The penultimate Main Event of the WPT´s Season XII starts today when the cards go in the air for the $5million guaranteed Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.
$5Million WPT Seminole Main Event Starts Today
The penultimate Main Event of the WPT´s Season XII starts today when the cards go in the air for the $5million guaranteed Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.
The build up to the climax of the World Poker Tour Season XII may have already got underway at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, but there is still one big Main Event to play before the WPT World Championship on April 21st.
Today sees the first of three opening flights for the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event – a re-entry event in which players can enter all three Day 1s and take their best stack through to Sunday´s Day 2.
The $5 million guaranteed prize pool is the largest ever to be offered for a $3,500 buy-in, and the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown is sure to be well attended, with many well-known poker players already in town for the televised event.
WPT Seminole Main Event Details
Each day´s action gets underway at 12:00 noon (with the exception of next Wednesday´s final table), with players receiving 30,000 starting chips. Ten 60-minute levels will be played on Days 1 and 2, with levels increasing to 90 minutes on Day 3 – when play will conclude with just eighteen players remaining.
In keeping with recent WPT Main Events, the chip leader at the end of each Day 1 will received a $5,000 bonus with the runner-up picking up a $2,500 bonus; however, a new regulation has been introduced into the tournament rules to prevent players attempting to gain a Lusardi-esque advantage by playing with counterfeit chips. Rule 13 states:
“Any unauthorized chips introduced into tournament play will be immediately removed upon detection without substitution. Any parties determined to be responsible for the introduction of said chips will be disqualified without refund. It’s each and every player’s responsibility to bring to management’s attention unusual chips, circumstances, or irregularities”.
Some Players Already in the Money
The WPT Seminole Main Event features a quarter of the way through an extensive 62 tournament schedule already underway in the ballroom of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, and already fourteen tournaments have concluded.
The biggest winner to date has been Daniel Piela, who collected $144,294 for winning the $1million guaranteed Event #1, with the full list of winners to date as follows:
| Event # | Description | Winner | Prize |
| 1 | $1 Million Guarantee | Daniel Piela | $144,294 |
| 2 | Ladies Event | Elissa Halbreich | $2,730 |
| 3 | Black Chip Bounty | Henry Fermin | $2,711 |
| 4 | $1K NL Hold´em | Jerome Bradpiece | $28,587 |
| 5 | $200K Guarantee | Carlos Cruz | $35,880 |
| 6 | Omaha Hi/Lo | Robert Campbell | $4,925 |
| 7 | Pot Limit Omaha | Mohammed Arani | $5,880 |
| 8 | $500K Guarantee | Ken Begnoche | $97,737 |
| 9 | Seniors Event | Robert Transue | $7,244 |
| 10 | Black Chip Bounty | Zoltan Czinkota | $5,400 |
| 11 | Double Green Chip Bounty | Ivan Agnelli | $3,595 |
| 12 | Six Max NL Hold´em | Zo Karim | $68,000 |
| 13 | Deep Stack NL Hold´em | Michael Pickett | $15,575 |
| 14 | Eight-Game Mix | Cory Zeldman | $21,000 |
Other notable players to have also cashed in the above events include Darryll Fish, Zachary Kessler, Corrie Wunstal and Marsha Wolak, while leading US female player Amanda Musumeci – who enjoyed a deep run at the recent WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open – has already cashed twice in the series and will be a leading contender to be the first women to win a WPT Main Event when the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown gets underway later today.