$300 + $50 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
Blinds: 1K/2K Ante 300
We’re now down to four tables, 36 players, as the clock winds down towards the end of the day. We’ll have end of day chip counts as soon as they become available.
Event 10 Day 1A: Five Tables Remain
$300 + $50 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
Blinds: 600/1.2K Ante 200
We are down to 45 players with about 5 minutes left in Level 11. Play will conclude most likely at the end of Level 14 which means we have about 95 minutes left of cards being dealt. Norman Guigui looks to be following up on his excellent finish in Event 6 and is probably the chip leader in the room at this point.
Event 9: Chip Tye Takes Down PLO Tournament at Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open”
Event 9, a $350 Pot Limit Omaha Double Stack tournament, might have been the best structured event we’ve seen thus far here at Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open”. The final total number of entrants was 48 with the prize pool being the $15,000 that was guaranteed for the tournament. With 16,000 in starting chips and 40 minute levels, patience was often rewarded and the stacks were so deep that when we were down to four players, the average stack had over 90 big blinds. Chip Tye was able to use this to his advantage. When there was four players left, he found himself all in for his last 30K. Surviving that hand, Tye would go on to win several key pots from eventual 4th place finisher Leon Benmargui and once Leon was eliminated, the three remaining players would decide to split the remaining money and gie the title and trophy to Chip.
Tye, a 50 year old self-proclaimed “Storage Wars” type of business man (he purchases storage lockers and resells the contents) has been playing poker for all of his adult life. Mainly an Omaha cash and tournament game player with the occasional foray into No Limit Hold ‘Em cash games, Tye said “I don’t like No Limit tournaments.” When asked what he was going to do with his winnings, Chip said “I am going to buy some more storage lockers.” Let’s hope the good run he had here continues there!
There was one key hand in the tournament and it was the one that would ultimately lead to the tournament’s conclusion.
With the blinds at 1.2K/2.4K, three of our four remaining players saw the flop with the lone holdout being Jonah Miller. The flop came 
and Leon Benmargui made a pot sized bet of 7.2K and was called by both Max Jones and Chip Tye. The turn was the 
and Benmargui again bet the pot, this time for a total of 28.8K. Jones got out of the way but Tye was not as easily convinced. Appearing hesitant, Chip grabbed a stack of chips and asked Leon how many chips behind he had. “Trying to figure out what this is going to cost me,” Chip said as he played with the calling chips in his right hand. Tapping the felt had with the chips, he pushed them reluctantly into the middle. The river was the 
and Benmargui pushed his last 50K into the center of the table.
“I call,” said Tye as he turned over 
for ten’s full of two’s. Leon proudly tabled his hand thinking he had won the pot and doubled up. He showed 
for two’s full of ten’s. He was shown that he was actually in second and that meant he was also eliminated in 4th place.
Once Leon was gone, the remaining three players decided to chop and split the prize money evenly. The final order of finish and payouts was as follows:
| 1st | Chip Tye (Coral Springs, FL) | $4,050.00 |
| 2nd | Max Jones (Davie, FL) | $4,050.00 |
| 3rd | Jonah Miller (Miami, FL) | $4,050.00 |
| 4th | Leon “Benny” Benmargui (Italy/Hollywood,FL) | $1,650.00 |
| 5th | Gil Guadalpi | $1,000.00 |
Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” Leaderboard Promotion Update
Through 9 events, Lance Goldenberg is leading the way in the Leaderboard Promotion here at the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open”. Full details of the promotion can be found here:
The current top 10 is as follows:
| 1st | Lance Goldenberg | 65 |
| 2nd | Andrew Frier | 62.5 |
| 3rd | Fariborz Zojaji | 50 |
| 4th | Georges Boyadjian | 47.5 |
| 5th | Norbert Kara | 41 |
| 6th | Peter Striano III | 40 |
| 7th | Oktay Altinbas | 40 |
| 8th | Lee Stewart | 40 |
| 9th | Adam Brancato | 40 |
| 10th | Walter Tye | 40 |
Event 10 Day 1A: Big Slick Is The Big Suck
$300 + $50 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
Blinds: 400/800 Ante 100
Everyone is in the same area now and we are down to 81 players out of the original 169. In the last ten minutes, Ace King has lost not once, nor twice, not even three times… but four times. The hands it lost to? Aces, Kings, A-Q and 2’s. “Just ace high is all it is,” said the player who bested A-K with deuces.
Event 9 – Chip Tye Wins Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
$300 + $50 Pot Limit Omaha Double Stack
Once Leon Benmargui was eliminated, the three remaining players decided to make a deal and split the prize money evenly. Chip Tye held the chip lead and was thus the winner of the 1st place points and trophy. Tye is turning 50 next week and has been playing poker since he was 18. He is mainly an Omaha player, both cash and tournaments, and buys storage lockers for a living. “Real life Storage Wars,” he joked, adding that he would be buying some more storage lockers with his winnings.
Congrats on the win Chip!
Here is the final order of finish and payouts for Event 9:
| 1st | Chip Tye (Coral Springs, FL) | $4,050.00 |
| 2nd | Max Jones (Davie, FL) | $4,050.00 |
| 3rd | Jonah Miller (Miami, FL) | $4,050.00 |
| 4th | Leon “Benny” Benmargui (Italy/Hollywood,FL) | $1,650.00 |
| 5th | Gil Guadalpi | $1,000.00 |
Event 9: 4th place, Leon “Benny” Benmarguy – $1,650
$300 + $50 Pot Limit Omaha Double Stack
Blinds: 1.2K/2.4K
Leon Benmarguy, Max Jones, and Chip Tye all saw a flop of leading to a pot sized bet of 7.2K from Leon. Jones and Tye both called. The turn was the and Leon led out for another pot sized bet, this time 28.8K. Jones folded and a hesitant Tye contemplated what to do. He grabbed the calling chips in his hand and slapped the table in front of him with the stack before placing them into the middle. The river was the and Leo moved his last 50K into the middle. Tye called quickly and showed for tens full of two’s. Leon, thinking he had won the hand, tabled for twos full of ten’s. Once it was pointed out he was actually the loser of the hand, he stood up, smiled and was off to collect his fourth place money.
Event 9: Still Four Handed
$300 + $50 Pot Limit Omaha Double Stack
Blinds: 1K/2K
We could be here a while. The average stack is 188K meaning the average stack has 94 big blinds. The short stack Chip Tye is no longer the short stack and has almost doubled up, so even Max Jones as the shortest stack has almost 70 big blinds.
Event 10 Day 1A: It Pays To Pay Attention
$300 + $50 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
Blinds: 200/400 Ante 50
There are 12 tables remaining so we’re a little above 100 players remaining out of the original 169. A little controversy went down recently when there was a raise, a call of that raise and a player moved all in. The player immediately to the left of the all in player had his hands over his cards and was deciding whether or not to call. Everyone else had folded and thinking the pot was his, the all in player showed his hand A-K. The dealer started to push him the pot when the player to his left said “Wait, wait” and showed the dealer that he still had cards.
The floor was called and a decision was made that the player’s hand was still live and that he had the option of calling the all in or folding. He decided to call, and was gambling that he would be on the better side of variance as he had pocket 4’s. He would flop a 4 though to win the pot and double up, much to the chagrin of the player who held A-K. He spent the better part of the next ten minutes debating the floor’s decision with the floor.
Event 10 Day1A: Registration Closed
$300 + $50 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack
Blinds: 150/300 Ante 25
Registration is now closed. The official number of entrants for this flight is 169.