Back in 2013 the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida launched a very special main event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO). The main event was promoted as a special $10 Million Guarantee Championship Event and proved to be extremely successful for the Seminole casino as the tournament brought in more than 2,300 registered players.
The fantastic response allowed the Seminole casino to guarantee and even bigger prize pool that was close to $12 million. The event was eventually won by Blair Hinkle who walked away with a cash prize that totalled $1,745,245. Encouraged by the success of their first $10 million dollar guarantee main event, the Seminole casino launched a second $10 million dollar main event in 2014 but the response was poor and the casino had an overlay that was close to $2.5 million.
SHRPO has decided to tweak the main event for the 2015 tournament and has announced a $5 million guarantee with a buy-in set at $5,250 per participant. The tournament is scheduled to take place from the 30th of July to the 29th of April and will work on a freezout format. This means there will be no re-entries and only one starting flight will be allowed. SHRPO is yet to finalize a full list of events for the tournament and is expected to release an official schedule in the coming weeks.
In a statement, Matt Savage, Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open tournament consultant said
This year’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship is an event not to be missed. With no reentry, the format becomes a level playing field for poker pros, satellite winners, and recreational players alike. The post-lim events carrying massive guarantees ensure that even if a player busts out of the Championship event, there are more ways to make a huge score.
CBS Sports Network has confirmed that they will telecast the SHRPO event at the start of 2016 and will feature for the first time a four event finale. CBS will cover four final tables namely the $1,100 side event, $2,500 side event, $25,000 High Roller and the Main Event.
CBS Sports Network has enlisted the services of Poker pro Phil Hellmuth who will host and provide insight into the final four tables.
Larry Frank, the General Manager of Poker Operations for Seminole Gaming is confident that the SHROP tournament this year will prove to be a great success based on the new format for the Main Event.
