It’s about to get even hotter in South Florida as the 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event gets underway this week.

Beginning on Friday, August 10, the popular Hollywood, Florida poker stop will kick off its Championship Event – a $5,250 buy-in tournament with a $3 million guarantee.

Take A Shot

The Main Event is a four-day affair and the structure is solid. Players will receive a 40,000 chip starting stack (400bb) and 60-minute levels to work with. When play reaches 27 players, the levels will extend to 90 minutes.

The tournament has two starting flights for players to choose from and a single re-entry for those who are unable to find their way into Day 2 on their first bullet. The single re-entry is not on a per day basis though, it’s one re-entry per player total. So, a player can fire Day 1A or Day 1B, bust and re-enter the same day or enter once on Day 1A and then on Day 1B.

Every day has a noon start (with the exception of the final table) and, much to the delight of most players, play features the big blind ante.

The Big Four

The final table, which kicks off at 1 pm on August 14, is part of SHRPO’s The Big 4. This is the fourth annual Big 4, where four different tournaments all play to a final table, all of which are filmed for broadcast at the same time. This year The Big 4 tournaments include the Main Event, a $25,000 High Roller with $2 million guaranteed, a $1,100 $500K GTD NLHE tournament and a single re-entry $2,650 $1 million GTD NLHE tournament.

Each of the tournament has their own starting days and structures. But on August 14 players from all four final tables will take their seats at the same time and those following along will be able to keep tabs on all simultaneously.

The Stars Come Out

The history of the SHRPO Main Event has included some of the biggest names in the poker world performing in top form.

Back in 2014, tournament organizers got aggressive and put a $10 million guarantee on the Main Event – one they missed by over $2 million. The bulk of that overlay was picked up by high stakes phenom Daniel Coleman who won $1,446,716 when he defeated Canadian superstar Mike Leah heads up for the title.

The next year, SHRPO scaled back a bit, offering a $5 million guarantee. Daniel Colman went deep once again, finishing in third of the 907 runners. However, it was Texas’ Omar Zazay that took home the $1 million first-place prize for his career-best score.

In 2016, it was a battle of high rolling regulars as Jason Koon bested Seth Davies for the $1,000,000 victory. Then, just last year, Australia’s Martin Kozlov bested a field of 887 runners, and a final table that included Matt Berkey, Adam Levy, and Joe Kuether, for over $750,000.

Added Value

Not only does SHRPO offer million dollar prize pools, this year they are offering up one of PokerStars’ coveted Platinum Passes. Players that enter any SHRPO event, including all of the pre and post-lims, will be entered in a drawing. The winner which will win themselves a Platinum Pass.

The pass is valued at $30,000 which includes the $25,000 entry into PokerStars PSPC, which takes place in the Bahamas in January, as well as $5,000 in expenses.

Satellites to the Main Event are running all week prior to the Main Event in the Seminole Hard Rock poker room. There are over 80 guaranteed seats into the Championship available over the course of the week, most of which come at a $570 buy-in.

Day 1A of the SHRPO $5,250 Main Event kicks off on August 10 at 12:00 noon ET.

SHRPO Schedule of Events