Monthly Archives: June 2019

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Set for Aug. 1-13

Unsplash/Michał-Parzuchowski

he Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) will celebrate its seventh season of highly anticipated, top tournament play at South Florida’s iconic entertainment destination Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. SHRPO will kick off Thursday, Aug. 1 with the $600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (NLH) series opener highlighting a $1 Million Guarantee.

Unique to South Florida, SHRPO is known for its one-of-a-kind finisher – The Big 4. The Big 4 is a collection of four-tournament finales that feature staggered structures, timed so the events play down simultaneously in front of a live audience. Filmed by Poker Night in America and televised on CBS Sports Network, The Big 4 will be played at the resort’s Hard Rock Event Center on Tuesday, Aug. 13. All of the synchronized poker action will be live streamed on SHRPO.com.

“SHRPO is our flagship series and has put South Florida front and center on the poker map since the first $10 million guarantee in August 2013,” said Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood Tournament Director Tony Burns. “The tournament attracts a global audience and we’ve amped up this year’s series with new pricepoints as well as the return of The Big 4, a finisher unlike any other in the industry.”

Carrying combined prize pools of $6.5 million, The Big 4 premium events include:

  • $5,250 SHRPO Championship NLH (Single Re-Entry), $3 Million Guarantee, starts at 11 a.m.on Friday, Aug. 9
  • $2,650 NLH (Single Re-Entry), $1 Million Guarantee, starts at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 11
  • $1,100 NLH (Re-Entry), $500,000 Guarantee, starts at 11 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 12
  • $25,500 High Roller (Re-Entry), $2 Million Guarantee, starts at noon on Monday, Aug. 12
Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open

Other events surrounding The Big 4 include the $50,000 Super High Roller NLH (Re-Entry) highlighting a $1 Million Guarantee, which starts on Thursday, Aug. 8 at 1 p.m. and a $10,000 One-Day NLH event starting on Tuesday, Aug. 13 highlighting a $500,000 guarantee.

The resort’s Hard Rock Event Center will serve as the primary tournament space during the 13-day series. SHRPO’s footprint boasts capacity for more than 90 tables providing plenty of space for poker tournament players from around the globe.

Last year’s SHRPO Championship saw Brandon Eisen best 914 entries for more than $770,000, while The Big 4 events saw 2,099 combined entries awarding more than $9.2 million in prize money – a figure that easily surpassed the $6.5 million guaranteed.

On Wednesday, Aug. 7, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino again hosts the Jeff Conine Celebrity Poker Classic benefitting the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation. The charity event will kick off with an exclusive VIP player party in the Terrace Ballroom at Hard Rock Event Center from 5:30 – 7 p.m. prior to the tournament’s start time at 7 p.m. Guests will enjoy live music, cocktails, hors d’ oeuvres and a chance to win a variety of prizes including a seat in the SHRPO Championship. Buy-in for the charity event is $300 and players can re-enter throughout the evening. Former major league baseball player Jeff Conine will be in attendance along with other celebrities.

Tournament promotions include Seminole Gaming’s signature “Win a Seat” program. Participants can visit HardRockPoker.com to enter for a chance to win entries into major poker tournaments at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek and Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, including three winners of a $5,250 entry into the SHRPO Championship.

Poker hotel rates during SHRPO will start at $139 on weekdays and $189 on weekends. For more information and to view the series schedule, future tournament details and make hotel reservations, please visit SHRPO.com. Follow us on Twitter at @SHRPO and @SHRThePokerRoom.

Covers.com Celebrates $25,000 Streak Survivor Contest Winner

Covers.com, the leader in free-to-play sports betting contests, celebrated a milestone over the weekend when their contest player ‘mctrap’ got 21 consecutive wins in the Streak Survivor contest. He won $25,000 in cold-hard cash and a place on the coveted Streak Survivor All-Star list.

Streak Survivor is Covers.com’s sports betting contest for new and experienced sports bettors alike, where players can test their handicapping skills on most major sports. The more consecutive correct picks, the more they win. It’s that simple. Contestants vie to win cash and Covers prizes, including our $25,000 and $100,000 top prizes.

The landmark win for mctrap came on Saturday evening as he selected the Over 11 runs in the San Diego Padres-Colorado Rockies MLB game. As exciting as this achievement is, mctrap’s streak isn’t over yet: he’s now only four winning picks away from the $100,000 grand prize, which hasn’t been won since 2007.

“Our brain is like a pattern-seeking survival machine and the habits are how we ensure that we don’t always have to think too hard about what we’re going to do,” mctrap explained in an interview last Wednesday. “We look for familiar situations, so I have certain criteria that I look for as far as handicapping habits and I’ve just kind of developed those habits and I rely on those.”

His $25,000 prize is a fitting number as Covers enters into its 25th year anniversary in 2020.

“Running our Covers contests is an important part of providing a fun and engaging experience for our users. We are delighted to see Streak Survivor contestant mctrap doing so well, winning the $25,000 prize and close to our grand prize of $100,000,” says Mark Harper, General Manager of Nova Scotia Sports Media Pros and Covers Media Group.

mctrap is feeling good with his $25,000, but make no mistake: His streak is not finished yet and he has his sights on the $100,000 grand prize. His next pick isn’t in yet and he has until June 25 to make that selection.