$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 17: 2,500/5,000/500 Ante
We thought players would settle in for the grind after switching over to the poker room but they are hitting the door in a hurry. The field quickly dropped 23 players before the first hour and those 63 remaining players will be nearing the money in no time.
We had a visitor in the room today. Local reg Francis Margaglione won the $200 Deep Stack Turbo event last night while most were paying attention to the Big 4 final tables. He was due after several close calls and came in to pick up his custom-framed winner’s photo courtesy of Image Masters.
Margaglione proudly displayed it to Table 39, they have an idea of the bonus award they’ll get for winning.
$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 15: 1,500/3,000/500 Ante
Event 25 is going to move along at a brisk pace, they’ll be breaking tables until the stacks catch up. Tracey Gelb was happy to come back for Day 2 but it ended quickly for her when her Jacks ran into the Aces of Rafael Ramos.
The last 45 players will make the money and we’ll post the payouts shortly.
$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 15: 1,500/3,000/500 Ante
The Big 4 tournaments may be complete but we have one more Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open title to decide. Event 25 is a $150 buy-in tournament that had two starting days and attracted 690 entrants.
Of those starting players, we have 86 returning today in the poker room and playing down to a champion.
Michael Newman – 312,000 (104 bb) Patrick Tiller – 245,500 (82 bb) Pasquale Lanzillotto – 225,000 (75 bb) Michaele Berland – 217,500 (73 bb) David Shmuel – 205,500 (69 bb) Lazaro Capote – 188,500 (63 bb) Dominic Moore – 184,500 (62 bb) Bradley Young – 181,000 (60 bb) Alfonso Perez – 172,000 (57 bb) Christian Rodriguez – 170,000 (57 bb)
2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship (Freeze-Out) $5,000,000 Guarantee
August 15-18th, 2015
Total Entries: 907 Total Prize Pool: $5,000,000
Omar Zazay, 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Champion
Recap:
The 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship featured a new format for the biggest event on the schedule. It featured a $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool but the freeze-out format limited all players to a single entry into the tournament. The marquee event drew 907 players to leave the prize pool at an even $5,000,000.
The first day of the tournament drew players from all walks of life including past champions, poker professionals, actors, and athletes. Blair Hinkle won this tournament in 2013 and he returned for a chance to earn a second victory. We also had defending champion Dan Colman enter the Championship looking to repeat his run from last year.
The big field included former WSOP Main Event champs Joe Cada and Jonathan Duhamel, 8-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel, along with local poker legends Jason Mercier and Michael Mizrachi.
Former NBA star Earl Barron and NFL Pro Bowler Richard Seymour also played in the tournament though neither could match their athletic success. The acting world was represented by Mekhi Pfifer, Omar Benson Miller, Jennifer Tilly, and Sasha Barrese.
The first day saw 303 of the starting 907 players advance to Day 2 where they quickly hit the money bubble. The last 150 players earned a piece of the $5,000,000 prize pool with the smallest payout being $7,500 and the winner picking up $1,000,000.
Day 3 had 43 players coming back for a long day of action. The schedule had them continue until the last nine players remained for final table. Among those starting Day 3 but falling short of the final table were former November Niner Joseph Cheong, current November Niner Neil Blumenfield, and last woman standing Karen Onheiser. The final table nine moved to the Hard Rock Live Arean on Day 4 play in front of the Poker Night in America cameras
Larry Moccia of Pembroke Pines, FL was an interesting story as the tournament moved further along. The local Seminole Hard Rock Poker regular was playing a cash game when he decided to play a $140 Step Satellite. Mocchia won a ticket in that tournament and turned into a $5,250 into the Championship.
Dan Colman continued to impress throughout Day 3 and he once again found himself returning to the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Championship final table. He was joined by Mocchia, WSOP bracelet winner Paul Volpe, and former leader Randy Pfeifer.
Volpe, Rick Alvarado, and Vladislav Mezheritsky quickly dropped at the final table before action slowed down. Mocchia’s feel good story ended in 4th place and our defending champion Colman was knocked out in 3rd by local poker dealer Brian Phillis.
The hand propelled Phillis to a big chip lead but he was unable to maintain. The two battled for more than 100 hands during the heads up battle before Zazay finally overcame Phillis. He picked up a cool $1,000,000 for the win while Phillis walked away with $575,000.
Zazay talked aobut his run through the tournament, facing off with one of the toughest poker players in the world in Dan Colman and the drawn out heads-up battle. “It was a really long journey – a four-day tournament and I was just trying to take stay focused and take it one step at a time. Getting down three-handed with Dan Colman was definitely a sticky situation. I had him on my right so I had a little edge on him. I was trying to do the best I could against him and not give him chips so he could use them against me. I picked my spots well. The heads-up was a lot going on. I know I really wanted this title so I tried my best to win. I think he had me at almost a 3 to 1 chip advantage. I just took it one hand at a time and slowly edged my way to the win. ”
Omar was thrilled with the victory and his road to poker success. “It’s an amazing feeling. This is very huge for me. It been a lot of hard work. I played a lot of poker and come up short lots of times and feel like I can do better so it’s good to accomplish a big title under my belt.”
Zazay was also very complimentary toward the Hard Rock and the Big Four set-up in Hard Rock Live. “It was amazing. It was a great set-up. The Hard Rock did a great job setting up a big event like this. It was a huge success. All the players are happy and everyone that played got their money’s worth and I hope they do it again. Congrats to the Hard Rock – they did an amazing job.”
Congratulations to our Main Event Champion – Omar Zazay!
Final Table Results:
1st: Omar Zazay (Richardson, TX) $1,000,000 2nd: Brian Phillis (Boynton Beach, FL) $575,000 3rd: Dan Colman (Holden, TX) $310,000 4th: Larry Moccia (Pembroke Pines, FL) $220,000 5th: Randy Pfeifer (Lancaster, NY) $180,000 6th: Joseph Couden (Blacklick, OH) $150,000 7th: Vladislav Mezheritsky (Aventura, FL) $125,000 8th: Paul Volpe (West Chester, PA) $100,000 9th: Rick Alvarado (Las Vegas, NV) $75,000
, and Brian Phillis calls all in for 2,325,000 with 
.
, and Zazay wins the pot — and the SHRPO Championship — with two pair, aces and sixes.
as he collects the blinds and antes.
, and Omar Zazay folds.
-X, and Omar Zazay folds.
, and Omar Zazay folds.
, and Brian Phillis folds.
, and Omar Zazay folds.
, and Brian Phillis folds.
, and Omar Zazay folds.
-X, and Omar Zazay folds.
, and Phillis folds. Zazay takes the pot.
-X, and Brian Phillis folds.
, and Omar Zazay calls with 
.