$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 2: 100/200 with a 25 Ante
Players: 258

While there are indeed players here from all over the world, there are (likely) only two of them that are related by blood. The Brothers Cappello, Joseph and Lucian, are both in the field this afternoon, here from their hometown of New Rochelle, New York.

Joseph, 36, is known casually as “Bobo”, and he has more than $2 million in career tournament earnings, including major wins in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Baltimore. He’s trying hard to add Hollywood to that list, and a win in this event would certainly fall into the career-defining category.

Lucian, who’s 37, has about $75,000 in tournament earnings, but Joseph insists that his older brother is the better player of the two. He’s also the only one who’s earned a cash so far in this series; Lucian finished 114th out of close to 3,000 runners in Event 9, adding another $1,900 to his results.

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 2: 100/200 with a 25 Ante
Players: 250

As expected for an event of this caliber, there are players from quite literally all over the world in attendance this afternoon.

Europe is particularly well represented in the field. Stephen Chidwick, Craig McCorkell, and Charlie Carrel are here from England, as is Scotland’s Niall Farrell. The Germans came to play, too, with Jan Schwippert, Martin Finger, and Rainer Kempe already seated (and Dietrich Fast likely on the way).

Michael Tureniec is here from Sweden, Eugene Katchalov from Ukraine, and Anton Astapau from Belarus. There are a pair of Bulgarians, as well, with Aleks Dimitrov and Dimitar Danchev both in attendance. Adrian Mateos is here from Spain, too.

From a little closer to home, Mike Leah, Noah Vaillancourt, and Kristin Bicknell are all representing Canada in the field, as is Canadian-born North American nomad Ari Engel.

They’re not all from abroad though; there’s a strong contingent of locals in the field, too. Charlemagne Benjamin, Paul Balzano, Harrison Gimbel, and Ory Hen are all South Florida residents and familiar faces in the halls of Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, and each of them are looking to win one for the home team.

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 1: 75/150 with a 25 Ante
Players: 247

We joined the river of a heads-up pot between Ryan Van Sanford (big blind) and Salvatore Troiano (button) as the board showed .

Van Sanford caught us up on the action before we arrived: Troiono had opened the button with a raise. Van Sanford defended his big blind, then check-raised Troiano’s continuation bet on the flop. Troiano called the raise, then another Van Sanford bet the turn to put just about 25,000 in the pot.

Picking up the action live, Van Sanford bet 19,000 on the river, and Troiano spent a couple minutes deliberating before calling to see a showdown.

Van Sanford tabled , winning the pot with tens full to start the day trending in the right direction.

Ryan Van Sanford – 77,000
Salvatore Troiano – 9,000

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 1: 75/150 with a 25 Ante
Players: 233

There have been a handful of satellites into this event over the last week or so, and they were well attended. More than 50 players won their seats into this event on the cheap, but one of them is in for even less than cheap.

David DiBernardi won Event 3 here a couple weeks ago, defeating a field of 204 entries in a $300 Turbo to snag his first Seminole Hard Rock Poker trophy. The victory came with a cash prize of close to $13,000, and it also earned him a seat into the winners’ freeroll reserved for the champions of the series’ first 14 events.

DiBernardi won that freeroll too, defeating Jean LeBlond to earn his $10,000 seat into this WPT Finale. He’s in the field on time this afternoon, seated at a table that includes Tony Cousineau, Dylan Wilkerson, Alex Keating, and Mike Leah among others.

David DiBernardi – 40,000

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 1: 75/150 with a 25 Ante
Players: 204

Level 1 is about halfway complete, and the number on the board has ticked over 200 entries. There’s plenty of room to grow, too, with dealers tending several empty tables and late registration available until the start of Day 2.

A trio of Team SHRP members are in the field so far. Matt Stout has drawn a table with Kunal Patel, Tim Reilly, Ryan D’Angelo, and Barry Hutter, among others.

Sheddy Siddiqui is here, too, joining a table that includes David Diaz and John Dolan.

And Faraz Jaka showed up to a late-reg table a few minutes ago, though he has yet to play a hand. It’s just him and Justin Zaki at the table right now, and they’ll have to wait for one more player to join before they can get started.

Since the latecomers are asking, it’s also worth mentioning that this event is breaking high to low, which means that the last tables filled with late entries will be the first to break this evening.

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 1: 75/150 with a 25 Ante

While the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship is two hours into their action, working their way down to a final table, the last WPT Seventh of their Season XV is kicking off in the front of the ballroom.

The $10,000 World Poker Tour Finale will draw some of the best poker players in the world with them all aiming for a piece of the $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Last year, Chino Rheem won the inaugural WPT Finale to earn his record-tying third WPT title. He bested a field of 342 players to bank $705,885 on the big stage final table in Hard Rock Live.

The big tournament is also a switch from the norm for entries. The $10,000 buy-in tournament has a freeze-out format to give players a single shot at making it through to the title. That will even the playing field between heavily bankrolled pros and others taking their first big shot at a tournament this size.

The structure is deep and slow. Players start with 40,000 stacks and the tournament will start off with 60-minute levels. They’ll play eight full levels today and bag up for a return tomorrow for Day 2 at noon. Late registration is open until they kick off the action tomorrow, so there is plenty of time for players to make their way down to play.

Players will take their seats and kick off the WPT Finale at 2pm sharp.

• $2,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 40,000 in chips
• Level 1-14 will last 60 minutes; Levels 15+ will last 90 minutes
• Late registration available until start of Day 2
• Day 1 will end after Level 8 or Tournament Director discretion
• WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale Structure Sheet

Main Event Schedule

12PM: Day 3 – $3,500 WPT Showdown Championship (Re-Entry)

• Championship Day 3 Chip Counts
• Championship Day 3 Table/Seat Assignments
• Championship Payouts

12PM: Event 22 – $360 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• $30,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 12,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration available until start of Level 9
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 20 Structure Sheet

2PM: Day 1 – $10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale

• $2,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 40,000 in chips
• Level 1-14 will last 60 minutes; Levels 15+ will last 90 minutes
• Late registration available until start of Day 2
• Day 1 will end after Level 8 or Tournament Director discretion
• WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale Structure Sheet

Secondary and Satellite Schedule

9AM: Event 91 – $300 High Roller Step Satellite (1-in-10)

• 2 seats guaranteed into $2,650 High Roller Satellite
• Players begin with 8,000 in chips and 15-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• Satellite will be held in The Poker Room
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 91 Structure Sheet

12PM: Event 92 – $1,030 WPT Finale Super Turbo Satellite (1-in-10)

• 1 seat guaranteed into $2 Million GTD WPT Finale
• Players begin with 6,000 in chips and 10-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 92 Structure Sheet

6PM: Event 93 – $2,650 High Roller Satellite (1-in-10)

• 1 seat guaranteed into $1 Million GTD High Roller
• Players begin with 10,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 93 Structure Sheet

8PM: Event 94 – $130 Survivor No Limit Hold’em (1-in-10)

• 1-in-10 players will win $1,000 cash
• Players begin with 10,000 in chips and 15-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 94 Structure Sheet

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Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood Property Update

Preparations are underway for the development of an iconic hotel tower and resort:

• Parking – Poker players are encouraged to park in Winner’s Way Garage to access both the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown tournament space and The Poker Room

• The Poker Room – Players may access the poker room by entering through the main lobby or via the exterior entrance on the opposite end of Winner’s Way Garage.

• Inside hotel – Services and amenities inside the hotel will remain open along with regularly scheduled events and entertainment.

For additional construction updates, please visit TheNewHardRock.com