2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$75,000 Guarantee

August 2 – 3, 2015

Total Entries:  89
Total Prize Pool:  $89,000

Recap:

A comfortable Sunday afternoon of poker brought out some of the top players for the biggest buy-in tournament to date in the young 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open. There will bigger and tougher games in the weeks to come, but the $1,100 buy-in Event 4 was a great end to the first weekend. After two days of action, former WPT Champion Aaron Mermelstein was the last player standing to win the title and over $30,000.

The tournament drew 89 entrants to easily surpass the $75,000 guarantee and they finished Day 1 with 11 players remaining. Since only the final table would get a piece of the $89,000 prize pool, they still had a little work to do when they returned for Day 2.

Mermelstein had the chip lead at the restart and only briefly let it go at different point in day. Jon Brody and Dalton Mills were the two unfortunates to miss out on the money and Stuart Paterson went out soon after the bubble burst.

The pace varied during the final table with long stretches of small ball followed by bursts of eliminations. The long, slow structure fit the buy-in amount well and the average stack stayed high during the entire tournament.

John Dubois briefly took the advantage away from Mermelstein with a hot streak until he ran into three hands to quickly reverse his run and send him out in 5th. Northeast grinders Mermelstein and Daniel Buzgon were comfortable playing big pots against each other but it was Alain Rodriguez who went heads up with Mermelstein for the title.

Rodriguez was looking at a 4-to-1 deficit and Mermelstein’s lead was never in danger. He finished it up when his hand had Rodriguez drawing dead on the turn to lock up the victory.

It was a long tournament but a quick run to the door for Mermelstein following his victory. The latest Seminole Hard Rock Poker champ had a plane to catch, on his way to a nice vacation in Panama before returning here next week.

Event 4 Results:

1st: Aaron Mermelstein (Philadelphia, PA) $31,150
2nd: Alain Rodriguez (Miami, FL) $16,910
3rd: Daniel Buzgon (Marlton, NJ) $10,680
4th: Marc Bronstein (Delray Beach, FL) $8,010
5th: John Dubois (Cutler Bay, FL)$6,230
6th: Manuel Vargas (Guaynabo, PR) $5,340
7th: John Mayers (Fort Lauderdale, FL) $4,450
8th: Jeffrey Trudeau, Jr. (Orlando, FL) $3,560
9th: Stuart Paterson (Boca Raton, FL) $2,670