A decade ago, heck, even just a few years ago, did anyone ever think that the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida would at any point be the center of the poker world? Not Las Vegas, not Atlantic City, not even Hollywood, California, but Hollywood, Florida? That’s not to say that the city of around 150,000 residents is about to overtake Las Vegas as the world’s poker hub, but the next couple weeks, it will certainly be the focus of everyone’s attention.
With the move of the World Poker Tour’s season-ending event to the Seminole Hard Rock, the casino has taken it upon itself to make sure that its venue is the place for poker right now. Starting Friday, anyone who has won a WPT event can pony up $15,000 for the WPT Tournament of Champions, which replaces the traditional WPT World Championship open event. But before that, players still have a couple chances to qualify. Yesterday, more than 300 showed up for the $10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale, while the older and less expensive $3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown has made it to the final table.
It is an interesting way to construct a schedule; the Seminole Hard Rock clearly wants as many poker players as possible to not only come to the casino, but to stay as long as possible. As such, the Showdown began last week and allowed players to re-buy as many times as they wanted through Level 8, generating 1,222 registrants. Then, rather than just playing through to a winner today, the tournament is paused until Wednesday while the Finale begins. The Finale is on to Day 2 Monday; players can late register up until the cards get in the air. Everything will be concluded by the time the WPT Tournament of Champions kicks off Friday.
The final table of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown is also a bit untraditional, as it is ten-handed. Normally, WPT final tables are just six-handed. Ten-handed, though, is weird even outside of the World Poker Tour; the most players one usually sees at a full table is nine.
Hyoung Chae is the chip leader going into final table play of the Showdown with 6.225 million chips. Tim Reilly, with 5.795 million, lurks close behind, while Sam Soverel (4.715 million), Ben Tarzia (4.54 million), and Matt Haugen (4.425 million) round out the top five, all over the 4 million chip mark.
Still alive in ninth place with 1.14 million chips is the person who could end up creating the biggest story of the week, Cate Hall. Based on chip counts, she is probably a long shot, but should she climb to the top and end up with all the chips, she would become the first female in history to win an open World Poker Tour Main Event. On top of that, she is amongst the leaders for the WPT Player of the Year crown and with just these three events remaining at the Seminole Hard Rock, this final table could prove to be significant in the POY race. She is the only player at the final table with a shot at the POY award. Currently, Mike Shariati sits atop the leader board with 2,450 thanks to three WPT cashes, two final tables, and one title, while Cate Hall is in sixth place with 1,550 points. She actually has more cashes (five) and now one more final table than Shariati, but the lack of a victory is the difference for her right now. If Hall finishes first or second on Wednesday, she will overtake Shariati for the lead. Of course, things could change with the Finale or Tournament of Champions (Hall would need a win this week to qualify for the latter), but for now, the top spot is in striking distance for Hall.
As mentioned, the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown final table will be held Wednesday, while Day 2 of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale gets underway shortly.
