$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em $500,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 8: 400/800 with a 75 ante Flight A Players: 298
Tony Ruberto
Ultimate Re-Entry Flight A is closing in on 300 entries and they will make a run at 400 before they close registration at 5:45pm. The tournament is already on pace to easily surpass the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool and we should expect to double that before they close registration for good Saturday evening.
Tony Ruberto is a late entry into the field and the last time we saw him, he was busy picking up his first career WSOP Circuit ring during our series in September. The win pushed him further over $2 million in career earnings with his biggest bump coming from his first World Poker Tour title in 2011.
$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em $500,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 7: 300/600 with a 50 ante Flight A Players: 289
Darryll Fish
It’s still early in the tournament and we found our first Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member in the field.
Darryll Fish moved over $3 million in career earnings earlier this year and he’s a fine representative. He owns a WSOP Circuit Main Event ring from 2015 along with other wins in Las Vegas, Philadephia, and Australia. Fish is still waiting to lift his first SHRP title but he has an even dozen SHRP final tables to help boost that bankroll.
We promised a talented group of players in the smaller Omaha/8 event and we found some tough ones mixing it up after the first break.
Phil Hui decided to skip the first flights of the Ultimate Re-Entry to take a shot at the split-pot game. He has $1.35 million in career earnings including one WSOP bracelet and four WSOP Circuit rings. Hui earned his bracelet in the 2014 WSOP $3,000 Omaha/8 event so he’s comfortable in the meeting room.
Joel Harwood is the father of two-time WSOP bracelet winner (and SHRP team member) Loni Harwood but he has plenty of results of his own. He has $168,000 in career earnings but went 25 years between tournaments victories. Harwood won a Gold Coast tournament in 1991 and picked up his second with a win during last year’s Everglades Poker Open. While it was a while between titles, he still banked plenty of cash with big runs including four SHRP Omaha runner-up finishes.
Finally, Michael Moed is making his return to SHRP tournaments and he has the skill to earn the title. He moved over $200,000 in 2015 and owns six SHRP trophies with five of them coming in Omaha/8 games.
We have the makings of a tough final table later this evening.
$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em $500,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 5: 150/300 with a 25 ante Flight A Players: 245
Steve Ekin
Ultimate Re-Entry players are back in their seats after the first break and SHRP regular Steve Ekin is the early front-runner. The 2012 Hard Rock Summer Splash Seniors Champ pushed his 15,000 starting stack over 50,000 in the first four levels to take the top spot.
They still have a long way to go with registration open until 5:45pm at the start of Level 13, so Ekin will have to work to stay in the lead.
Top stacks:
Steve Ekin – 50,800 (169 bb) Miguel Martinez – 45,500 (152 bb) Marc Chavez – 44,525 (148 bb) Justin Obront – 42,000 (140 bb) Gan Huang – 41,600 (139 bb) Craig Witz – 40,675 (136 bb) Glenn Menne – 39,975 (133 bb) Michael Marrero – 37,000 (123 bb) Cory Lizhi – 35,000 (117 bb)
$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em $500,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 4: 100/200 Flight A Players: 214
The clock has run out on Level 4 and the Ultimate Re-Entry field is about to head off on their first break of the day. More than 200 entries are in so far and they are on a pace to top the 400+ that joined the opening flight last year.
Not to be left out, the Omaha/8 tournament across the hall is on the same schedule and will also hit the hallways for a breather.
$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em $500,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 3: 75/150 Flight A Entries: 185
Rafael Reis
Our defending champ is in the building. Rafael Reis hopped in the game this afternoon and aiming for back-to-back titles. He won last year’s opener that also happened to be the biggest field in Florida poker history.
Reis topped a field of 5,018 entries to take home more than $150,000 in a nine-way deal at the final table, the biggest cash of his successful career.
We are keeping one eye on the Omaha/8 event running in the meeting room, checking for notable players and those with a chance to take home the first title of the series.
Bill “Bumpereno” Munley began his day at a short-handed table that quickly filled after the start. He’s an east coast pro down here in the Sunshine State looking for his first SHRP cash. Munley is no stranger to the non-hold’em games and owns four trophies from a career with nearly $175,000 in earnings. Those four titles all came in Stud games but he had a near miss with a second place finish in a Borgata Spring Poker Open Omaha/8 event.
$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em $500,000 Guaranteed | Structure Level 2: 50/100 Flight A Players: 129
Francis Margaglione
The opening Ultimate Re-Entry field is growing at a steady pace and they topped 100 entries before the end of the first level. A fine pace for a Wednesday morning.
Seminole Hard Rock Poker regular Francis Margaglione is among the early starters and sitting next to fellow familiar face Daniel Pearlman. Margaglione has some success in this series and won the $150 multi-day event during the 2015 run for nearly $30K, the biggest cash of his career.
$300 Omaha 8 or Better Structure Level 1: 100/200 Limits
While the ballroom is being utilized by the opening event of the series, we have a smaller tournament kicking off at the same time in the meeting room for those who prefer their poker hands with four-hole cards.
Event 2 is a $300 buy-in Omaha/8 tournament and it will award the first trophy of the series later this evening. It will be a smaller affair than the big, no limit hold’em event but it will also be very talented. We expect to see some of our Omaha specialists hop in the game and try to take the title.
Omaha/8 players will start with 10,000 stacks and play 30-minute levels from start to finish. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 3:30pm and there is a dinner break schedule at 5:30pm. After they return from that extended time away from the tables, they will continue down to the final table and our first RRPO champ.
Cards are in the air over in the meeting room and we will keep an eye on their progress throughout the day.
Players begin with 10,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
The clock is nearing 11am and we are ready to kick off the 2017 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood with a big tournament. The opening event of the 2016 RRPO was a huge success and the tournament broke the record for the biggest field in Florida Poker history and we will be going for it again this year.
Last year’s event drew 5,018 entries and Seminole Hard Rock Poker regular Rafael Reis walked away with the title for more than $150,000 over a tough final table.
And this year we tweaked the opener to put the Ultimate Re-Entry format into play. Unlike previous runs, tournament players may enter as many of the eight starting flights as they wish and they can advance multiple stacks onto Day 2. They will play their biggest stack on Sunday and pick up a $2,500 multi-stack award payout for the other stacks they advanced.
Each flight will continue action until only 10% of the starting field remains (rounding down) and all players making it into Day 2 will return already in the money, so there will be a lot of players collecting payouts Sunday afternoon.
Action kicks off at the top of the hour with players sitting down to 15,000 stacks and 30-minute levels throughout the day. Late registration is open until the start of Level 13 at 5:45pm with unlimited re-entries during that time. If you would prefer to start fresh at the beginning, the evening flight will start at 5pm.
They will continue playing until they are in the money with 10% of the field remaining later this evening. Those players will have their stack inventoried instead of bagged and they will return to their biggest stack on Sunday for Day 2.
$500,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Players begin with 15,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 13
10% of each flight’s field, rounded down, will advance to Day 2
All Day 2 players will be in the money
Players surviving more than one Day 1 flight will receive a $2,500 cash payout for each lesser multiple chip stack
