Seminole Hard Rock Draws Over 5,000 in Record-Breaking Event
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, set out to draw some big numbers by posting a $1 million guarantee on the $360 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold'em Opening Event of the Rock 'N Roll Poker Open.
They accomplished that mission with a record 5,018 entries spread across eight starting flights, breaking Seminole Hard Rock's own state record of 4,075 set earlier that year at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open.
The prize pool swelled to over $1.5 million, and the official final table participant ended up cutting a rarely-seen nine-way deal. That left Rafael Reis as the official winner, claiming $155,642 as his portion of the prize money.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rafael Reis | $155,642 |
| 2 | Rodrigo Diaz | $113,650 |
| 3 | Allan Beiler | $105,096 |
| 4 | Michael Johnson | $97,164 |
| 5 | Alejandro Armas | $95,298 |
| 6 | Steve Cohen | $59,993 |
| 7 | Elizabeth Provan | $53,927 |
| 8 | Jack Rolnitzky | $53,460 |
| 9 | Michael Sanchez | $43,351 |
According to the live updates, Reis came into the final day leading the remaining 35 players after spending much of Day 2 at the top of the counts as well. He kept that lead throughout the roughly five-hour Day 3 and secured most of the money in the chop.
Other players cashing in the record-breaking event included John Holley, Chino Rheem, Sheddy Siddiqui, Justin Young and Perry Shiao. The latter, who won the 2015 Monster Stack in a field of 7,192 at the World Series of Poker, finished 16th for $6,398.
It's not the first big cash for Reis at Seminole Hard Rock. In 2014, the Brazilian topped a field of 1,250 in a $570 event at this very tournament series for $91,416. In April 2015, at Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, he officially took sixth in another $570 in another multi-way deal, banking $87,427.
Image courtesy of Seminole Hard Rock
