Championship Day 1C: Hinkle-Mania

$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 7: 250/500/75 Ante

Blair Hinkle has already reached the winner’s circle here at Seminole Hard Rock having won the historic $10,000,000 guaranteed Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship Event in 2013.  Now his brother Grant is making an early run himself.

Grant Hinkle is near the top of the leaderboard after the completion of six levels at a strong 111,900 chip count.  For those that don’t remember, Grant won a WSOP bracelet early in the 2008 series and  brother Blair followed suit later in that same series making them the first brother combination to win bracelets in the same WSOP.

Could it be Grant who follows Blair’s footsteps this time and wins this WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open in the same place where his brother made history?  He’s off to a great start here on Day 1C.

Grant Hinkle
Grant Hinkle

Championship Day 1C: Chip Counts

$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 7: 250/500/75 Ante

Here are the top chip counts for Day 1C after the break:

Andy Philachack – 134,125
Stephen Graner – 123,500
William Parke – 120,650
Angel Warner – 112,075
Grant Hinkle – 111,900
Peter Loprimo – 103,850
William O’Neal – 101,600
Eric Cajelais – 101,000
Michael Weber – 94,500
Rajesh Vohra – 93,975
Rubens Tarzia – 93,100
Robert Melo – 91,800
Domenico Maurici – 90,500
Larry Dumas – 89,675
Andrew Miller – 87,600
Walter Sascha – 87,050
Paul Beresford – 86,700

244 players remain out of Day 1C’s 379 entries as the race is now on to be in the final group to reach Day 2.

Andy Philachack
Andy Philachack

Championship Day 1C: Back from Dinner

$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 7: 250/500/75 Ante

We are back from dinner and there are 233 players remaining from 379 entries on the tournament clock. We will let you know when the official prize pool numbers are released, but as of now it looks like there are a total of 1,027 entries in the WPT Championship Event at the Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open.

Championship Day 1C: Get Your Pics Here

$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 4: 200/400/50 Ante

The other day we mentioned the added bonus provided to event winners during the Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open, custom framed prints of the winner’s photo provided by Eric Harkins and IMPDI.

Most players have stopped by to pick up their bonus prize throughout the series, including Event 10 winner Pierre Rodriguez pictured below, but there are a few players with photos in the lobby.

If you won an event during the series and haven’t had a chance to grab your frame, feel free to stop by any time and it’s ready to go.

We noticed a few of the photos available including Ronald Winkelvoss, Matt Stout, Oscar Lindo, Eliyou Levy, Benjamin Matthews, Douglas Hartwick, and Giovanni Rodriguez.

LHPO EV10 Champion FrameIMW_4164 Pierre Rodriguez

Championship Day 1C: Facing Reality

$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

Also in the field is someone who knows how to survive a brutal field but in quite a different way.

Reality TV star “Boston” Rob Mariano is here as a surprise entrant at Seminole Hard Rock-Hollywood.  Mariano is best known for his stints on the hit TV show “Survivor”.  Mariano became one of most popluar players in the show’s long history and easily won the million dollar prize on his fourth try on the show “Survivor: Redemption Island”.

An avid poker player, Mariano is looking to add World Poker Tour champion to his resume here today.

"Boston" Rob Mariano
“Boston” Rob Mariano

 

Championship Day 1C: Ups And Downs

$3,500 Championship No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 6: 200/400/50 Ante

Daryll Fish and Chino Rheem have been taking wild rides in this tournament and at the moment they’re going in opposite directions.

Fish has managed to fight his way back from just over 5,000 chips today to near 50,000. Rheem just tried to pull off a bluff with AK against trip sevens on a 7sTs9c7hJs board costing him most of his stack.

We’ll keep an eye on both of these players as we close in on the dinner break in a few mintues.