Seminole Hard Rock team member Matt Stout opened to 300 from under the gun and Jarrett Vaughn called from the big blind. The flop came , Vaughn bet 300 and Stout called.
The came on the turn, Vaughn bet 625 and Stout called. The hit the river, Vaughn bet 1,500, and Stout thought a little bit before calling. Vaughn turned over for the winning trip sevens and Stout mucked.
In one of the first hands of the Day in Event 12, Mike Dentale opened to 250 under the gun. Jackie Scott called next to act, the button called, and the big blind defended to create four-way action.
The flop was . It checked to Dentale, who continued for 600, and only the big blind called.
The turn was the , and the big blind check-called another 1,600.
The river was the . The big blind checked again, Dentale emptied the clip with 3,200 more, and his opponent folded.
The third Big 4 event is set to kick off at 2 p.m. to get us one step closer to the crowning four champions in the Hard Rock Live Arena. The $2,650 Freeze-Out has a $1,000,000 Guarantee and players get one shot to move a stack forward.
Players sit down to 20,000 starting stacks and all opening day levels run 40-minutes a piece. Late registration is open until the start of Level 9 after the dinner break at 8:50 p.m. and players are limited to their single entry in the freeze-out format. They are scheduled to play 14 complete levels and those with chips will bag them up for a return tomorrow at noon.
It will be a talented group of players today, joined by those who bust out of the Championship, and we should see plenty of action.
Cards fly at 2 p.m. and we’ll have another Big 4 event underway.
$1,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
Players begin with 20,000 in chips and 40-minute levels
Late registration until start of Level 9; No Re-Entries
Day 1 will end after Level 14 or Tournament Director discretion
We’re still in the first weekend of the 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open but it’s never too late to start thinking about The Big 4 events coming up. Four tournaments with combined guaranteed prize pools worth $6.5 million and all four final tables played at the same time in front cameras.
Now players can begin to look at ways to get into any of these events at a discount via a solid schedule of satellites. The biggest group of satellites can be found on August 10 when 36 combined seats in five satellites are guaranteed into the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship.
All told, the satellites combine for 47 Championship seats, three High Roller seats, five $1 Million Guaranteed Freeze-Out, and four $1,100/$500K seats offered up between now and August 13.
And those numbers don’t include the two Multi-Events satellites which will reward packages that include a $2,650 seat, a $1,100 seat, and $1,250 in cash.
There is something for everyone, bookmark or save the date for the satellite which fits your needs. Below you can find the satellite schedule for each event and a link to the structure sheets.
2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood, Fla. $1,650 Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Single Re-Entry) Entries: 139 Prizepool: $90,000 March 26-27, 2017
Josias Santos
Josias Santos is the newest winner at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, topping a field of 139 entries in the $1,650 Purple Chip Bounty to win the trophy and the top prize of $31,656 in a heads-up deal. Santos also earned a seat into the limited freeroll for the winners of the series’ first 14 events, where he’ll have a chance to snag either a $10,000 or $3,500 seat into one of the WPT events on the upcoming schedule.
Santos is a 53-year-old semi-professional poker player from Brazil, his previous career involving the management of soccer players in his home country. He now makes his home in Tampa, where he runs a transportation company as his new primary source of income. That may soon be changing, though.
Three years ago, Santos found poker for the first time, and it’s been a happy partnership, so far. After two years of studying and practice, Santos felt prepared to take the next steps. “I decided to play more this year,” he said. “And I choose tournaments with structures that fit my play.”
The Purple Chip Bounty met his requirements, and he stormed his way into Day 2 of the event with one of the biggest stacks of the 12 remaining players. By the time the field shrunk to nine, he was third in chips and breathing down the necks of chip leaders Jordan Meltzer and Phong Nguyen.
Those three were eventually the last three players left at the table, and Santos won the largest pot of the day against Nguyen to take a huge lead and leave the former chip leader with just two big blinds. Meltzer eliminated Nguyen one hand later, entering the heads-up duel with a significant chip disadvantage.
“I stared heads-up with two thirds of the chips,” Santos said in his postgame interviews. He actually had closer to three quarters of the chips, but that lead was short-lived. “I lost some hands so I had to slow down a little bit and wait for better spots,” he said of the encounter with Meltzer. “He’s a very tough player. Very good player.”
Meltzer put up a mighty fight, even taking the chip lead at one point in the duel before the stacks returned to even. Locked in a stalemate, the two finalists stepped away from the table to talk numbers, and they quickly agreed to an equal chop, with Santos’ big stack earning him the extra $1, the trophy, and the freeroll seat.
The champ has only been playing poker for three years, but he’s already racked up more than $300,000 in tournament earnings as a part-time player. A big chunk of that has come early in 2017, a year in which he’s decided to dedicate more time to the game.
So far, the decision has been a profitable one. This result is his third big five-figure score over the span of the last two months. Santos outlasted a huge field of 1,883 entries to win a $340 event at Parx, earning nearly $70,000 for that victory alone. A month later, he finished fourth of 482 entries in a $1,500 event here in Florida, and he’s just added more than $30,000 for this win at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.
If his heater continues like this, Santos will most certainly be someone worth watching when the big-buy-in events arrive on the calendar later this week.
Final Table Results:
1st: Josias Santos – $31,656* 2nd: Jordan Meltzer – $31,655* 3rd: Phong Nguyen – $14,526 4th: Marc Schiller – $8,757 5th: Hyon Kim – $6,811 6th: Christian Harder – $5,699 7th: TK Miles – $4,935 8th: Jack Duong – $4,385 9th: Victor Merkel – $3,885
$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Single Re-Entry) Level 23: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante Players Remaining: 2 of 139
Following a flop of , Jordan Meltzer checked from the big blind and Josias Santos bet 25,000 from the button. Meltzer check-raised to 100,000 and Santos called.
The turn was the and Meltzer bet 100,000. Santos called.
The river was the and both players checked.
Meltzer showed , while Santos tabled for a pair of queens to win the pot.
$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Single Re-Entry) Level 23: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante Players Remaining: 2 of 139
Josias Santos opened the button to 30,000, and Jordan Meltzer defended his big blind.
The flop was . Meltzer checked, Santos continued for 15,000, and Meltzer called. That action repeated after the turn, with Meltzer check-calling another 30,000. The river was the . Meltzer checked for a third time, then called a final bet of 80,000 from Santos.
Santos showed for two pair, but Meltzer’s was good for trip kings and the pot. With that pot comes the chip lead, as Meltzer has moved in front for the first time in this match.
, Vaughn bet 300 and Stout called.
came on the turn, Vaughn bet 625 and Stout called. The 
hit the river, Vaughn bet 1,500, and Stout thought a little bit before calling. Vaughn turned over 
for the winning trip sevens and Stout mucked.
. It checked to Dentale, who continued for 600, and only the big blind called.
, and the big blind check-called another 1,600.
. The big blind checked again, Dentale emptied the clip with 3,200 more, and his opponent folded.
, Jordan Meltzer checked from the big blind and Josias Santos bet 25,000 from the button. Meltzer check-raised to 100,000 and Santos called.
and Meltzer bet 100,000. Santos called.
and both players checked.
, while Santos tabled 
and Santos checked to Meltzer who bet 150,000. Santos called.
for a king-high straight, Santos mucked, and Meltzer won the pot.
. Meltzer checked, Santos continued for 15,000, and Meltzer called. That action repeated after the 
. Meltzer checked for a third time, then called a final bet of 80,000 from Santos.
for two pair, but Meltzer’s 
was good for trip kings and the pot. With that pot comes the chip lead, as Meltzer has moved in front for the first time in this match.