$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 4: 100/200/25 Ante
Flight 1C Entries: 270
Players are on their first break of the day with 270 entrants so far and two and a half hours left to register. Or re-enter if a stack hits the felt.
We’ll take a look around the semi-empty ballroom and track down our early Flight C leader.
$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 4: 100/200/25 Ante
Flight 1C Entries: 250
We found our first member of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker team in today’s flight when Sheddy Siddiqui took his seat at a quiet table in the back of the room. Siddiqui has more than $1 million in career earnings and was an easy choice to wear the badge.
Siddiqui had a great 2015 season that included ten cashes, six final tables, and more than $500,000 added to his wallet. His biggest results in 2015 came courtesy of a third place result in the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open and big payday when he finished fifth out of 7,725 players in the WSOP Millionaire Maker.
He joins 250 entrants as Flight C moved into Level 4 with a break looming at the top of the hour.
$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 3: 75/150/25 Ante
Flight 1C Entries: 200
Sometimes you have to adjust your perspective and that’s exactly what Kim Stone did. It wasn’t a big shift, only a few feet to change her fate. Stone was a long-time, popular poker dealer for the last few years, travelling the country to deal in some of the biggest tournaments. Now she finds herself sitting in a player’s seat instead of the dealer’s box.
Stone is finding success with her decision to concentrate on playing the game instead of dealing and it paid off huge less than two months ago. She entered the $580 opening event of the WSOP Circuit series in West Palm and outlasted all but one player. Stone finished second out of 2,050 entrants to book her first six-digit cash for a nice bankroll boost.
Stone is back today after falling short in Flight A and joins more than 200 entrants for this afternoon’s session.
$250 Limit Omaha/8 (Single Re-Entry)
Level 1: 100/200 Limits
While the third flight of Event 1 is running in the front of the ballroom, we have the second event of the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown ready to go in the back. Event 2 deviates from the standard No Limit Hold’em tournaments run so far, this time we’re rolling out some Limit Omaha/8.
The four-card split pot game will draw a smaller but very talented field. Robert Campbell holds nearly a dozen Omaha/8 titles and worked hard last night in Event 1 to make sure he bagged chips so he could play the Omaha/8 today.
Tournament entrants will start with 10,000 starting stacks and play 30-minute levels from start to finish. Late registration is open until the start of Level 9, approximately 4:30pm, and players are permitted a single re-entry if they lose their stack during that time.
This tournament drew 51 entrants during the series last year but we expect more this time with a smaller buy-in and updated structure. Michael Moed is the defending champion and we will be on the look out for him.
This is one-day tournament and we will award our first Seminole Hard Rock Poker trophy later this evening.
$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 2: 50/100 Ante
Flight 1C Entries: 115
Flight C jumped over 100 entrants in the first level to better the pace from yesterday’s biggest flight. There’s a fast-moving line at the registration desk and we’re seeing more players get in the game at a steady pace.
Jacquelyn Scott is one of our early entrants but she’s missing a little bling on her wrist. We caught up with her last summer during the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open only a few weeks removed from earning the 2015 WSOP Ladies Championship bracelet.
Scott is the second SHR Poker regular with a bracelet from that even and we expect to see Marsha Wolak later.
$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 1: 25/50 Ante
We’re ready to hit the first weekend of the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown with some Friday afternoon poker. The third flight of Event 1 is underway in the ballroom after an already successful first two yesterday.
Flights A and B drew a total of 694 entrants combined to set a big pace for the last four flights to come. Of those starters, 125 players survived to the end of the day to put their stacks in bags for a return on Sunday. We should see even bigger numbers today to run us closer to the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Ruddy Diaz (pictured above) finished Flight B with the overall Event 1 chip lead and we’ll see if anyone can catch him today. He’s the only player to finish with more than 300,000 but there will be four more big flights trying to pass him.
Flight A and B combined chip counts
Today’s entrants will sit down to 20,000 in starting chips and play 30-minute levels throughout the day. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 3:30pm and we’ll be halfway home in Event 1. Play will conclude when they reach the end of Level 14 and those with chips will move on to Day 2 on Sunday.
Early players are in their seats, the rules have been announced, and cards are in the air for Flight C.
Main Event Schedule
11AM: Event 1 Day 1C – $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
12PM: Event 2 – $250 Limit Omaha/8 (Single Re-Entry)
6PM: Event 1 Day 1D – $350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Secondary and Satellite Schedule
9AM: Event 34 – $90 Event 1 Turbo Mega Satellite (1-in-5)
3PM: Event 35 – $115 Event 1 and Event 9 Multi Satellite (1-in-10)
8PM: Event 36 – $390 Championship Turbo Satellite (1-in-10)
Day 1 has come to a close here in the ballroom at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood. Primary events continue Friday at 11am with Flight C of the series opener, a $350 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed event.
Friday’s primary event schedule:
Friday’s secondary event schedule:
Updates will resume tomorrow morning when cards go in the air for Event 1 Flight C at 11am. In the meantime, more on the 25-day series is available in the posts below.
$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
End of Level 14: 1,200/2,400/400 Ante
Total Entries: 694
Players Remaining: 125
Flight A drew 370 entrants with 71 moving on
Flight B drew 324 entrants with 54 moving on
Flight C begins Friday at 11am
Flight D begins Friday at 6pm
Flight E begins Saturday at 11am
Flight F begins Saturday at 6pm
Chip counts through Flight B:
| Rank | First Name | Last Name | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ruddy | Diaz | 302,000 |
| 2 | Jonathan | Grasso | 287,500 |
| 3 | Christopher | Thompson | 240,000 |
| 4 | Ahad | Zahoor | 238,000 |
| 5 | John | Magnetta | 231,000 |
| 6 | Eric | Ward | 222,000 |
| 7 | James | Salmon | 217,000 |
| 8 | Remy | Bougeois | 213,500 |
| 9 | Jonathan | Sanchez | 208,000 |
| 10 | Julio | Sanchez | 207,000 |
| 11 | Thanh | Nguyen | 204,500 |
| 12 | Lev | Parnas | 199,500 |
| 13 | Adam | Levy | 198,000 |
| 14 | Oren | Maimon | 193,000 |
| 15 | Evan | Young | 177,500 |
| 16 | Greg | Levine | 177,000 |
| 17 | Robert | Campbell | 172,000 |
| 18 | Philippe | Goureau | 169,500 |
| 19 | Brent | Philbin | 163,000 |
| 20 | Jeff | Gold | 158,500 |
| 21 | Xien | Hong | 158,500 |
| 22 | Alex | Campillo | 154,500 |
| 23 | Steven | Weintraub | 149,000 |
| 24 | Marcus | Stein | 149,000 |
| 25 | Dior | Hazar | 148,000 |
| 26 | David | Gelley | 147,500 |
| 27 | Manuel | Soltero | 144,000 |
| 28 | Matthew | Vetstein | 141,000 |
| 29 | Gary | Bodley | 140,000 |
| 30 | Michael | Tait | 138,000 |
| 31 | John | DePersio | 136,500 |
| 32 | Edwin | Cabrera | 134,000 |
| 33 | Sebastian | Kos | 133,500 |
| 34 | Loni | Harwood | 132,000 |
| 35 | Jonathan | Cardenas | 130,500 |
| 36 | Brandon | Yee | 128,000 |
| 37 | Sebastian | Toroh | 127,000 |
| 38 | Hunter | Cichy | 127,000 |
| 39 | Hector | Chevalier | 126,000 |
| 40 | Thomas | Gari | 125,500 |
| 41 | Jeremy | Joseph | 125,000 |
| 42 | Rodney | Legendre | 124,500 |
| 43 | Daniel | Linares | 123,500 |
| 44 | Mukul | Pahuja | 119,500 |
| 45 | Matthew | Yorra | 118,500 |
| 46 | Domerico | Albano | 118,500 |
| 47 | Mark | Theodore | 118,000 |
| 48 | Dimitry | Agrachov | 117,000 |
| 49 | Reynel | Hernandez | 114,000 |
| 50 | Ken | Lind | 113,500 |
| 51 | Jorge | Chavez | 112,500 |
| 52 | Leonardo | Clavel | 111,500 |
| 53 | Alexander | Step | 110,500 |
| 54 | Robert | Edelstein | 109,500 |
| 55 | Cornelius | Rogers | 109,000 |
| 56 | Jonathan | Kramer | 108,500 |
| 57 | Natacha | Goureau | 108,500 |
| 58 | Jon | Turner | 108,000 |
| 59 | Franck | Von Matt | 107,000 |
| 60 | Jeffrey | Cohen | 104,500 |
| 61 | Allan | Carlisle | 104,500 |
| 62 | K | Seth | 103,500 |
| 63 | Anthony | Sepe | 102,500 |
| 64 | Dani | Dayan | 102,000 |
| 65 | Adam | Standish | 101,000 |
| 66 | Hany | Ayoub | 100,150 |
| 67 | Francois | Zayes | 99,500 |
| 68 | Taylor | Dean-Lipson | 99,000 |
| 69 | Antonio | Ray | 99,000 |
| 70 | Mike | Chiapetta | 96,500 |
| 71 | Steven | McKoy | 95,000 |
| 72 | Richard | Whitebrook | 94,500 |
| 73 | Alfredo | Ratmiroff | 92,500 |
| 74 | Sam | Edelman | 92,500 |
| 75 | Jose | Sued | 92,000 |
| 76 | Natasha | Barbour | 91,500 |
| 77 | Greg | Rosen | 91,000 |
| 78 | Richard | Shtrax | 89,000 |
| 79 | Igor | Terpenev | 88,500 |
| 80 | Morris | Heider | 87,500 |
| 81 | Ariel | Rosello | 87,500 |
| 82 | Carlos | Sobenes | 84,000 |
| 83 | Rene | Cuha | 81,000 |
| 84 | Marc | Noel | 80,000 |
| 85 | Harold | Mahaffey | 80,000 |
| 86 | Alex | Pines | 79,500 |
| 87 | Corey | Brysman | 79,500 |
| 88 | Austin | Peck | 79,500 |
| 89 | Zachary | Mullennix | 78,500 |
| 90 | Keenan | Andersen | 77,500 |
| 91 | Julien | Durity | 76,000 |
| 92 | Larry | Klur | 75,500 |
| 93 | Scott | Michener | 73,000 |
| 94 | Aaron | Rosenthal | 72,500 |
| 95 | Patrick | Eskandar | 71,500 |
| 96 | Steve | Cardenas | 70,500 |
| 97 | Manuel | Rodriguez | 70,500 |
| 98 | Casey | Carroll | 70,500 |
| 99 | David | Longuil | 69,000 |
| 100 | Salah | Levy | 68,500 |
| 101 | Albert | Moshe | 67,500 |
| 102 | Andrew | Gordon | 64,000 |
| 103 | Richard | Gettino | 62,000 |
| 104 | Ray | Nalbandian | 61,000 |
| 105 | Ermias | Braki | 60,000 |
| 106 | Glenn | Boyer | 58,500 |
| 107 | Johan | Busche | 57,500 |
| 108 | Toerton | Baker | 57,000 |
| 109 | Julio | Fernandez | 56,000 |
| 110 | Rick | Mims | 54,000 |
| 111 | Joseph | Franchino | 51,000 |
| 112 | Carl | Martel | 50,500 |
| 113 | Charlemagne | Benjamin | 50,000 |
| 114 | Antoine | Bahi | 47,500 |
| 115 | Juliet | Yarina | 46,000 |
| 116 | Tyrone | Ballard | 42,500 |
| 117 | Joseph | Van Bemmel | 42,000 |
| 118 | Mohammed | Jaafar | 41,500 |
| 119 | Michael | Cohen | 40,000 |
| 120 | Christopher | Belk | 38,000 |
| 121 | Lenny | Duvdivaw | 34,500 |
| 122 | Ryan | Dunn | 32,500 |
| 123 | Elizabeth | Bertholino | 26,000 |
| 124 | Allan | Bieler | 25,500 |
| 125 | Joseph | Caillo | 23,500 |
$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 14: 1,200/2,400/400 Ante
Flight 1B Entries: 324
Players Remaining: 63
What began at 6pm with 324 entries is now down to less than seven tables following 14 levels of play. There are a handful of big stacks around the room, but it appears Ruddy Diaz of the Dominican Republic will bag the chip lead with more than 300,000 chips.
Flight B saw the likes of Seminole Hard Rock Poker Team member Darryll Fish, South Florida pro Sam Panzica, Seminole Immokalee Poker Challenge Main Event champion Herbert Woodbery and WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hui take to the felt. All of these players met their fate along with SHRP Player of the Year contender David Prociak.
The clock shows an unofficial 63 players remaining. Those joining Diaz on Day 2 include Adam Levy, Jon Turner, Robert Edelstein and John Depersio. Complete chip counts through Flight B will be posted shortly.