$2,200 Eight-Handed No Limit Hold’em (Freezeout)
Level 6: 150/300 with a 50 Ante
Total Entries: 175

The prize pool for Event 17 has reached $350,000 with 90 minutes left to register and we expect a few more notables to pop their head into the meeting room then hit the registration desk.

Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin has been here since cards first went in the air. If you’re going to come across the country for the big series, might as well get in as many hands as possible.

Baldwin is a three-tool threat; star college baseball player, online poker wizard, and live poker champion. He has a bit under $5 million in live career earnings, including a WSOP bracelet win in 2009 and WPT Five Star Poker Classic runner-up finish, and another $1.4 million in online winnings before Black Friday shut down that option.

$2,200 Eight-Handed No Limit Hold’em (Freezeout)
Level 5: 100/200 with a 25 Ante
Total Entries: 160

Players are back in their seats and everyone will be trying to catch Cate Hall at the top of the counts. The double-WPT final table member is the only player over 40,000 with 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship final table member Andre Crooks holding the nearest count.

The field is packed solid with talent, below are a few we tracked down at break to check out their counts.

Top stacks and notable names:

Cate Hall – 41,375 (207 bb)
Andre Crooks – 34,475 (172 bb)
Ryan Riess – 27,875 (139 bb)
Matt Affleck – 27,150 (136 bb)
Eli Levy – 23,450 (117 bb)
Chris Bolek – 21,950 (110 bb)
Kevin Eyster – 21,800 (109 bb)
Josh Arieh – 19,900 (100 bb)
Michael Wang – 18,950 (95 bb)
Anthony Spinella – 18,250 (91 bb)
Adam Levy – 17,725 (89 bb)
David Peters – 16,450 (82 bb)
Dani Dayan – 16,100 (81 bb)
Safiya Umerova – 15,625 (78 bb)
Aaron Massey – 15,550 (78 bb)
Harrison Gimbel – 14,875 (74 bb)
Joe Serock – 14,770 (74 bb)
Eric Baldwin – 14,550 (73 bb)
Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 14,000 (70 bb)
Ryan Tepen – 13,500 (68 bb)
Aditya Prasetyo – 13,500 (68 bb)
Mike Sexton – 13,500 (68 bb)
Jonathan Little – 13,425 (67 bb)
Asher Conniff – 12,400 (62 bb)
Darren Elias – 11,750 (59 bb)
Jared Hamby – 11,700 (59 bb)
Joe McKeehen – 11,525 (58 bb)
Nick Palma – 11,400 (57 bb)
David Stefanski – 11,325 (57 bb)
Brian Altman – 10,875 (54 bb)
Mohsin Charania – 10,500 (53 bb)
John Dolan – 10,375 (52 bb)
Hans Winzeler – 10,250 (51 bb)
Chad Eveslage – 9,575 (48 bb)
Loni Harwood – 9,450 (47 bb)
David Diaz – 9,350 (47 bb)
Matt Stout – 6,175 (31 bb)

$2,200 Eight-Handed No Limit Hold’em (Freezeout)
End of Level 4: 100/200
Total Entries: 145

Players are on their first break of the day as the prize pool pushes its way closer to the next milestone. Five more players and it will reach $300,000 with registration open until 4:30pm.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko made his way to South Florida via the Ukraine via Washington state. The former WPT champion brings along a résumé that includes more than $7 million in career earnings and, most recently, a televised final table appearance in January at the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open.

$2,200 Eight-Handed No Limit Hold’em (Freezeout)
Level 4: 100/200
Total Entries: 125

Just like yesterday’s $1,100 Freeze-out, today’s tournament has out-grown its habitat and tables are now set up in the ballroom across the hall. The prize pool has reached $250,000 with plenty of time to get in.

Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Matt Stout has taken his seat and has to deal with WSOP Main Event champ Ryan Riess to his direct left.

$2,200 Eight-Handed No Limit Hold’em (Freezeout)
Level 3: 75/150
Total Entries: 105

Another big guarantee has come and gone, this one blasted before the first hour of the tournament was complete. The $200,000 Guarantee was surpassed with a few minutes left to play in the second level and the prize pool is growing.

We’re happy to have Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton in the field today. Most casual poker fans are used to hearing his voice, seeing him as a commentator for the World Poker Tour but he is much more than that. Sexton has $5.9 million in career tournament cashes spanning more than three decades of action. He won a WSOP bracelet in 1989 and is one of the most respected players in the game. Sexton was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2009, a class all by himself.

$2,200 Eight-Handed No Limit Hold’em (Freezeout)
Level 2: 50/100
Total Entries: 80

Event 17 continues to close in on the $200,000 guaranteed prize pool with nearly four hours remaining for players to make their way to the meeting room.

Joseph Cheong is back with us today and facing a tough lineup, not that any table in the $2,200 tournament is soft. He also has something in common with the player two seats to his left. Cheong is one of many players we see with big WSOP Main Event results and his came with a November Nine third place finish in 2010.

His table-mate knows a little something about getting that close to the big championship. Neil Blumenfield finished third in the most recent run as Joe McKeehen dominated that final table much as Jonathan Duhamel did in 2010.

$2,200 Eight-Handed No Limit Hold’em (Freezeout)
Level 1: 25/50
Total Entries: 65

Event 17 is underway and it’s already an impressive field before most players are even out of bed. The tournament has 65 players registered at the start with more making their way into the room.

One early riser is none other than our defending champion in this event. Ryan Riess captured the $2,200 title during last year’s series, run in Six-Max format, and he’s back today trying to defend.

While we like to think of Riess as one of our past champions, he also picked up a nice piece of hardware in 2013 as the WSOP Main Event Champion. He bested nearly 6,500 players to earn that big World Champion bracelet every player covets, plus a little $8 million payday.

Going to try and defend the title today. Hopefully @barry_hutter folds KK to me again pre #SHRPO pic.twitter.com/PlVnhNgq46

— Ryan Riess (@RyanRiess1) April 14, 2016

$2,200 Eight-Handed No Limit Hold’em (Freezeout)
Level 1: 25/50

We have one more new event on the schedule before the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship kicks off tomorrow. And it’s a big one. Event 17 is a $2,200 buy-in, eight-handed tournament with a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool.

The tournament is also a freeze-out. One entry, one stack, no second chances.

Players sit down to 12,000 starting stacks and the tournament will run 30-minute levels from start to finish. Late registration is open until the start of Level 9 at 4:30pm and we expect players to take their seats early. This is a one-day tournament and plays to completion.

If the previous events are any indication, we should have a huge crowd today with a swollen prize pool.

• $200,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 12,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration available until start of Level 9, no re-entries
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 17 Structure Sheet