WPT Seminole Hard Rock
The Rock N Roll Poker Open is the latest WPT stop at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. (WPT Photo)

The World Poker Tour continues Season XVII of the WPT Main Tour on Friday, November 23, with the start of the WPT Seminole Rock ’N’ Roll Poker Open from Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The venue is home to the largest WPT Main Tour event in history, and this season’s event comes with a $2 million guarantee on the prize pool.

The WPT RRPO $3,500 Championship runs November 23-28 and features two starting flights and unlimited reentry is allowed through the first nine levels. Per standard WPT Main Tour structure, players begin with 40,000 in chips, a big blind ante will be used, and the Action Clock will be entered into play once the field is one table off the money. Players will play 60-minute levels on Day 1 and Day 2 before the levels are kicked up to 90 minutes on Day 3 and Day 4.

The final table of the event will be live streamed on WPT.com on Wednesday, November 28.

WPT Events at Seminole Known for Huge Fields and Big Payouts

The addition of the Rock ’N’ Roll Poker Open to the World Poker Tour schedule is new, but the WPT has plenty of history with the host property, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, especially when it comes to $3,500 buy-in events. In addition to being home to the largest WPT Main Tour field in history, $3,500 buy-in WPT events at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino have an average field size of 1,278 entries over the last seven. In those seven events, nearly $29 million in total prize money has been awarded, for an average prize pool of more than $4.1 million.

The winner of that largest WPT Main Tour event in history was Eric Afriat, who topped an enormous field of 1,795 entries in the Season XII WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. The now two-time WPT champion Afriat won $1.081 million in that event.

Other past champions of World Poker Tour events at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino include Darryll Fish, Ryan Riess, Justin Young, Chino Rheem, and Taylor von Kriegenbergh. Von Kriegenbergh won the WPT event at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino with the largest first-place prize in history. He took down the Season IX WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown for $1.122 million.

Ruberto Leads Hublot WPT Player of the Year Race Heading In

With a large field anticipated for the event, one of the storylines heading in is that of the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race for Season XVII. Two-time WPT champion Tony Ruberto currently leads with 1,800 points. Ruberto won his second World Poker Tour title this season when he captured the WPT Maryland at Live! Casino crown. He also made the final table of WPT Choctaw, placing fourth.

In second place behind Ruberto is Erkut Yilmaz with 1,250 points, and then it’s Patrick Serda, Simon Lam, and Brady Holiman rounding out the top five with 1,200 points each.

As the WPT Seminole Rock ’N’ Roll Poker Open $3,500 Championship has a $2 million guarantee on the prize pool, a minimum of 1,200 points will be awarded to the winner. Minimums of 1,000 points and 900 points will go to second and third places, respectively.

The winner of the Hublot WPT Player of the Year for Season XVII will earn a $15,000 WPT Passport for buy-ins across the tour and a special Hublot watch.

Appetizing Side Events During Championship

During the dates of the Season XVII WPT Seminole Rock ’N’ Roll Poker Open $3,500 Championship, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has three side events with buy-ins above $1,650.

First is the $1,650 Deep Stack Purple Chip Bounty tournament that comes with a $100,000 guarantee. This event runs November 25-26.

On November 26, the $5,000 Eight-Handed tournament kicks off. It is scheduled as a one-day tournament with a $250,000 guarantee.

Also starting on November 26 is the $2,200 Deep Stack PLO tournament that is scheduled for two days and allows reentry.

Thousands Already Showing Up

This year’s Seminole Rock ’N’ Roll Poker Open is already off to an impressive start. The opening event of the series, the $360 Deep Stack Reentry tournament that boasted a $1 million guarantee, attracted 4,558 entries and generated a guarantee-busting prize pool of $1.367 million. The event was won by Texas’ Trung Pham for $123,364 after a seven-way deal at the final table.