2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
$25,400 High Roller Event (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool

August 17-18th, 2015

Total Entries:  83
Total Prize Pool: $2,075,000

1st: $652,800
2nd: $391,700
3rd: $245,500
4th: $186,200
5th: $141,900
6th: $116,600
7th: $93,400
8th: $74,400
9-11th: $57,500

$25,400 High Roller Event (Re-Entry)
Level 13: 3,000/6,000/1,000 Ante

Phil Laak, Doc Sands and Christian Harder found themselves in a three-way pot on a board of .  After checks from Sands and Harder, Laak bet out 107,000 which was enough to put both of them all-in.  Sands took his time and then made the call matching Laak’s bet and Harder followed suit.

Laak:
Sands:
Harder:

Sands had flopped a set of threes and had both of his tablemates in trouble. The board ran out giving Sands the full house, the triple-up and the elimination of Harder.

28 players remain in this High Roller tournament.

$25,400 High Roller Event (Re-Entry)
Level 13: 3,000/6,000/1,000 Ante

Bryn Kenney was all in from the big blind for 96,000 with , and he needed it to hold to stay alive against Fred Goldberg’s on the button.

The board came , and Kenney won the pot with a pair of fives to double up in chips.

Bryn Kenney  –  201,000  (34 bb)
Fred Goldberg  –  345,000  (58 bb)

$25,400 High Roller Event (Re-Entry)
Level 13: 3,000/6,000/1,000 Ante

Here are updated chip counts from the break for some of the notables in the High Roller event. The average chip stack is about 244,000 (41 big blinds).

Ian O’Hara  –  581,000  (97 bb)
Pratyush Buddiga  –  490,000  (82 bb)
David Peters  –  490,000  (82 bb)
Fred Goldberg  –  431,000  (72 bb)
Barry Hutter  –  420,000  (70 bb)
Phil Laak  –  384,000  (64 bb)
Ty Reiman  –  373,000  (62 bb)
Tom Marchese  –  351,000  (59 bb)
Brian Yoon  –  265,000  (44 bb)
Brian Hastings  –  243,000  (41 bb)
Noah Schwartz  –  243,000  (41 bb)
Jason Mercier  –  235,000  (39 bb)
James Joyner  –  224,000  (37 bb)
Kathy Lehne  –  175,000  (29 bb)
Raj Vohra  –  167,000  (28 bb)
Shannon Shorr  –  160,000  (27 bb)
Erik Seidel  –  137,000  (23 bb)
Hans Winzeler  –  122,000  (20 bb)
Byron Kaverman  –  114,000  (19 bb)
David “Doc” Sands  –  101,000  (17 bb)
Bryn Kenney  –  100,000  (17 bb)
Christian Harder  –  99,000  (17 bb)
Jake Schwartz  –  62,000  (10 bb)
James Calderaro  –  45,000  (8 bb)

$25,400 High Roller Event (Re-Entry)
Level 13: 3,000/6,000/1,000 Ante

Registration is now closed for the High Roller.  83 entries have been recorded and 34 players remain in action trying to make our final table.  Play will end at nine players or the tournament director’s discretion.

$25,400 High Roller Event (Re-Entry)
Level 12: 2,500/5,000/500 Ante

After losing a small prop bet to Dong Kim earlier, Jason Les just lost something a little more precious – chips.

Les ended up all-in against Kim and got a chilly reception.  Les showed but Kim woke up with .  Les nearly cracked Kim after the flop came out but he got no help after the board ran out and Kim doubled up to 332,000.

We have now finished the final level of play before registration closes.  We’ll have our final number entries and payouts shortly.

$25,400 High Roller Event (Re-Entry)
Level 12: 2,500/5,000/500 Ante

The High Roller has taken the $1,000,000 guarantee and made the first digit a little crooked.

We’ve now recorded 81 entries taking the prize pool over the $2,000,000 mark far surpassing all expectations for this event.

Some of poker’s elite like Doc Sands, Brian Hastings, Erik Seidel, Shannon Shorr, David Peters and Jason Mercier are still firing away tonight trying to reach Day 2 and play for the High Roller title.

$25,400 High Roller Event (Re-Entry)
Level 11: 2,000/4,000/500 Ante

All of a sudden George Lucas would fit right into tonight’s High Roller.

Jason Les and Dong Kim made a $20 side bet on the title of the original Star Wars movie. Kim was correct that the “A New Hope” moniker was not added until well after its original release.  So at least if Kim doesn’t cash he’ll as least get back a portion of his buy-in.

On the table next to them, one player is channeling one of the most popular characters in the Star Wars lexicon.  James Joyner has called up the diminutive Yoda to protect his chips from the rest of the Empire and even has the matching hoodie to boot.

We’ll see how well these guys can channel the Force as we head into Level 12.

$25,400 High Roller Event (Re-Entry)
Level 11: 2,000/4,000/500 Ante

76 entries have now been recorded but just to show how wild the action is in our High Roller, only 35 players are in the tournament and just in the last few minutes Noah Schwartz and Barry Hutter have been in all-in and Olivier Busquet was in twice.  All survived including Busquet’s holding up against Ty Reiman’s .

Reiman isn’t exactly hurting for chips though as he stands at 339,000 after taking the small hit from Busquet and is among this chip leaders so far tonight.

$25,400 High Roller Event (Re-Entry)
Level 10: 1,500/3,000/500 Ante

It’s very early in our High Roller event but a few players have gotten off to solid starts. George Dolofan checked in at 346,000 with Ian O’ Hara right behind him at 333,000.  Phil Laak has also made a move and is now up 364,000.

We’re now up to 73 entries tallied so far with registration closing at the start of Level 13.