$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 20: 5,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante Players Remaining: 34 of 873
Roberto Bendeck (left) and Jill Rukeyser
Roberto Bendeck moved all in under the gun, and Jill Rukeyser called all in from UTG+1 for about 150,000 with . Bendeck turned over , and Rukeyser needed her hand to hold to stay alive.
The board came , and the pocket fives held up for Rukeyser to win the pot and double up in chips.
Jill Rukeyser – 335,000 (22 bb)
Bendeck was left with a short stack, and he was eliminated a few minutes later in 37th place.
Roberto Bendeck – Eliminated in 37th Place ($555)
Kevin Buldo
But before Bendeck’s elimination, Franco Zamboli was eliminated when his went up against Kevin Buldo’s .
The final board showed — Zamboli had flopped two pair, but Buldo rivered a nine-high straight to win the pot and eliminate Zamboli in 40th place.
Kevin Buldo – 600,000 (40 bb) Franco Zamboli – Eliminated in 40th Place ($555)
And here is the most recent batch of eliminations, along with their payouts:
35th: Brandon Miller – $615 36th: Wilmer Chavira – $615
37th: Roberto Bendeck – $555 38th: Eric Morales – $555 39th: Shawn Mohamed – $555 40th: Franco Zamboli – $555 41st: Wongduan Nannong – $555 42nd: Michael Casson – $555 43rd: Luis Mantilla – $555 44th: Carlos Fernandez – $555
With 34 players remaining, the average chip stack is about 385,000 (26 big blinds), and the remaining players are guaranteed at least $615 each. The next pay jump will be $690 for 27th place.
$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 20: 5,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante Players Remaining: 44 of 873
Here is the first batch of eliminations, including the player who was eliminated during the first level of the day:
With 44 players remaining, the average chip stack is about 300,000 (30 big blinds), and the remaining players are guaranteed at least $555 each. The next pay jump will be $615 for 36th place.
$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 19: 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining: 52 of 873
We only lost a single player during that first level back, but it’ll be tough to sustain that slow pace. The players then took a 15-minute break to color up the 1K chips.
Here’s the only elimination so far:
53rd: Damen Gooljar – $510
The players have returned from break to begin Level 19, with increased blinds of 5,000-10,000 and a big blind ante of 10,000.
With 52 players remaining, the average chip stack is about 250,000 (25 big blinds), and the remaining players are guaranteed at least $510 each. The next pay jump will be $555 for 45th place.
$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 18: 4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 ante Players Remaining: 53 of 873
The final 53 players are back in action today to play down to a winner in the final trophy event of the 2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.
2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Florida $5,250 SHRPO Championship $3,000,000 Guaranteed Entries: 1,180 Prize Pool: $5,723,000 August 6-10, 2021
Dimitri Vorbe
After five days and 1,180 entries, the 2021 SHRPO Championship came to an end on Tuesday night when Dimitri Vorbe defeated AP Louis Garza heads-up to win $929,365.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Vorbe. “I dreamed about this, but I did not understand what it would be. It’s a great feeling.”
“I started very well at the final table,” said Vorbe. “I was the chipleader, but I didn’t know what to expect. There were a lot of professionals, and they were testing me.”
Vorbe, who was born and raised in Haiti but lives here in South Florida, is a recreational player who has been playing home games with friends for decades. But he only just started dabbling in tournaments over the past few years, and he’s only played a handful of them.
“Poker is fun,” said Vorbe. “But a tournament is very, very different. It’s a sport like all the other sports. There’s a physical energy that you have to put into it.”
One way that Vorbe handled the physical rigors of a four-day tournament was having a massage therapist, Francia, work on him for the entire duration of the final table.
“If you feel pressure, and if the professional poker players see you feeling pressure, they will eat you. I took a bad beat, and I was angry. But the massage helped me to relax, and I let it go. If you tilt when you are losing, you’ll lose a lot more chips.”
“You have to be good, and you have to have some luck,” said Vorbe. “I was running over him [Garza] heads-up because all the cards were coming to me, and every single time I had a hand. It was a hurricane.”
There was only one all-in-and-call situation during heads-up play — the final hand — and it came after Vorbe had built up a 16-to-1 chip lead. Garza shoved with , but true to form, Vorbe had a very strong hand, . The eights held up for Vorbe to become a poker champion.
Vorbe seemed more interested in the trophy — designed to look like the iconic Seminole Hard Rock Guitar Tower — than the $929,365 he won.
“The trophy means more to me than anything, because this is an achievement,” said Vorbe. “It means that I started from scratch, and I won. I’m not a professional poker player, and some people spend 20-30 years playing poker professionally and never achieve that.”
Living in South Florida, Vorbe had many nice things to say about the Seminole Hard Rock.
“The Seminole Hard Rock is beautiful,” said Vorbe. “The shops are amazing, and the restaurants. The poker dealers are good, and they’re very respectful.”
Vorbe was also excited that soccer legend Lionel Messi was recently named the global brand ambassador for the Hard Rock.
“I’m a Messi fan, and Messi is now the star of the Hard Rock,” said Vorbe. “So I’m lucky to be the SHRPO champion right after Messi was here. Hopefully I’ll be back next year.”
$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Returning to Level 18: 4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 ante Players Remaining: 53 of 873
Flight A: 364 Entries; 22 Advanced Flight B: 509 Entries; 31 Advanced Day 2: Wednesday at 4 p.m. (In the Poker Room)
$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Returning to Level 18: 4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 ante Players Remaining: 53 of 873
Flight A: 364 Entries; 22 Advanced Flight B: 509 Entries; 31 Advanced Day 2: Wednesday at 4 p.m. (In the Poker Room)
2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Florida Event 40 $150 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry) $50,000 Guaranteed Entries: 873 Prize Pool: $104,760 August 9-11, 2021
2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Florida Event 43 $10,000 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $500,000 Guaranteed Entries: 101 Prize Pool: $969,600 August 10, 2021
2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Event 43 Champion Sam Soverel
Event 43 of the 2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, a $10,000 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry), drew 101 entries to create a prize pool of $969,665, nearly doubling the guarantee. Emerging victorious was accomplished poker high roller Sam Soverel, winning outright for $293,205.
His victory tonight pushes him past $16 million in career live tournament winnings according to the Hendon Mob poker database.
. Bendeck turned over 
, and Rukeyser needed her hand to hold to stay alive.
, and the pocket fives held up for Rukeyser to win the pot and double up in chips.
went up against Kevin Buldo’s 
.
, and then made another full house with 
.
