2015 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ’n’ Roll Poker Open”
$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed Prizepool

November 23rd-25th, 2015

Total Entries:  830
Total Prizepool:  $415,000

Recap:

Last year, Ory Hen won Event 1 of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open on his way to becoming the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year. This year, Hen waited until the second big-field event of the series, winning Event 5 against a field of 830 entries to win $52,153, the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” trophy, and a custom-framed winner’s photo courtesy of Image Masters.

Event 5 needed to attract 500 entries to reach the $250,000 guarantee, but over four starting flights, there were 830 entries, even with Day 2 playing down to a winner the night before Thanksgiving.

However, once the clock struck midnight (meaning it was officially Thanksgiving) and the final table was still eight-handed after playing for more than an hour, the players began serious negotiations for a chop. Eventually a deal was reached so that even the shortest stacks would receive more than fifth-place money. While the players debated how to distribute the prize money, there was no doubt as to who would claim the trophy, as Hen had nearly a million chips more than his closest competitor.

No better way for a poker player to head into Thanksgiving (and the holiday shopping season) than a big score at a final table, and the final eight all earned at least $23,261.

Happy Thanksgiving, and congratulations to Ory Hen!

Final Table Results:

1st:  Ory Hen  –  $52,153
2nd:  Christpoher Nomikos  –  $42,144
3rd:  Gunther Rowohlt  –  $38,788
4th:  Steven Bennett  –  $35,774
5th:  Nigel Murray  –  $34,523
6th:  Phil Hernz  –  $27,584
7th:  Zack Goodman  –  $26,504
8th:  Lisa Teebagy  –  $23,261
9th:  Kenneth Watson  –  $7,885

2015 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open”
$350 Pot Limit Omaha/8 (Re-Entry)

November 23, 2015

Total Entries:  51
Total Prize Pool:  $15,300

Recap:

Event 6 was a one-day PLO-8 event that attracted 51 entries, and the final six would finish in the money. After a marathon final table where nobody seemed to be able to score a knockout, Bryce Fox managed to finally scoop a pot against runner-up Charles Chan to win the title and the trophy.

The final four players battled for three straight levels without a single double-up or elimination — every all-in situation ended in a split pot. Over three levels, that created a situation where the chipleader had only nine big blinds in his stack. Repeated for emphasis: that’s not the average stack, but the chipleader.

There had been talk of a deal from the final five players on down, but they couldn’t come to an agreement because everybody wanted the trophy. At one point during the long period of four-handed play, third-place finisher Robert Wachtel suggested (perhaps only half-jokingly) that they should break the trophy into equal pieces so they could each claim a partial victory.

Once they got past the final four, it didn’t take much longer, as Fox built up his stack by knocking out the final three players to win the title, the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” trophy, and a custom-framed winner’s photo courtesy of Image Masters.

While this is the first victory in south Florida for Fox, it is actually his seventh live tournament win in the past two-and-a-half years, with the rest coming in Las Vegas and his hometown of Pittsburgh.

Congratulations to Bryce Fox!

Final Table Results:

1st:  Bryce Fox  (Pittsburgh, PA)  $5,202
2nd:  Charles Chan  (Panama City, FL)  $3,519
3rd:  Robert Wachtel  (Delray Beach, FL)  $2,295
4th:  Gui Thi Van  (Pembroke Pines, FL)  $1,836
5th:  Steve Novak  (Clearwater, FL)  $1,377
6th:  Marc Sacheli  (Miami Beach, FL)  $1,071

2015 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ’n’ Roll Poker Open”
$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guarantee

November 19th-22nd, 2015

Total Entries:  3,022
Total Prizepool:  $906,600

Recap:

Event 1 was scheduled as a two-day event (with six starting flights) and a $500,000 guarantee. But a massive turnout of 3,022 entries pushed it to a three-day event with a prizepool worth $906,600. After a hard-fought battle at the final table, it was Ivan Freitez who won the title, the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” trophy, and a custom-framed winner’s photo courtesy of Image Masters.

With the massive prizepool, there was sporadic talk of making a deal at the final table, but Freitez himself was the most reluctant to chop, pointing out that when he won the 2011 EPT Grand Final, he didn’t make a deal even though first prize was worth more than $2 million. He even said the line, “I chop with my wife. I chop with my children. Other than that, I don’t chop.”

Ultimately, the final three players did come to a deal, and it wrapped up the other big storyline from this event — T.J. Shulman’s comeback from a literal chip-and-a-chair with 12 players remaining. Shulman was down to a single ante before mounting his comeback, and went on to outlast the next players to bust to finish in the top three, bumping his payday from $8,159 to $97,366 in the process.

This is the third title for Freitez in his live tournament career, and each of them has been for at least six figures, making him the winningest player in Venezuelan history.

Congratulations to Ivan Freitez!

Final Table Results:

1st:  Ivan Freitez  (Grand Caracas, Venezuela)  $117,366
2nd:  Taylor Fortini  (Vero Beach, FL)  $109,366
3rd:  T.J. Shulman  (Jackson, GA)  $97,366
4th:  Thomas Collazo  (Davie, FL)  $55,983
5th:  Jake Melen  (Cedarhurst, NY)  $45,557
6th:  Jack Rolnitzky  (Commerce Township, MI)  $35,811
7th:  Marcus Stein  (Pembroke Pines, FL)  $26,291
8th:  Mike Chiappetta  (Boca Raton, FL)  $17,679
9th:  Pedro Palacio  (Delray Beach, FL)  $12,692

2015 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ’n’ Roll Poker Open”
$350 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)

November 21, 2015

Total Entries:  49
Total Prize Pool:  $14,700

Recap:

Event 3 was a one-day event that attracted 49 entries, and the final five would finish in the money. When the field reached the final five, they battled a surprisingly long time, with players taking turns as to who was the chipleader and who was the short stack.

When it finally got down to the final three, two were nearly even in chips and a deal was struck to award the title to chipleader Matt Silva. Second place went to Joel Harwood (father of famous poker player Loni Harwood), who had about a single big blind more in his stack than Michelle Shah, who finished third.

The shortest stack during five-handed play belonged to Krystal Harris, who was knocked down to just two big blinds, and then tripled up on the next hand when she woke up with pocket aces, flopped a set, and rivered quads. For a little while it looked like Harris would mount a full comeback, but it was short-lived, and she was eliminated about 20 minutes later in fifth place.

Harris was followed to the rail by Evan Shaughnessy, who got it all in after the flop with a pair of tens against Silva’s pair of deuces and gutshot straight draw. The turn improved Shaughnessy to a set of eights, and only a king could keep him from doubling up. Even though he had one of the kings in his hand, Shaughnessy watched as the hit the river to complete Silva’s straight, ending the tournament for Shaughnessy in fourth place.

At that point, Silva held 43.1% of the chips in play, and a three-way deal was struck. As chipleader, Silva was awarded the title, the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” trophy, and a custom-framed winner’s photo courtesy of Image Masters.

This victory is particularly sweet for Silva because just last month he finished second in Event 9 of the Fall DeepStack Poker Series at the Seminole Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, FL. When a deal was struck in that event, Silva was second in chips by a single big blind, and missed out on the guitar trophy. This time, Silva’s lead was substantial enough that there was no doubt.

Silva has already locked up a chip stack for Day 2 of Event 1, winning this title on his day off, though he is heading home to Atlanta for Thanksgiving and will have to miss the Championship Event next weekend.

Congratulations to Matt Silva!

Final Table Results:

1st:  Matt Silva  (Marietta, GA)  $3,901
2nd:  Joel Harwood  (Hallendale, FL)  $3,709
3rd:  Michelle Shah  (Delray Beach, FL)  $3,709
4th:  Evan Shaughnessy  (Pittsford, NY)  $1,911
5th:  Krystal Harris  $1,470

2015 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open”
$250 Limit Omaha/8 (Re-Entry)

November 19, 2015

Total Entries:  72
Total Prize Pool: $15,120

Recap:

It wasn’t the first tournament of the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open” series but Event 2 crowned the first champ. It was an Omaha/8 tournament which played out in one-day with Mitchell Smith as the last player standing for the title and $3,251.

The tournament 72 entrants to the $250 buy-in event, a nice improvement over the same tournament last year. Several former champions were in the game, including Robert Campbell, but none were able to stick around until the final table.

They were never deep at the final table but the limit betting aspect and split pot possibilities kept them grinding away until every player was in the danger zone. Judith Green made the final table ten but fell short of making the money with nine getting paid.

There was some brief discussion about a nine-way deal but it was only talk. Three-time WSOP Circuit champ John Holley dropped out in 9th place for a min-cash and he was followed by Marc Levy, someone who really wanted the trophy.

Played slowed down once again with Jerry Kowalski trying to climb the payout ladder while wielding a micro-stack. He caught a couple small doubles but fell in 6th place. Michael Guardino would have liked to have improved on his runner-up finish in the 2015 Coco Poker Open Omaha/8 tournament but the best he could manage was 5th place.

Scott Sharp fell shortly after Guardino and the last three players chopped up the remaining prize pool evenly. Smith held the chip lead and was awarded the title along with the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open” trophy and custom-framed winner’s photo courtesy of Image Masters.

Results:

1st: Mitchell Smith (Palm Beach, FL) $3,251
2nd: Steven Gray (Conway, SC) $3,251
3rd: Joey Prosper (Miami, FL) $3,251
4th: Scott Sharp (Lauderhill, FL) $1,512
5th: Michael Guardino (West Haven, CT) $1,134
6th: Jerry Kowalski (Hollywood, FL) $907
7th: Leonard St. Germain (Southwest Ranches, FL) $756
8th: Marc Levy (Boynton Beach, FL) $605
9th: John Holley (Destin, FL) $454