Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Florida Event 26 $1,600 Survivor NLH (Re-Entry) Entries: 114 Prize Pool: $171,000 January 23, 2022
Event 26 of the 2022 Lucky Hearts Poker Open is a $1,600 Survivor NLH (Re-Entry). A field of 114 entries generated a prize pool of $171,000. The final 11 players will cash for $15,000, with 12th place receiving $6,000.
Closing out the Sunday schedule with a fun one at 8 pm. Event 26 is a $1,600 buy-in Survivor tournament, all you need to do is outlast 10% of the field to earn a $15,000 payout.
Players start with 15,000 in chips and the first eight levels last 15 minutes. Late registration and re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 10:15 pm and blind levels will increase to 20 minutes.
1-in-10 win $15,000
Players begin with 15,000 in chips
Levels 1-8 last 15 minutes; Levels 9+ last 20 minutes
Late registration until start of Level 9 (10:15pm)
This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
2021 Seminole Hard Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Florida Event 26 $25,500 High Roller (Re-Entry) $1 Million Guaranteed Entries: 102 Prize Pool: $2,519,400 November 29-30, 2021
In a massive field of 102 entries, Ali Imsirovic cruised his way thru most of the $25,500 High Roller final table before defeating defending champion Bryn Kenney heads-up to win $695,355.
Remarkably, this was the 14th victory of the year for Imsirovic in high roller events (with buy-ins of $10,000+).
“It feels great,” said Imsirovic. “I was in for four bullets in this thing and it was looking grim. To come out on top feels amazing.”
Imsirovic busted three times before the dinner break on Day 1, but he made that fourth bullet count, finishing the day with the biggest stack heading into Tuesday’s final table.
Martin Zamani was second in chips to start the final table, and for the first three hours or so, Imsirovic and Zamani were the two big stacks compared to the rest of the table, but didn’t play any particularly big pots against each other.
“Martin plays a very unique style and puts a lot of pressure on,” said Imsirovic, “so I didn’t really want to get into many pots with him. Then Bryn [Kenney] just took all of his chips and made it easy.”
That pot effectively ended Zamani’s final table, and catapulted Kenney into the chip lead. Zamani busted in fifth place, quickly followed by Vikenty Shegal in fourth and Anton Wigg in third, leaving Kenney and Imsirovic to battle for the trophy.
Kenney began heads-up play with more than a 2-to-1 chip lead over Imsirovic, though both players had more than 100 big blinds in their stacks.
That’s when Imsirovic literally pulled out a magic wand.
It was one of the wands sold at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando, where Imsirovic and his friends spent the day before the Seminole Hard Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open Championship. (You can see the wand in Imsirovic’s hand in his victory photos.)
“I showed up just in time for Day 1A of the main,” said Imsirovic. “I was wearing Gryffindor stuff and I bagged, and then on Day 2 I was wearing a [wizard’s] robe and I cashed, so I felt like when we got heads-up here, a wand should come out.”
It wasn’t long before they got it all in again, this time after the flop with Kenney’s two pair against Imsirovic’s multiple draws. Imsirovic rivered a straight to double into the chip lead, which he held for the rest of the tournament.
“I needed something to run better,” said Imsirovic, “so the wand worked out.”
Kenney didn’t go down without a fight, even when he got as low as five big blinds. Both players showed patience, but Kenney won their next five all-in situations.
Unfortunately for Kenney, it wasn’t enough to climb out of the hole he had been in. On the final hand, Imsirovic’s flopped a six against Kenney’s to give Imsirovic his 14th high roller victory of the year — and his biggest payday of 2021 with a first prize of $695,355.
With high roller tournaments all over the world, what does Imsirovic like about Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood?
“The field sizes are incredible here,” said Imsirovic. “It’s a lot of fun, the structures are really good, and I just really enjoy playing here.”
$25,500 High Roller (Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 20: 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante Players Remaining: 1 of 102
Bryn Kenney raised from the button to 525,000 (leaving just 50K behind), Ali Imsirovic moved all in, and Kenney called all in for 575,000 with .
Imsirovic turned over , and Kenney was dominated as he faced elimination.
The board came , and Imsirovic won the pot — and the trophy and $695,355 — with a pair of sixes.
Bryn Kenney finished as the runner-up, earning $503,880.
Congratulations to Ali Imsirovic!
1st: Ali Imsirovic – $695,355 + RRPO trophy 2nd: Bryn Kenney – $503,880 3rd: Anton Wigg – $314,925 4th: Vikenty Shegal – $216,670 5th: Martin Zamani – $141,085 6th: Stephen Song – $103,295 7th: Anthony Hu – $85,660 8th: Adam Hendrix – $73,065 9th: Gal Yifrach – $70,540
A short while later, Kenney raised to 125,000 from the button, Imsirovic moved all in, and Kenney called all in for 1,100,000 with . Imsirovic turned over , and Kenney needed his hand to hold to stay alive.
The board came , and the pocket aces held up for Kenney to win the pot and double up yet again.
Bryn Kenney raised fro the button to 125,000, and Ali Imsirovic called.
The flop came , Imsirovic checked, Kenney bet 125,000, and Imsirovic called. The turn card was the , Imsirovic checked, Kenney bet 425,000, and Imsirovic called.
The river card was the , Imsirovic checked, Kenney moved all in for 1,475,000, and Imsirovic thought for about 30 seconds before he called with for a pair of aces.
But Kenney turned over to win the pot with two pair, aces and kings, and double up in chips.
A few minutes later, Imsirovic moved all in, and Kenney called all in for 625,000 with . Imsirovic turned over , and Kenney needed his hand to hold to stay alive.
The board came , and Kenney paired his four on the flop and his ace on the river to win the pot with two pair and double up in chips.
$25,500 High Roller (Re-Entry) $1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts Level 20: 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante Players Remaining: 2 of 102
After a flop of , Bryn Kenney checked, Ali Imsirovic bet 100,000, and Kenney called.
The turn card was the , Kenney checked, Imsirovic bet 225,000, and Kenney called.
The river card was the , Kenney checked, Imsirovic bet 500,000, and Kenney called. Imsirovic showed to win the pot with a queen-high flush, and Kenney mucked.
The next hand, Bryn Kenney raised to 100,000, and Ali Imsirovic called. The flop came , Imsirovic checked, Kenney bet 75,000, and Imsirovic called. The turn card was the , and both players checked.
The river card paired the board with the , Imsirovic bet 300,000, and Kenney called. Imsirovic showed to win the pot with trip fours, and Kenney mucked.