Welcome to the $3 Million Guaranteed WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown

By Tim Duckworth

Season XVII continues on the World Poker Tour with the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $3,500 Main Event taking center stage at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. With two starting flights, and a $3 million guaranteed prize pool, the expectations are high as always for the ninth installment of this event.

In Season XVI, the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown attracted 1,309-entrants which was the biggest field size for the season. The final table included WPTDeepStacks Champion Jeff Fielder, Matt Stout, Joey Couden, Brian Hastings, and Season VIII WPT Player of the Year Faraz Jaka. However, it would be Scott Margereson (pictured below) who would inevitably claim his first WPT title while collecting the $696,740 first-place prize.

In Season XV, Tony Sinishtaj topped the 1,207-entrant field to take home the $661,283 first-place prize, while in Season XIV, Justin Young defeated the 1,222-entrant field to collect the $669,161 first-place prize. The WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown is associated with attracting huge sized fields and currently holds the record for biggest field in World Poker Tour history when back in Season XII, Eric Afriat won the first of his two WPT titles after topping the 1,795-entrant field to capture the $1,081,184 first-place prize.

“Seminole Hard Rock welcomes back the World Poker Tour for the third time in Season XVII,” said Seminole Hard Rock Tournament Director Tony Burns. “Following an immensely successful WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open and WPTDeepStacks Hollywood, the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown caps off another stellar season of partnering with the World Poker Tour.”

Three Events Remain in Season XVII; Erkut Yilmaz Holding onto Hublot WPT Player of the Year Lead

WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, along with WPT Choctaw, and WPT ARIA Summer Championship are the final events for Season XVII, and also the final opportunities for players to secure points in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race.

In Season XVII, Erkut Yilmaz has four cashes and two WPT titles after winning the WPT Borgata Poker Open for $575,112 and the WPT Rolling Thunder for $303,920. Yilmaz currently sits on 2,300 points ahead of Dylan Linde who has 2,050 on the back of three cashes, two final tables, and a win at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1,631,468. Ping Liu (1,900 points) and Tony Ruberto (1,850 points) sit third and fourth respectively, while an abundance of Season XVII Champions Club members round out the top ten.

For the player that can follow in the footsteps of defending WPT Player of the Year Art Papazyan, and many other WPT legends before him, there are new prizes on offer for the eventual Season XVII Hublot WPT Player of the Year. Not only will the Hublot WPT Player of the Year for Season XVII win a custom Hublot timepiece and complimentary accommodation at select WPT Main Tour stops for Season XVIII, but he or she will earn $15,000 in WPT tournament buy-in credits. Prizes have been added for second- and third-place finishers in the race, as well. The runner-up receives $7,500 in WPT tournament buy-in credits and third place receives $2,500 in WPT tournament buy-in credits.

WPT tournament buy-in credits can be used in any global WPT event, including WPT Main Tour, WPTDeepStacks, WPT500, and WPT Special Events.

WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Structure and Schedule

The WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event features a $3,500 buy-in and a $3 million guaranteed prize pool. There are two Day 1 starting flights with the registration and unlimited re-entry period closing at the start of level nine on each Day 1 (approximately 9 p.m. EDT). The final table of WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown will be filmed and for television at HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Thursday, May 30, at 4 p.m. (PDT).

As is the case with all Season XVII WPT Main Tour stops, it comes with the new World Poker Tour structure that includes the big blind ante format and 40,000 in starting chips. The first two levels will be 100-100 and 100-200 with no ante before the big blind ante kicks in for Level 3 and onward. Level 3 will be 100-200 with a 200 ante, and the big blind ante will be the same price as the big blind from there on out.

The WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown schedule will see the two Day 1s start at 11 a.m. and play ten 60-minute levels with a 15-minute break after every two levels, and a 75-minute dinner break after level six (approximately 5:30 p.m.). Day 2 will also play ten 60-minute levels, while on Day 3 levels will adjust to five 90-minute levels. Day 4 will see 90-minute levels until the final table of six is reached, and when play resumes on May, 30, the the final table will play 60-minute levels.

With that, the stage is now set for the start of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event to begin at 11 a.m. (EDT). Stay tuned right here to WPT.com for the exclusive live coverage of the tournament from start to finish to see who becomes the next WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Champion, and wins his or her way to the season-ending Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive

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