2021 Seminole Hard Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 9
$1,100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  189
Prize Pool:  $183,330
November 21-22, 2021

Event 9 ($1,100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em) was a two-day event that attracted 189 entries, and one of the last players to enter was Jesse Lott, who finished Day 1 second in chips. Lott carried that momentum all the way to victory on Day 2, winning $46,020.

“It feels pretty good,” said Lott. “I got into some good spots, and I guess the dealers took care of me.”

Lott defeated Adam Zeltser heads-up, and any talk of a potential deal was scuttled because both players really wanted the trophy.

“I’ve come runner-up a few times,” said Lott, “and it’s nice to finally get the W. I final tabled the first event I ever played here (Event 1 in the 2021 Lucky Hearts Poker Open), and I got sixth place. That was right after my Dad passed.”

Lott fought back tears as he continued.

“My Dad’s always traveled with me, so this means a lot,” said Lott. “I hate that he’s not here to see it. But he was watching over me when I got those quad tens. I think he’s smiling over me.”

Lott finished his interview on a lighter note.

“Now I’m gonna take this trophy home to my kids,” said Lott with a big smile, “and show them that I don’t suck at poker.”

Final Results:

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 15:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining:  28 of 220

Flight A: 220 Entries; 28 Advanced
Flight B: Underway
Flight C: Tuesday at 11 am
Flight D: Tuesday at 5 pm
Day 2: Wednesday at 1 pm

$1,100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 189

The final two players return from break to begin Level 22, with increased blinds of 10,000-20,000 and a 20,000 ante. Here are the official chip counts from the break:

Jesse Lott  –  2,930,000  (147 bb)
Adam Zeltser  –  850,000  (43 bb)

About 15 minutes into the level, Adam Zeltser raised, Jesse Lott reraised to 170,000, and Zeltser called.

The flop came , Lott checked, Zeltser moved all in, and Lott snap-called with .

Zeltser turned over for a pair of nines, and he’d need to catch something runner-runner to stay alive.

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Lott won the pot — and the trophy — with a full house, fives full of kings.

Congratulations to Jesse Lott!

1st:  Jesse Lott  –  $46,020 + RRPO trophy
2nd:  Adam Zeltser  –  $31,090
3rd:  Carlos Dorca  –  $18,790
4th:  Giuseppe Iadisernia  –  $11,400
5th:  Raymond Tetsoshvili  –  $8,825
6th:  Dani Dayan  –  $7,315
7th:  Erik Nomberg  –  $6,235
8th:  Manuel Amaro Alvarez  –  $5,440
9th:  Myles Holton  –  $4,665

2021 Seminole Hard Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 11
$400 Six-Max Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Entries:  144
Prize Pool:  $48,240
November 22, 2021

The $400 Six-Max Pot Limit Omaha one-day tournament drew 144 entries to create a prize pool worth $48,240. The last 24 spots will be paid with $550 for a min-cash and $12,040 set aside for the RRPO Event 11 champion.

The turnout created the biggest Six-Max PLO tournament in our history, topping the 139 we had during the 2021 LHPO series.

2021 RRPO – 144 entries
2021 LHPO – 139 entries
2021 SHRPO – 128 entries
2018 SHRPO – 114 entries
2019 SHRPO – 87 entries

1st: $12,040
2nd: $8,010
3rd: $4,945
4th: $3,005
5th: $2,325
6th: $1,925
7th-8th: $1,530
9th-10th: $1,225
11th-12th: $1,055
13th-15th: $890
16th-18th: $740
19th-21st: $610
22nd-24th: $550

$1,100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  8,000/16,000 with a 16,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 189

Carlos Dorca moved all in from the button for 236,000, and Jesse Lott called from the small blind with .

Dorca turned over , and needed his higher pocket pair to hold to stay alive.

But the board came , and Lott rivered a five-high wheel straight to win the pot and eliminate Dorca in third place.

Carlos Dorca  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($18,790)

Here are the official chip counts for the start of heads-up play:

Jesse Lott  –  2,625,000  (164 bb)
Adam Zeltser  –  1,155,000  (72 bb)

And here are the payouts they’re playing for:

1st:  $46,020 + RRPO trophy
2nd:  $31,090

$1,100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  8,000/16,000 with a 16,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 189

Adam Zeltser raised under the gun to 36,000, Jesse Lott reraised from the small blind to 82,000, and Giuseppe Iadisernia moved all in from the big blind for 404,000.

Zeltser quickly folded, and Lott asked for an exact count and tanked for a while before he called with .

Iadisernia turned over , and needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and Lott rivered an ace-high spade flush to win the pot and eliminate Iadisernia in fourth place.

Jesse Lott  –  2,105,000  (132 bb)
Giuseppe Iadisernia  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($11,400)

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is about 1,260,000 (79 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $18,790.

2021 Seminole Hard Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 1
$400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  6,196
Prize Pool:  $2,044,680
November 17 – 21, 2021

The 2021 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open kicked off the series with a $400 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em tournament and our players turned it into the biggest field in Florida poker history. It began with 6,196 entries and ended with Michael Laufer holding the biggest stack to win the title along with $160,734 in a six-way final table deal.

That entry number was created over eight starting flights and the turnout topped the previous record that was set in this tournament five years ago. The 2016 RRPO put 5,018 entries into its opening tournament and it was unbeaten until this weekend.

The tournament featured a hefty $1,000,000 guarantee and the 6,196 entries more than doubled the prize pool up to $2,044,680. Another record.

The tournament saw 622 players return for Day 2 already in money and Laufer was firmly above average with 272,000. There were a lot of players in the hunt but Laufer spent a long day accumulating chips and came back for Day 3 among the leaders with only 12 players remaining.

“Day 2 was pretty good,” Laufer said.” “It’s a marathon and had to duck a lot of landmines.”

Three opponents were quickly eliminated after the restart to set the final table. Laufer was in the middle of the pack but that changed after he sent Courtney Rowe out in eighth place. His pocket kings were best against pocket eights for a huge pot the vaulted him into the lead.

“The cards fell the right way,” Lauger said. “I picked the right spots, the right steps.”

After Steven Miller was eliminated in seventh place, the six remaining players quickly came to an agreement to chop up the nearly $875,000 remaining in the prize pool.

Laufer earned $160,734 and the title with his chip lead followed by Alex Petrovic ($155,302), Amed de la Torre ($147,218), Isai Coelle ($139,973), Mali Cagatay ($138,561), and Aaron Valencia ($131,729).

The New Jersey-to-Florida transplant owns a recruiting company and enjoying his time playing our games. He plans to play the Championship next weekend after spending some time with his family.

“It’s the best place I know,” Laufer said of our events. “I don’t even have to go to Vegas. Hard Rock poker, great weather, great people.”

Congratulations Michael and good luck with the rest of the series. All the thanks to our players for your support and for making this tournament a massive success.

Final table results:

1st: Michael Laufer – $160,734 *
2nd: Aleks Petrovic – $155,302 *
3rd: Amed de la Torre – $147,218 *
4th: Isai Coello – $139,973 *
5th: Mali Cagatay – $138,561 *
6th: Aaron Valencia – $131,729 *
7th: Steven Miller – $47,027
8th: Courtney Rowe – $33,737
9th: Victor Carrera – $22,491
* – Denotes results of six-way deal

$1,100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 189

Raymond Tetsoshvili raised from the button to 75,000, Jesse Lott moved all in from the small blind, and Tetsoshvili called all in for about 275,000 with .

Lott turned over , and Tetsoshvili needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came — Tetsoshvili turned an open-ended straight draw, but improved no further. Lott won the pot with a turned set of kings to eliminate Tetsoshvili in fifth place.

Jesse Lott  –  1,920,000  (160 bb)
Raymond Tetsoshvili  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($8,825)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 945,000 (79 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $11,400.

$1,100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 189

Dani Dayan moved all in under the gun for 104,000, Raymond Tetsoshvili called from the small blind, and chipleader Jesse Lott thought for a while before calling from the big blind. (Any further betting will create a side pot.)

Tetsoshvili and Lott check down to the river on a board of . Tetsoshvili checked for a third time, Lott bet 75,000, and Tetsoshvili folded face up.

For the main pot, Dayan showed , but Lott turned over to win the pot with a rivered full house, threes full of jacks, eliminating Dayan in sixth place.

Jesse Lott  –  1,650,000  (138 bb)
Raymond Tetsoshvili  –  275,000  (23 bb)
Dani Dayan  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($7,315)

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is about 756,000 (63 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $8,825.

$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/100

We are closing out Monday with a big version of our regular Big Stack tournament. Event 12 has a $150 buy-in with a huge $30,000 guarantee and it will result in another RRPO champion before the night is through.

Players begin with 15,000 big stacks and the first eight levels last 15 minutes. Late registration is available until the start of Level 9 at 8:15 pm with unlimited re-entry options available. After registration closes, blind levels will increase to 20 minutes for the rest of the tournament.

• $30,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 15,000 in chips
• Levels 1-8 last 15 minutes; Levels 9+ last 20 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9 (8:15pm)
• This is a one-day tournament and plays to completion
• Event 12 Structure Sheet