HARWOOD | $23,670 |
| 7 | RANDY MATIENZO | $11,930 |
| 8 | RAMINDER SINGH | $8,725 |
| 9 | MICHAEL MONACO | $6,235 |
| 10 | WILLIAM SMITH | $4,095 |
| 11 | MARC BRONSTEIN | $4,095 |
| 12 | RAFAEL RAMOS | $4,095 |
| 13 | JOSEPH VILLACCI | $2,671 |
| 14 | OVENSON BENOIT | $2,671 |
| 15 | JOHN VIDAL | $2,671 |
| 16 | ARMAS ALEJANDRO ADOLFO | $1,852 |
| 17 | ZACHARY HAMMONS | $1,852 |
| 18 | PREECHA TAEPAKDEE | $1,852 |
| 19 | LUIZ STADLER III | $1,567 |
| 20 | BRUNO FORTIN | $1,567 |
| 21 | JASON UTLEY | $1,567 |
| 22 | MANUEL AMARO ALVAREZ | $1,567 |
| 23 | CARLOS CASTRO | $1,567 |
| 24 | OLEG EFREMOV | $1,567 |
| 25 | BRIAN DUNN | $1,567 |
| 26 | ROBERT LEFF | $1,567 |
| 27 | BRANDON MILLER | $1,567 |
| 28 | SAMUEL DESTEFON | $1,318 |
| 29 | OFIR STENDER | $1,318 |
| 30 | RICHARD WHITEBROOK | $1,318 |
| 31 | HOWARD MASH | $1,318 |
| 32 | DAVID WHITE | $1,318 |
| 33 | HERMAN ALTER | $1,318 |
| 34 | MICHAEL GARCIA | $1,318 |
| 35 | RICHARD DE VIVO | $1,318 |
| 36 | WILLIAM VALLADARES HURTADO | $1,318 |
| 37 | JOSUE GARCIA | $1,122 |
| 38 | FRANCKY DUMORNAY | $1,122 |
| 39 | DAVID SHAW | $1,122 |
| 40 | DAVID BAKER | $1,122 |
| 41 | DOMINICK SPADAVECCHIA | $1,122 |
| 42 | ANTONIO COLON | $1,122 |
| 43 | DAVID ZIONTS | $1,122 |
| 44 | DAVID POCES | $1,122 |
| 45 | TODD KASTEN | $1,122 |
| 46 | HOLLANDER PREAP | $962 |
| 47 | TIM SHANE | $962 |
| 48 | BRANDON FREIHAGE | $962 |
| 49 | MICHAEL KOPJANSKI | $962 |
| 50 | ANDRES ARAUJO CASTILLO | $962 |
| 51 | EGIDIJUS SEPUTIS | $962 |
| 52 | JOEL HARWOOD | $962 |
| 53 | DANIEL DIAMOND | $962 |
| 54 | NIGEL MURRAY | $962 |
| 55 | STEVEN ZUKOWSKI | $819 |
| 56 | DAFNEY ADISSON | $819 |
| 57 | CHRISTOPHER MEDEIROS | $819 |
| 58 | CARLOS TORRES VAZQUEZ | $819 |
| 59 | HOA LAN G | $819 |
| 60 | CHRISTOPHER CRISTILLO | $819 |
| 61 | JULIO FERNANDEZ | $819 |
| 62 | PAUL SHAFRAN | $819 |
| 63 | CARLO RODRIGUEZ | $819 |
| 64 | GIUSEPPE LUNETTO | $712 |
| 65 | PAULINO UEMURA JR. | $712 |
| 66 | ARIEL ROSELLO QUINTANA | $712 |
| 67 | JULIEN GOASMAT | $712 |
| 68 | LUCKENSON PERICLES | $712 |
| 69 | JULIO RUIZ | $712 |
| 70 | MARCEL DESCHAMPS | $712 |
| 71 | PAUL DOMB | $712 |
| 72 | REYNEL HERNANDEZ | $712 |
| 73 | AYCA ERAKBAS | $659 |
| 74 | JOSEPH TUMMINELLI JR. | $659 |
| 75 | HARRY ROSENBLUM | $659 |
| 76 | JOSEPH PETROLINO | $659 |
| 77 | MATHIEU SELIDES | $659 |
| 78 | ALLAN BIELER | $659 |
| 79 | ROBERT TANNENBAUM | $659 |
| 80 | DANIEL GANACHTE | $659 |
| 81 | JORGE ARISTIZABAL | $659 |
| 82 | DAVID MORENO | $605 |
| 83 | THAO LE | $605 |
| 84 | VADIMS IVANOVS | $605 |
| 85 | JOSEPH LEVITT | $605 |
| 86 | LOUIS RATON | $605 |
| 87 | CHASE MACEY | $605 |
| 88 | DAVID BLEAU | $605 |
| 89 | OSCAR TRESTINI | $605 |
| 90 | GLENN FEINSTEIN | $605 |
| 91 | GEORGE LUKAWSKI | $559 |
| 92 | ANTHONY LETO | $559 |
| 93 | MARC SACHELI | $559 |
| 94 | ALEKSANDR TISHCHENKO | $559 |
| 95 | DENNIS BRINN | $559 |
| 96 | LLOYD KAPPER | $559 |
| 97 | YONATAN BENYAMIN | $559 |
| 98 | FRED ALESI | $559 |
| 99 | SIDDHEE KUDTARKAR | $559 |
| 100 | EDUARDO MOUCHERREK CECCHINATO | $559 |
| 101 | PEDRO DIAZ | $538 |
| 102 | PHILIP BRILL | $538 |
| 103 | EVAN TEITELBAUM | $538 |
| 104 | DANIEL PEARLMAN | $538 |
| 105 | ROBERTO BENDECK | $538 |
| 106 | AHMAD YARBOUH | $538 |
| 107 | RENE ESQUIVEL | $538 |
| 108 | STEVEN CARSWELL | $538 |
| 109 | ODETTE CUTTER | $538 |
| 110 | SEBASTIEN AUDY-BRODEUR | $538 |
| 111 | RAYMOND MCDONOUGH | $516 |
| 112 | BRIAN VASQUEZ LAGOS | $516 |
| 113 | ANGEL BRACHO | $516 |
| 114 | JORGE SOTO | $516 |
| 115 | BERNARD COHEN | $516 |
| 116 | DONALD COPLIEN | $516 |
| 117 | ALEXIS PUGA ALVARINO | $516 |
| 118 | LESLEY CUTLER | $516 |
| 119 | CARLOS YEPEZ | $516 |
| 120 | YURIY KOZINSKIY | $516 |
| 121 | DANIEL WAYSON | $499 |
| 122 | SHELDON GROSS | $499 |
| 123 | PETER FELLOWS | $499 |
| 124 | JOSEPH DUCHMAN | $499 |
| 125 | ANTHONY MORALES | $499 |
| 126 | RODOLFO RODRIGUEZ | $499 |
| 127 | WILLIAM RINCON | $499 |
| 128 | STEVEN BAKER | $499 |
| 129 | ALLAN CARMEL | $499 |
| 130 | GEORGE BOYADJIAN | $499 |
| 131 | NICOLAS YUNIS | $481 |
| 132 | JESSICA FRANCIS | $481 |
| 133 | JOSEPH NAY | $481 |
| 134 | PAUL CHACIN RINCON | $481 |
| 135 | DONALD ABDELHAY | $481 |
| 136 | JERRY WILLIS | $481 |
| 137 | ANDRE BRYAN | $481 |
| 138 | THOMAS PUCCIO | $481 |
| 139 | WILLIAM SWICICKA | $481 |
| 140 | BRIAN BARIS | $481 |
| 141 | SCOTT DI BENEDETTO | $463 |
| 142 | ALBERTO PALMA | $463 |
| 143 | MICHAEL NEWMAN | $463 |
| 144 | JASON WANDLING | $463 |
| 145 | ANDREW DAIRE | $463 |
| 146 | MILTON MIRANDA | $463 |
| 147 | DONALD LAVIGNE | $463 |
| 148 | GEORGE GUERRA | $463 |
| 149 | LUIS FELIZ | $463 |
| 150 | FREDERICO DABUS | $463 |
| 151 | DAVID NATHANIEL | $449 |
| 152 | VINCENT SIMONELLI | $449 |
| 153 | STEVEN COHEN | $449 |
| 154 | ALAIN CANDALES FALCON | $449 |
| 155 | EMAD YARBOUH | $449 |
| 156 | GILLES DALCO | $449 |
| 157 | EDWARD JAFFY | $449 |
| 158 | PEDRO PALACIO | $449 |
| 159 | ROBERT KAHN | $449 |
| 160 | MICHAEL LARKIN | $449 |
| 161 | ANTHONY BARBERA | $438 |
| 162 | DANIEL QUESADA | $438 |
| 163 | KIM SCORATOW | $438 |
| 164 | YOAV SCHVERD | $438 |
| 165 | JEFFREY SMURLICK | $438 |
| 166 | EPHRAIM UZAN | $438 |
| 167 | MATTHEW ZACARDOOLAS | $438 |
| 168 | BRIAN RAIK | $438 |
| 169 | ALFREDO FERNANDEZ | $438 |
| 170 | ALFRED VARGAS | $438 |
| 171 | ANTONIO ARENCIBIA MONDUY | $427 |
| 172 | ABBEY DANIELS | $427 |
| 173 | ZACHARY MULLENNIX | $427 |
| 174 | JACK SHEA | $427 |
| 175 | JOHN UTLEY | $427 |
The World Poker Tour made its first appearance at our November Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open” series and the Championship headlined a great two weeks of tournaments.
Seven of the 19 primary events were non-hold’em tournaments and the response from the poker community was strong. Chris Moneymaker, 2003 WSOP Main Event champion, won an event on the first day of the series and Raminder Singh won yet another SHRP trophy. Poker pro David Peters won the $5,000 one-day No Limit Hold’em tournament for the second straight year and Trung Pham won the massive opening event defeating over 4,558 entries.
But the highlight of the series was the record-setting Championship. The 858 entries in the tournament marked the largest RRPO Championship field in our history and it attracted players from around the world. Czech Republic’s Pavel Plesuv went wire-to-wire at the WPT live-streamed final table to put his name on the WPT Champions Cup.
You can find complete coverage on all 19 primary events below:
It was another great series and we can’t wait to see everyone back for the 2019 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open January 10 which will feature the $1,000,000 Guarantee WPTDeepStacks Main Event.
2018 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 12
$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship (Re-Entry)
$2,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 898
Prize Pool: $2,873,600
November 23-28, 2018
The World Poker Tour came to South Florida this weekend for the 2018 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open” Championship, a first time for this November series. The Championship had a $2 Million Guarantee which was easily surpassed and the top prize was over $500,000.
After two starting flights, three play down days, and a tough final table, the Czech Republic’s Pavel Plesuv defeated Jim Gilbert heads-up to put his name on the WPT Champions Cup.
The $3,500 buy-in tournament drew 898 entries for the biggest RRPO Championship field in Seminole Hard Rock history. They created a prize pool worth $2,873,600 and the last 113 spots were paid when they hit the money late on Day 2. Five of our former RRPO champions made it through to Day 2 including defending champ Michael Newman.
We had 52 players move on to Day 3 and Plesuv was not among the leaders. That would change as they progressed and he was fourth of 14 returning for Day 4 to play down to the WPT live-streamed final table. When the dust settled, Plesuv took his seat on the last day with the biggest stack.
The final table had an international flavor with two coming from Europe and another from South Korea. Ravi Raghavan was the only member with his name on the WPT Champions Cup but he was unable to run up his short stack. Chris Kennedy followed shortly after in fifth place and the last four settled in for a long grind.
Austria’s Marius Gierse went out in fourth place and Jeremy Joseph’s exit in third set the heads-up battle. Gilbert faced nearly a six-to-one deficit, doubled up twice, but he was unable to come back.
Gilbert, a Philadephia-based pro, earned $326,565 for his runner-up finish and Plesuv took home $504,820 for the win plus a seat into the WPT Tournament of Champions.
This win pushed Plesuv’s career earnings over $4,000,000 with half of it coming in 2018. He earned $925,000 for a second place finish at the partypoker Millions in Germany and another $640,000 for a win in the MSPT Las Vegas Main Event this summer. Also, this was not the first time Plesuv was heads-up for a WPT title with the lead.
“I was heads-up in WPT Prague three years ago with a big chip lead,” Plesuv said. “I lost. So I’m really excited to come back and win.”
This was Plesuv’s first trek to South Florida for our series but it will not be the last.
“The tournament was great,” Plesuv said. “I really liked the structure, the field was big and it had great organization. The property is great too.”
Congratulations to Pavel on his WPT RRPO Championship win and a huge thanks to our players for another successful series.
Final table results:
1st: Pavel Plesuv – $504,820
2nd: Jim Gilbert – $326,565
3rd: Jeremy Joseph – $240,945
4th: Marius Gierse – $179,710
5th: Chris Kennedy – $135,505
6th: Ravi Raghavan – $103,310
2018 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 15
$150 No-Limit Hold’em
Entries: 1,297
Prize Pool: $155,640
November 28, 2018
Richard Whitebrook put the finishing touches on the 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Rock N’ Roll Poker Open with a victory in the $150 no-limit hold’em.
The attorney born and raised in Miami Beach took credit for the victory after the final eight players agreed to a deal based around ICM numbers.
The victory puts a wrap on the series and turns around Whitebrook’s latest downswing.
“It feels great. I’ve had a terrible year,” said Whitebrook. “I haven’t had a good cash since February. I’ve had a terrible series and this was my last shot at some redemption, so this is nice.”
With a couple tables remaining, Whitebrook was one of the shorter stacks. A serious rush of cards came his way and in the blink of an eye, he was leading the pack.
The big blow that put him in the lead for good came when Cory Blum was eliminated in 12th place. There was a three-way all in between Blum, David Poces and Whitebrook.
Poces showed pocket jacks, Blum tabled pocket queens and Whitebrook had ace-king. An ace came on the flop and a king on the river to give Whitebrook the lead for good. He also eliminated Ory Hen at the final table to put even more distance between himself and the rest of the field.
“That was a really big hand,” said Whitebrook about the three-way flip. “I had a hand right before that when I was short and I didn’t call a sship with four,s, where I really almost should’ve and I would’ve had quads. The next hand I had kings, doubled, and then took off after that. I got a chance at redemption.”
As a lawyer, his day job already gave Whitebrook plenty of experience in negotiations. But when it came down to the chop, there wasn’t to negotiate. Whitebrook wasn’t going to budge much from his ICM number.
With second place money locked up, Whitebrook decided to take the money and head home early.
“I mean, the truth is that I would’ve been happy to play it out,” said Whitebrook. “I’ve won tournaments before and if I’m getting second-place money eight-handed, it’s worth it for me. Plus, I like getting the trophy as well.”
The 1,297-entry field paid out the top 81 spots. Here are the final table results:
1st: Richard Whitebrook – $22,000*
2nd: Michael Pawelek – $17,572*
3rd: Zachary Mullennix – $13,958*
4th: David Poces – $13,875*
5th: Irwin Block – $11,003*
6th: Ephraim Uzan – $9,626*
7th: James Hamburger – $9,022*
8th: Roy Paulena – $8,323*
9th: Ory Hen – $2,117
*Indicates adjusted payouts to reflect a chop
$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guarantee | Structure | Payouts
Level 28: 40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 BB ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 1,297
The final eight players took a 10-minute break at the end of level 27 and returned to talks of an ICM chop.
Eventually, they agreed on a deal that was based around the ICM numbers and Richard Whitebrook gets credit for the victory since he held the chip lead at the time the deal was struck. A complete recap with details of the chop will be posted tonight.