$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 6: 200/400 with a 50 ante
Flight A Entries: 350

Players continue to pile into the ballroom to run up the first flight count including Jon Borenstein fresh off a plane from WPT Cali-swing events.

Borenstein is back in town looking to continue a nice string of results in sunny South Florida. Along with Lou Stadler mentioned earlier, Borenstein final tabled this event last year taking third place money for nearly $60,000. He also went deep in the $10,000 WPT Finale to wrap up that series and he made the $2,650 Freeze-out final table during the inaugural Big 4 during the 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, all included in his more than $750,000 in career earnings.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 5: 150/300 with a 50 ante
Flight A Entries: 325

Players are back in their seats after the first break and the entry count jumped well over 300 before their return.

Aaron Gordon is the clear front-runner in early action after more than tripling his 20,000 starting stack in the first two hours. Jonathan Harris is not far behind with plenty of time and ten more levels to catch the leaders.

Top stacks:

Aaron Gordon – 63,100 (210 bb)
Jonathan Harris – 60,550 (202 bb)
Carmelo Manrique Huizi – 59,000 (197 bb)
Stephen Ekin – 56,000 (187 bb)
John Magnetta – 50,550 (169 bb)
Eddie Vehara – 49,700 (166 bb)
Frank Nerat – 48,925 (163 bb)
Courtland Twyman – 48,300 (161 bb)
John Cofhlin – 44,300 (148 bb)
Raymond Winters – 44,000 (147 bb)
Iman Dan – 43,300 (144 bb)
Anthony Barbera – 43,000 (143 bb)
Diane Schmidt – 43,000 (143 bb)
Joviel Gonzalez – 42,000 (140 bb)
Jacobo Fernandez – 42,000 (140 bb)

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 4: 100/200 with a 25 ante
Flight A Entries: 294

Flight A players are on their first break of the day only a few new entries away from hitting 300.

We’ll take this first opportunity with an empty room to take a look at stacks and find some big ones.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 4: 100/200 with a 25 ante
Flight A Entries: 283

The entrant count is nearing 300 as the players head into the fourth level of the day to put Event 1 on an easy path towards the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Last year, the Event 1 prize pool went over $800,000 by the time registration closed and local favorite Lou Stadler took home a nice chunk of change from it. He made the final table and finished in fifth place out of the nearly 2,700-entry field to take home more than $42,000.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 3: 75/150 with a 25 ante
Flight A Entries: 230

Michael Newman is among our regular SHRP faces in the crowd today and he has a chance this series to pull off a unique feat. He has nine career titles to his credit, all coming right here, but this is his chance to put down a big mark in another major series.

Newman has taken home a SHRP trophy from each of the last three major series; the first coming during the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $570 NLH Event 15, the second in the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open” $360 Pot Limit Omaha tournament, and finally the 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open $570 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max event. And Newman said he doesn’t even know that much about Omaha.

If he can capture another title this series, that will make if four in a row. An unofficial SHRP slam of sorts.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 2: 50/100
Flight A Entries: 175

The opening flight of Event 1 is usually the smallest of the six starters, a Thursday morning session before heading into the big weekend. If today’s early numbers are any indication, Event 1 should easily blast apart the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool.

The count is clicking closer to 200 entries in the second level before the clock hits noon. We expect a fine start to the series.

Jeff Kessler is among our early players and we usually don’t see the former SHRP champ this late in the year. Instead of evacuating further north at the start of spring, the 2013 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open” Seniors Event winner is here trying to run up his stack.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 1: 25/50
Flight A Entries: 130

The 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown is officially underway after Tournament Director Tony Burns issued the “shuffle up and deal” command. After the pre-game instructions, he dedicated the kick off to Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Sheddy Siddiqui who is dealing with a family tragedy.

Cards are in the air and the big festival is moving.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 1: 25/50

The wait is over and everyone is ready to kick off the 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown with a huge opening tournament. There are 30 major events (plus another 70+ secondary/satellites) on the schedule and we’re starting things off with a multi-day, big guarantee tournament.

Event 1 has a $360 buy-in with six starting flights over three days and a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. Flight A kicks off at the top of the hour and we’ll get our first glimpse at the size of the field we can expect.

Players sit down to 20,000 starting stacks and Day 1 levels will run 30 minutes a piece. Late registration is open until the start of Level 9 at 3:30pm and unlimited re-entries are available during that time. They will continue to play through 14 complete levels and those with chips will bag them up for a return on Sunday for Day 2. If players fall short of bagging, the second flight runs later this evening at 6pm.

It will be a nice starting day to the festival and we are starting our non-stop coverage of the series.

• $500,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 20,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• Day 1 will end after Level 14 or Tournament Director discretion
• Event 1 Structure Sheet

Main Event Schedule

11AM: Event 1 Day 1A – $360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• $500,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 20,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• Day 1 will end after Level 14 or Tournament Director discretion
• Event 1 Structure Sheet

6PM: Event 1 Day 1B – $360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• $500,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 20,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• Day 1 will end after Level 14 or Tournament Director discretion
• Event 1 Structure Sheet

Secondary and Satellite Schedule

9AM: Event 32 – $90 Turbo Satellite into Event 1 (1-in-5)

• 2 seats guaranteed into the $500,000 Guarantee Event 1
• Players begin with 6,000 in chips and 15-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• Satellite will be held in The Poker Room
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 32 Structure Sheet

3PM: Event 33 – $115 Multi-Event Satellite (1-in-10)

• 5 packages guaranteed into $360 buy-in Event 1 and $570 buy-in Event 9
• Players begin with 6,000 in chips and 20-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 33 Structure Sheet

8PM: Event 34 – $130 Survivor No Limit Hold’em (1-in-10)

• 1-in-10 players will win $1,000 cash
• Players begin with 10,000 in chips and 15-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 34 Structure Sheet