$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 ante
Players Remaining: 63 of 492

Carlos Castro raised to 9,200 from early position and the player in the hijack called. Carlos Hostos three-bet to 30,000 out of the small blind and Castro quickly went all in for effectively Hostos’  110,000 chip stack.

The hijack quickly folded and Hostos went into the tank for a couple minutes before folding face-up. Castro took another glance at his cards and showed the as he collected the pot.

Castro wins the pot and has a massive chip lead as the level winds to a close.

Carlos Castro – 341,000
Carlos Hostos – 80,000

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 12: 800/1,600 with a 200 ante
Players Remaining: 81 of 492

There was about 60,000 in the middle already with a completed board of and Eric Rivkin was heads-up with Patrick Pigford.

Rivkin checked from middle position and Pigford bet 15,000 on the button. Rivkin thought for a few minutes and then called. Pigford showed , good for a wheel, and Rivkin mucked his hand.

Patrick Pigford – 130,000
Eric Rivkin – 102,000

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 11: 600/1,200 with a 200 ante
Players Remaining: 90 of 492

After a couple raises preflop, the player in the small blind got his last 42,000 into the middle preflop against Ben Sriqui in middle position.

It’s a flip with Sriqui’s up against the small blind’s . The board runs out and Sriqui loses the flip, but is still very healthy on chips.

Sriqui is fresh off of a fourth place finish in the $360 no-limit hold’em re-entry event. He took home $57,557 and is one of the bigger stacks in the room as they take their last break of the day.

Ben Sriqui – 124,000

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 10: 500/1,000 with a 100 ante
Players Remaining; 117 of 492

The cage has calculated the payouts and the top 117 spots will earn a cash. A min-cash is worth $355, but the top spot takes home $52,706 plus a seat in the $10,000 WPT Finale/$2,500 WPT Showdown Championship satellite.

2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, FL
Event 5
$150 No Limit Hold’em
Entries: 1,973
Prize Pool: $236,760
March 20 -22, 2017

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 9: 400/800 with a 100 ante
Players Remaining: 171 of 492

Ryan Dunn raised to 2,000 from early position and the player in the small blind moved all in for 10,500. The big blind folded and Dunn called.

Dunn showed and needed a little help against the small blind’s .

The flop was and Dunn took the lead with top pair. The turn was the and the river was the to send the pot to Dunn and eliminate a player.

Ryan Dunn – 64,000

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
End of Level 14: 1,200/2,400 with a 400 ante
Players Remaining: 44 of 418

The scheduled 14 levels of the fifth flight of the $150 no limit hold’em are in the books and Daniel Ramirez leads the 44 players who survived the flight’s action.

Ramirez finished the day with 281,500 and has a sizable lead over his closest competitor from the flight. Will Givens finished the day with 226,000 and is second in the chip counts for Day 1E.

Other notables to survive the flight include Yigal Hen, Hector Contreras, Nick Yunis, Anthony Astarita, Zo Karim and Randal Sklar.

Complete chip counts will be posted later tonight.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Start of Level 7: 250/500 with a 50 ante
Players Remaining: 75 of 492

The players are back from their second break of the day and the blinds are now 250/500 with a 50 ante.

The last of the six starting flights drew 492 entries to the field. The total field size for all six flights comes to 1,973, which generates a prizepool of $236,760. Payouts are being calculated by the cage and will be released as soon as possible.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 13: 1,000/2,000 with a 300 ante
Players Remaining : 54 of 418

There was about 65,000 in the pot already with a completed board of and the player in early position checked.

Will Givens bet 40,000 and that sent his opponent into the tank for a couple minutes before folding. Givens mucked his hand and took the pot. He’s one of the bigger stacks remaining with just one more level left before Day 1F wraps up.

“I thought ‘He’s definitely bluffing, but he knows he doesn’t mind making a call, so maybe not,'” said another player at the table to Givens about his possible holding.

A few players share a couple laughs about the hand just as the level comes to an end.

Will Givens – 155,000

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
End of Level 4: 200/400 with a 50 ante
Total Entries: 414

The players in the final flight of the day are taking their first break and there are already over 400 entries in the final flight. There are 414 entries in the field at the break, which pushes the prizepool over the $200,000 chip mark.

Daniel Belardia is leading the way of those who have survived through the early goings of the day. Here is a look at the bigger stacks:

Daniel Belardia – 59,550
Rafael Oropesa – 51,000
Hector Herrera – 48,600
David Goldfischer – 46,000
Aris Lopez – 42,700
Steven Zukowski – 40,000
Ryan Pathman – 38,500
Stanley Du Jour – 35,000
Change Fei – 33,000
Adam Goldberg – 33,000
Riley Fuller – 32,000
Thomas Curtis – 32,000
Shah Syed – 32,000

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 11: 600/1,200 with a 200 ante
Players Remaining: 86 of 418

On a flop of , a player in early position checked and two players behind him checked in middle position before Yigal Hen bet 3,000 from the hijack.

The early position player called, one middle position player folded, and the other called. They were three-handed to the and both early and middle position check again. Hen bets 6,000 and the early position player check-raises all in for about 20,000.

The player in between them folds and Hen calls. Hen shows , good for nines and sevens, and is in the lead against his opponent’s .

The river is the and Hen takes the pot. Yigal isn’t the only Hen with poker skills. He is brothers with Ory Hen, who has a laundry list of cashes here at the Hard Rock alone.

Yigan Hen – 56,000