So far I'm leading the table-maybe because I'm the only one here. Hmmmm #SHRPO http://t.co/e4RnJ8Q2H6

— Shannon Elizabeth (@ShannonElizab) August 22, 2013

Even though it’s a massive field for a $10 million guaranteed main event, the action started right on time at 12:00 noon. The tournament clock shows 380 players in the field as play begins, though that number will certainly grow as registration remains open until the end of the dinner break (about 8:00 pm).

The players begin with 30,000 in chips, and the opening blinds are 25-50, so there is 600 big blinds in each starting stack.

The levels are 40 minutes long until the dinner break (which should be around 6:30 pm), and then 60 minutes long for the next day and a half until the end of Day 2. From Day 3 forward, levels will be 90 minutes long. It’s an excellent structure that provides a lot of room for the players to play, especially deep in the tournament when the stakes are the highest.

HardRock 10million guarantee Day1a. Nice hotel, nice chips, prompt start, lots of cash games, hope this becomes an annual stop.

— Tyler Patterson (@TylerPoker) August 22, 2013

Welcome to our coverage of the $10 Million Guaranteed Championship Event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

After 20 preliminary events and a plethora of satellites, it’s finally time for the one that everyone has been waiting for. The Championship Event carries a $5,300 buy-in with re-entries allowed for nine levels (prior to the dinner break on the three Day 1’s). Players can re-enter on a later starting flight as well and will advance to Day 2 with their best stack. The plan for Day 1A is to play 13 levels. The first nine levels are 40 minutes, followed by a 90-minute dinner break, and four one-hour levels to close out the day.

Play is set to begin at noon, so keep it here throughout the day for live updates on all of the exciting action.

The mega-satellite that started at 12:00 noon today attracted a field of 626 players, and will be awarding 62 seats into the $10 Million Guaranteed Main Event that starts tomorrow.

Whoever finishes 63rd will receive $3,180, and whoever finishes 64th will get nothing.

There are currently 68 players remaining as they color-up the black (100) chips, and the average chip stack is about 69,000 (11 big blinds). Play will slow down as the satellite bubble approaches, but it shouldn’t take too long to burst it with this many tables in action.

There are several other satellites underway, but this is the big one for the day. We expect there to be a loud celebration when 62 more players win seats into one of the most hotly anticipated poker tournaments of the year.

Flying to Florida for the 10M guarantee at Seminole HardRock. 2nd biggest event of the year, only to the Main Event of the Wsop. Stoked

— Tyler Patterson (@TylerPoker) August 20, 2013

They are down to the final three players in Event 18 ($240 Pot-Limit Omaha), which is playing out on the live-stream table that you can watch at SHRPOlive.com/live.

Here are the official chip counts from the break, with the blinds increasing to 12,000-24,000:

Seat 3.  Seth Weinberg  –  1,776,000  (74 bb)
Seat 5.  Vinny Pahuja  –  336,000  (14 bb)
Seat 7.  Mike Wakefield  –  1,117,000  (46 bb)

1st:  $11,360
2nd:  $6,666
3rd:  $4,444

4th:  Barry Roth  –  $3,091
5th:  Gabriel Ramos  –  $2,303

The final six players in Event 19 ($150 No-Limit Hold’em) agreed to chop the remaining prizepool in a six-way deal which gave chipleader Oneil McCalla the highest prize and the trophy.

These were the updated (though not official) chip counts of the final six players as they agreed to a deal:

Seat 2.  Jason Lux  –  420,000  (42 bb)
Seat 4.  Kristopher Stupicic  –  209,000  (20 bb)
Seat 5.  Esteban Consalvo  –  283,000  (28 bb)
Seat 6.  Oneil McCalla  –  574,000  (57 bb)
Seat 7.  Michael Chaffe  –  362,000  (36 bb)
Seat 9.  Matthew Elsarelli  –  238,000  (23 bb)

And here’s the prizepool they agreed to, followed by the rest of the money finishers who played today:

1st:  Oneil McCalla  –  $6,265
2nd:  Jason Lu  –  $5,419
3rd:  Michael Chaffe  –  $5,051
4th:  Esteban Consalvo  –  $4,529
5th:  Matthew Elsarelli  –  $4,137
6th:  Kristopher Stupicic  –  $3,893

7th:  Harold Lam  –  $1,353
8th:  Jennifer David  –  $979
9th:  Michael Bange  –  $708
10th:  Alan Feller  –  $541
11th:  Pinchas Chakchakov  –  $541
12th:  Luis Bueno  –  $541
13th:  Alfonso Perez  –  $437

Unfortunately, Oneil McCalla left the area without his trophy and without taking a winner’s photo. But as soon as we see him, we’ll get his photo.

With five players remaining in Event 18 ($240 Pot-Limit Omaha), there are three tiers of players — two big chipleaders (Seth Weinberg and Mike Wakefield), two middle-short stacks (Vinny Pahuja and Barry Rother), and one very short stack (Gabriel Ramos).

Here are the updated chip counts:

Seat 3.  Seth Weinberg  –  1,395,000  (87 bb)
Seat 4.  Barry Roth  –  200,000  (12 bb)
Seat 5.  Vinny Pahuja  –  245,000  (15 bb)
Seat 7.  Mike Wakefield  –  1,275,000  (79 bb)
Seat 10.  Gabriel Ramos  –  86,000  (5 bb)

6th:  Mark Wahba  –  $1,778
7th:  Errol Massey  –  $1,374

5 left. I’m 4/5 w 265k at 12k. One guy super short. 2 massive chip leaders @SHRThePokerRoom Ev 18 240 PLO

— Vinny Pahuja (@vinpahuja) August 21, 2013

They are down to six players in Event 19 ($150 No-Limit Hold’em), with the blinds at 5,000-10,000 and a 1,000 ante.

Alan Feller went out in 10th place on a bad beat. He got it all in preflop with K-K against then-chipleader Michael Chaffe’s A-Q, but an ace on the river ended his tournament. Chaffe increased his lead at the time to 515,000 (85 big blinds).

Michael Bange (9th), Jennifer David (8th), and Harold Lam (7th) followed Feller to the rail during the next hour.

Oneil McCalla, who was the shortest stack with 10 players remaining, is now the chipleader. Here are the approximate chip counts of the final six players:

Seat 2.  Jason Lux  –  400,000  (40 bb)
Seat 4.  Kristopher Stupicic  –  220,000  (22 bb)
Seat 5.  Esteban Consalvo  –  260,000  (26 bb)
Seat 6.  Oneil McCalla  –  600,000  (60 bb)
Seat 7.  Michael Chaffe  –  380,000  (38 bb)
Seat 9.  Matthew Elsarelli  –  160,000  (16 bb)

1st:  $11,243
2nd:  $6,662
3rd:  $4,372
4th:  $3,019
5th:  $2,228
6th:  $1,770

7th:  Harold Lam  –  $1,353
8th:  Jennifer David  –  $979
9th:  Michael Bange  –  $708
10th:  Alan Feller  –  $541