Five Burning Questions Ahead of WPT Seminole RRPO Championship

The WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open has become a late-season staple on the World Poker Tour in recent years, bringing players to South Florida to compete for a significant prize and a seat in the WPT World Championship.

WPT Season XXII is coming down to the wire, and over the next couple of weeks this wild year of poker will conclude with a flourish. Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood has played host to some of the biggest moments in WPT history, and there’s no reason to doubt there will be more to come starting on Friday afternoon when the Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open kicks off.

Ahead of the penultimate WPT Main Tour stop of the year, there are still a few elements that remain unknown until cards go into the air. And with that in mind, let’s dig into five burning questions that remain ahead of the Season XXII edition of the WPT Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open.

Will this stop at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood once again go down in the WPT record books?

Since the venue’s WPT debut back in Season IX, there have been 29 Main Tour events held at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood. Over $115 million in prizes have been awarded in total across those 29 tournaments.

Tournaments at this venue have completely rewritten the WPT record books. The record for the largest WPT Main Tour field size was shattered in Season XII, when 1,795 entrants turned out for the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. That record stood for seven years until the same event drew 2,482 entries in 2021 at the end of Season XVIII.

That Main Tour record has only been eclipsed by two editions of the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas, in Season XX (2,960) and Season XXI (3,835). To date, on the list of largest Main Tour turnouts in WPT history, Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood occupies spots No. 3 through 13 on the all-time list.

Biggest Main Tour Fields in WPT History

Event	Season	Entrants
WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas	XXI	3,835
WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas	XX	2,960
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown	XVIII (2021)	2,482
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown	XXI	2,290
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown	XX	2,010

This year’s edition of the WPT Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open seems poised to land somewhere within that highest echelon as well. It could not have a much better case of right place, right time, both in terms of its place on the calendar and geographic location. Before players head off in one of three directions for major festivals at the start of December, for the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas or elsewhere, South Florida is an ideal launching point for players around the world.

How big will the high roller events during the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open get?

One of the many draws of any festival at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood is a selection of high-roller events on offer for those who are eliminated from the WPT Main Tour event. During Days 2, 3, and beyond in the main attraction, tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $5,000 up to $25,000 will undoubtedly attract some of the biggest names in poker.

A quick look at the all-time money list for the venue offers a murderer’s row of tournament poker standouts, many of whom are likely to be firing again. Alex Foxen sits in the No. 1 spot by a hair with $3.2 million won in Hollywood, Florida, thanks to three second-place finishes and a third in $25K+ events at this venue, along with a win in a smaller buy-in event. Brian Altman sits second all-time, just $55,000 behind Foxen, thanks to his pair of WPT titles in the Lucky Hearts Poker Open and a $25K high roller win in 2022.

Sean Winter is third. Jason Mercier won two $25K events and a $50K at this venue, good for fourth all-time. Then there’s Daniel Colman. Justin Bonomo. Blair Hinkle, who won the biggest individual prize in the history of this venue, banking over $1.7 million in the $5,300 buy-in Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in August 2013.

With players who are set to fire one or multiple $25,000 entries at WSOP Paradise, at least a few $10,400 shots in the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas or €5,300+ at EPT Prague, to say nothing of all the high rollers at each of those stops, the potential for one of the biggest high roller turnouts ever during the Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open feels like it’s in play.

Will it finally be a local’s turn to win a WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open?

Over the course of the last 13 years, players from all corners of the globe have come to compete for WPT glory in South Florida and battle it out with a strong contingent of locals, both in terms of the number of local players and a deep talent pool. But over 29 events, only one Florida-born player – Darryll Fish in the Season XVI edition of the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open – and two Florida transplants, Eric Afriat and Milen Stefanov, have claimed victory.

When it comes to the WPT Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open in particular, since joining the WPT schedule in Season XVII, there has never been an American-born champion to date, with the five champions hailing from Moldova, Bulgaria, Lithuania, England, and Hungary.

Like Afriat and Stefanov, the vibrant Florida poker scene tends to draw in a significant number of international players. Recent WPT bestbet Scramble champion Nick Yunis, for example, was born in Chile and grew up in Miami, Florida. He moved back to South Florida for a couple of key reasons.

“I would say the two main reasons I came back are family and poker, because poker is absolutely fantastic in Florida,” said Yunis. “It’s one of the best places a professional poker player can play.”

Will someone make a statement and solidify their WPT Player of the Year odds in the last chance before Las Vegas?

There are three tournaments remaining in the race for WPT Season XXII Player of the Year, and while there is still plenty of opportunity for players to make a run at that title, some clear favorites have emerged in recent weeks.

Both Yunkyu Song and Eric Afriat made their second WPT Main Tour final table of the year in the WPT bestbet Scramble, with Song finishing second and Afriat taking third. That positions them as the two players leading the WPT POY chase as the tour heads south to Hollywood, Florida. By nature of his recent WPT Prime Playground championship win, Song holds a healthy lead over Afriat, with Afriat distancing himself from the rest of the pack.

A deep run or a third WPT Main Tour final table of the year for either player could be the deciding swing in this race. A victory at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood helped fuel Bin Weng to last year’s WPT Player of the Year win, and Song, Afriat or anyone else in the mix would do well to follow in Weng’s footsteps in the week to come.

Will we hear from Eric Afriat and Brian Altman, two of the most successful players in WPT history at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood?

Speaking of Afriat, it seems fairly likely he’ll be in the mix at the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open if history is any indication. Afriat won the Season XXII edition of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown and claimed one of six $1 million-plus prizes ever awarded at WPT events at the venue. He also finished second to James Carroll in that same event during Season XVII.

We can also expect to see Altman, the only player to date who has won two titles at this venue. Another deep run could easily position Altman as the winningest tournament player in the history of Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood.

Both Afriat and Altman are three-time WPT champions, searching for any opportunity to join Darren Elias in the exclusive four-time champions club. Afriat is in the midst of a career year, with close calls ending in second- and third-place finishes in WPT events already. But whenever the WPT heads to Florida, Altman tends to be deep in the mix more often than not.

On the surface, it can feel a bit silly to single out two individual players among a field of thousands. But time and time again, Afriat and Altman have proven proficient at navigating these particular minefields to put themselves into contention, and it would be foolish to count them out in any way.