$1,100 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 26: 12,000/24,000/4,000 Ante

With the blinds still at 10K-20K (3K), Ricardo Alvarado raised under the gun to 40,000, Nacho Barbero reraised from the button to 113,000, and Matt Stout moved all in from the small blind for 314,000.

Alvarado folded, and Barbero called with . Stout turned over , and he needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and Barbero turned a queen-high straight to win the pot and eliminate Stout in fourth place.

Nacho Barbero  –  979,000  (49 bb)
Matt Stout  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($17,849)

A few minutes later, Level 25 ended, and the blinds increased to 12,000-24,000 with a 4,000 ante. Here are the updated chip counts:

Seat 2.  Tom Dobrilovic  –  325,000  (14 bb)
Seat 5.  Ricardo Alvarado  –  1,225,000  (51 bb)
Seat 7.  Nacho Barbero  –  980,000  (41 bb)

1st:  $50,497
2nd:  $34,164
3rd:  $22,338

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is about 876,000 (37 big blinds).

$350 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Level 21: 6,000/12,000

Nick Palma’s fall from grace ended when he ran into his nemesis Chris Karambinis. The next hand after Joshua Beckley’s exit saw these two mixing it up again.

They were heads up to the flop and Palma moved all-in after Karambinis led out. The shove was quickly called and Karambinis showed ahead of Palma’s .

Palma needed help to stay alive but missed the turn and to finish in 4th place before Beckley had reached the payout desk.

$1,100 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 25: 10,000/20,000/3,000 Ante

There haven’t been any big pots in a while, as the final four players keep pushing chips back and forth. Here are the updated chip counts halfway thru Level 25:

Seat 1.  Matt Stout  –  395,000  (20 bb)
Seat 2.  Tom Dobrilovic  –  570,000  (29 bb)
Seat 5.  Ricardo Alvarado  –  1,060,000  (53 bb)
Seat 7.  Nacho Barbero  –  525,000  (26 bb)

1st:  $50,497
2nd:  $34,164
3rd:  $22,338
4th:  $17,849

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 657,000 (33 big blinds).

$350 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Level 21: 6,000/12,000

Current WSOP November Niner is already sitting on a $1 million payday for that pending result so he didn’t get too busted up over getting 5th place money.

He was short stacked and heads up with Chris Karambinis to the flop. They both checked and Beckley moved all-in after the turn to get an instant call from Karambinis with the flopped boat .

“I need the Ten of Diamonds.” Beckley said and tabled .

“I folded the Ten of Diamonds.” Lonnie Heimowitz joked.

Beckley had one out to stay alive and missed the river whether Heimowitz had the or not.

$1,100 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 25: 10,000/20,000/3,000 Ante

Nacho Barbero raised from the small blind to 38,000, Matt Stout moved all in from the big blind for 380,000, and Barbero called with . Stout turned over , and he needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The flop came , and Barbero paired his ace to take the lead. Stout started to stand up, saying, “Nice hand. It was fun playing with you guys.

But the turn card was the , giving Stout a set of jacks. Stout sat back down and said, “Wow. I’m just hitting one-outers these days.” The river card was the , and Stout won the pot with his set to double up in chips.

Matt Stout  –  768,000  (38 bb)
Nacho Barbero  –  610,000  (31 bb)

The next hand, Stout raised from the small blind to 42,000, Tom Dobrilovic reraised from the big blind to 100,000, and Dobrilovic called. The flop came , Stout bet 85,000, and Dobrilovic folded. A quick extra 100K for Stout to add to his stack.

Matt Stout  –  976,000  (61 bb)
Tom Dobrilovic  –  425,000  (27 bb)

When Level 24 came to an end, the players took a 15-minute break. Here are their official chip counts as the blinds are increasing to 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 ante:

Seat 1.  Matt Stout  –  970,000  (61 bb)
Seat 2.  Tom Dobrilovic  –  328,000  (21 bb)
Seat 5.  Ricardo Alvarado  –  797,000  (50 bb)
Seat 7.  Nacho Barbero  –  532,000  (33 bb)

1st:  $50,497
2nd:  $34,164
3rd:  $22,338
4th:  $17,849

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is 657,000 (33 big blinds).

$350 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Level 20: 5,000/10,000

Nothing was working very well for Gary Bolden after the restart, except for an excellent looking salad, and he found a big hand to take into battle.

Bolden raised to 93,000 after Joshua Beckley opened to 26,000. They were heads up to the flop with Bolden not having much more in his stack. Beckley put him all-in and Bolden quickly called with only to see his big pair was no good against Beckley’s trip Tens .

Bolden couldn’t find anything to save him on the turn or river to go out in 6th place for $2,163.

$350 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Level 18: 3,000/6,000

Jason Sugarman began the restart with the second smallest stack before he doubled up Lonnie Heimowitz, the shortest stack. He was left 20,000 and moved all-in under the gun.

Chris Karambinis, Heimowitz, and Gary Bolden came along for the ride to see the flop. They checked and checked once again the turn. Karambinis and Heimowitz checked the river and almost tabled their hand before Bolden bet 40,000.

Karambinis reluctantly let his go (later declaring to have the king-high flush) and Heimowitz folded as well. Bolden tabled for the nut flush and Sugarman’s was no good. He picked up $1,798 for his 7th place finish.

$1,100 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
Level 24: 8,000/16,000/2,000 Ante

Tom Dobrilovic was all in from the small blind for about 275,000 with against the of Joe Serock in the big blind, who had him covered by 10,000.

The board came , and Dobrilovic rivered a heart flush to win the pot and double up in chips, knocking Serock down to less than a big blind in the process.

Tom Dobrilovic  –  560,000  (35 bb)
Joe Serock  –  10,000  (<1 bb)

The next hand, Nacho Barbero raised under the gun to 34,000, Joe Serock moved all in from the small blind for 10,000, and Ricardo Alvarado called from the big blind. Any additional betting would go into the side pot of 48,000.

Alvarado and Barbero checked to the river on a board of , Alvarado bet 35,000, and Barbero folded. Alvarado took the side pot uncontested.

For the main pot, Serock showed  for a pair of fives, but Alvarado turned over to win the pot with two pair, tens and sevens, eliminating Serock in fifth place.

Joe Serock  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($13,403)

There was brief talk about chopping the remaining prizepool, but the discussion ended quickly without ever getting much into specifics.

A few minutes later, on a board of with about 145,000 already in the pot, Alvarado bet 86,000 from the small blind, and Barbero tanked for a while before moving all in for 406,000. Alvarado tanked for a while himself before he folded, and Barbero took the pot.

Nacho Barbero  –  640,000  (40 bb)
Ricardo Alvarado  –  760,000  (48 bb)

And that’s where things stand right now. Here are the updated chip counts:

Seat 1.  Matt Stout  –  680,000  (43 bb)
Seat 2.  Tom Dobrilovic  –  558,000  (35 bb)
Seat 5.  Ricardo Alvarado  –  760,000  (48 bb)
Seat 7.  Nacho Barbero  –  640,000  (40 bb)

1st:  $50,497
2nd:  $34,164
3rd:  $22,338
4th:  $17,849

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 657,000 (41 big blinds).

$350 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Level 18: 3,000/6,000

Event 17 is back underway for a bonus day of poker with Devon Shalmi leading the way.

Seat 1: Lonnie Heimowitz – 62,000 (10 bb)
Seat 2: Devon Shalmi – 391,000 (65 bb)
Seat 3: Nick Palma – 255,000 (43 bb)
Seat 4: Joshua Beckley – 173,000 (29 bb)
Seat 5: Gary Bolden – 206,000 (34 bb)
Seat 6: Jason Sugarman – 89,000 (15 bb)
Seat 7: Chris Karambinis – 225,000 (38 bb)

Devon Shalmi – 391,000 (65 bb)
Nick Palma – 255,000 (43 bb)
Chris Karambinis – 225,000 (38 bb)
Gary Bolden – 206,000 (34 bb)
Joshua Beckley – 173,000 (29 bb)
Jason Sugarman – 89,000 (15 bb)
Lonnie Heimowitz – 62,000 (10 bb)

1st: $10,815
2nd: $7,573
3rd: $4,872
4th: $3,608
5th: $2,705
6th: $2,163
7th: $1,798

$1,650 Six-Max Dealer’s Choice (Freeze-Out)
Limit Flop & Draw Games Level 1: 75/150 Limits
Stud Games Level 1: 25 Ante; 75 Bring-in; 75/150 Limits
No Limit and Pot Limit Games Level 1: 25/50

The first ever Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Dealer’s Choice tournament is about to go. This new tournament gives players a chance to pick their favorite game from among ten options.

The games in play are No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Big O, Razz, Stud, Stud/8, Triple Draw 2-7, Limit Hold’em, Limit Omaha/8, and 5-Card Draw High. One player will choose a game and the table will play it for six hands, then the next players will do the same, and so forth until we have a winner.

It will be interesting to see what kind of field we get for this new tournament. Event 18 has a $1,650 buy-in with 40-minute levels and late registration open until 7:30pm. This is a freeze-out tournament so no re-entries allowed if a player is eliminated.

Cards will be in the air soon and play down to the final table or 3am, whichever comes first.