An Epic Party and Brutal Bubble Beat at the WPT Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
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Over a 24-hour period at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO) in the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, an epic player party took place and a brutal bubble hand saw players make the money in the $3,500 Main Event.
PokerNews was on-site for both and felt compelled to share some details with poker fans, which you can read about below. In the meantime, be sure to check out some of our other content from the WPT RRPO.
- Kentucky’s All-Time Money Leader Kurt Jewell Looks to Boost Earnings on the WPT
- Baumstein, Holley & Singh Find Success at WPT Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO)
- Seminole Hard Rock Crusher Michael Newman Seeks to Win RRPO for 2nd Time
Nate Silver Brings the Pain
Day 2 of the WPT RRPO $3,500 Main Event saw 513 players from a 1,541-entry field return to action, and over the course of the next nine hours the field whittled itself down to 194 players. That marked the stone bubble as the top 193 finishers were guaranteed a minimum payday of $5,600 and a chance at the $785,800 top prize.
According to updates from the event, it was Level 17 (5,000/10,000/10,000) and just the second hand of hand-for-hand play when a flop read J♠10♣9♠ and Sean Posner checked from the big blind. Famed statistician Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight then moved all in with the covering stack.
Posner called off with the A♠Q♠ for both straight and flush draws, which was well out in front of Silver’s inferior 7♠4♠ flush draw. According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Posner was an 85.45 percent favorite to survive the hand while Silver would come from behind just 13.64 percent of the time.
The 4♦ on the turn flipped the script by pairing Silver, and he became a 56.82 percent favorite. Posner had plenty of outs but the 2♣ river was not one of them. Just like that Posner was ousted in 194th place as the official bubble boy of the 2022 WPT RRPO.
Party Like a Rockstar
On Saturday night, players were invited to a “Player Party” at L Bar, the resort’s intimate lounge and cocktail bar that offers the finest handcrafted cocktails and a specialized menu of premium tequilas.
Anyone who entered the WPT RRPO Main Event was invited to attend, and dozens did including Christian Harder, Brock Wilson, Ryan Riess, Josh Reichard, Nick Pupillo, Allen Kessler, and arguably the star of the show, Robbi Jade Lew, who has gained poker notoriety due to cheating allegations on Hustler Casino Live (HCL).
Guests were greeted by none other than WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage, who doled out drink tickets. Once inside an exclusive area roped off for the party, attendees were treated to hors d'oeuvres including wagyu skewers, mango and Prosciutto, tuna, and more.
Another star of the party was Steve “Cuz” Buckner, who drank and danced his pain away after busting late on Day 1b boat over boat. One of poker’s breakout players, and most certainly characters, in 2022, Buckner leads the WPT Season 20 Player of the Year race.
Two-time WPT champ Jonathan Little was also in the house. The WPT Season VI Player of the Year, who is a frequent strategy contributor to PokerNews on behalf of his training site PokerCoaching.com, was consoling himself after busting late on Day 1b.
The party stretched into the early morning hours, and by most accounts was one of the more memorable player parties in recent memories. Not too surprising given the WPT has been going out of its way to make its 20th anniversary season something special!
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*Images courtesy of WPT/Drew Amato.
