$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 2: 50/100
Flight F Entries: 288

589. That’s the magic number for Flight F. With a combined field of 2,411 entries through Flight E, another 589 are needed to hit the $900,000 prize pool threshold.

Flight F is off to a strong start with just under 300 entries midway through Level 2. Late registration and re-entry are available until 10:30pm.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 14: 1,200/2,400 with a 400 Ante
Flight E Players Remaining: 207 of 721

Flight E players are in their final level of the day, they will play down to the last ten minutes of Level 14. Tournament staff will draw a random number and they will play that many hands before bagging up.

Seminole Hard Rock Tampa double-champ Manny Minaya has been quietly grinding in the center of the room and contending for the end-of-flight chip lead with more than 200,000 late in the day.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 Ante
Flight E Players Remaining: 225 of 721

Former SHRPO champ Steven Bennett found a late elevation to his stack while sending two players outs. We caught the action after Bennett called two shoves ahead of him and Michael Damiani saying “I knew it!”

Bennett:
Damiani:
Opponent:

Damiani and his fellow shover were in trouble and couldn’t catch up as the board ran . Bennett moved over 170,000 with less than an hour remaining.

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

Five flights have closed their doors and now it’s time to run the last flight of Event 1, a tournament that’s already blown the doors off the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool.

The first five flights drew 2,411 entries to push the prize pool over $700,000. We expect another big crowd this evening and we’ll likely get near $900,000 before the night is complete.

Each entrant will start with a 20,000 stack and Day 1 levels run for 30 minutes. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 10:30pm and then we’ll know exactly how much is at stake. They will continue to play 14 levels and those with chips will advance to Day 2 tomorrow at 1pm.

Cards are about to fly and we’ll see how big they can build the prize pool.

• $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

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 11: 600/1,200 with a 200 Ante
Flight E Players Remaining: 252 of 721

Flight E players are on their final break of the day with ~250 remaining of the massive 721 starters. They’ll return to play three more levels before survivors bag up their Day 2 stacks.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 10: 500/1,000 with a 100 Ante
Flight E Players Remaining: 288 of 721

We found another one of Seminole Hard Rock Poker team members jumping in at the last minute. WPT Season XII Player of the Year Mukul Pahuja used his late entry option for a shot in the penultimate flight and he’s grinding away at a no-break table.

Also still part of the quickly shrinking crowd are Michele Shah, Michael Damiani, and Julie McGrath along with some friends from Tampa like Cheri Beatty, Alex Ivan, and Manny Minaya.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 9: 400/800 with a 100 Ante
Flight E Players Remaining: 351 of 721

Registration has closed for Flight E and it drew a whopping 721 entries to push the combined total to 2,411. The final flight kicks off tonight at 6pm with late registration and re-entry till 10:30pm. When they shut down registration later this evening, the prize pool should be well over $800,000.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 8: 300/600 with a 75 Ante
Flight E Entries: 715

Players are exiting the ballroom for the second break of the day after the entry count jumped over 700 for the flight. They have this 15 minute break and registration will close when they return.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 8: 300/600 with a 75 Ante
Flight E Entries: 685

Event 1 surpassed the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool in last night’s flight then pushed it over $600,000 before the first break today. Now with registration open for 30 more minutes, they hit the magic number to put more than $700,000 up for grabs. It’s a lock that we’ll beat last year’s Event 1 numbers when the 2,693 entry gets in the game.

We’re seeing more members of the SHRP champion’s club among the big crowd including Ryan Dunn and Sean Shah. Dunn is a professional grinder/traveler and earned his biggest cash here during the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open when he won the $2,650 NLH event for $140,000. Shah’s SHRP title came this past January during the 2017 Coco Poker Showdown and he came close to his first WSOP bracelet this summer after a runner-up in the $565 Pot Limit Omaha event.

$360 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 7: 250/500 with a 75 Ante
Flight E Entries: 615

There’s no stopping the consistent parade of players to the registration desk, where they pick up their ticket, hit the feeder table, and take a seat in the packed ballroom.

Three recent additions included members of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker team. Darryll Fish and Michael Laake are taking another shot while Stewart Newman is making his first appearance of the series. Each conveniently drawing the 1-seat at their particular table.

But they have a long way to go if they want to bring home a title for the home team.