Patrick Eskandar, a player from Gulfport, Mississippi, ended Day 2 of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $5,250 No-Limit Hold’em Championship as the chip leader with 1,913,000 in chips. Zo Karim was, in fact, the player to hold the most chips towards the day’s final stages, but was leapfrogged by Eskandar on the very last hand of play.
Eskandar is a tournament regular with live tournament earnings of $548,331. He has cashed in 33 different events over the course of his poker career. His first-ever cash has actually been his largest one. The player’s first in-the-money finish was his 20th place in the 2010 WSOP $10,000 Main Event for a payout of $317,161. Over the years, he has cashed in multiple WSOP and WPT tournaments, among a number of others.
Looking back to this year’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $5 Million Guaranteed Championship, Day 2 of the event saw 279 hopefuls returning to play ten more one-hour levels. By the end of the day, the field was reduced to just 38 survivors who are to go back to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood poker tables at noon local time today.
The money bubble burst during Level 14 or the fourth level to be played on Day 2 of the tournament. Ben Eilers became the unfortunate bubble boy after his [Ad][Kd]
could not hold up against Zo Karim’s [Qd][Qc]
in an all-in confrontation.
This year’s edition of the prestigious tournament attracted a total of 847 entries. The event features a guaranteed prize pool of $5 million. Despite the broad interest in the Championship, the $5-million mark was not exceeded. The top 150 players will get a share of the money. The champion will be awarded $1 million and the tournament trophy. And each of the 38th remaining survivors are guaranteed a minimum payout of $22,500.
As already mentioned, the players are set to return at noon local time today to play down to a final table. The actual final table will be played on Tuesday, August 16. The $5,250 Championship is part of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open’s Big 4 selection of tournaments with a collective guaranteed prize pool of $7.5 million for entries. The $2,650 No-Limit Hold’em Freeze-Out, or the second Big 4 event kicked off on Sunday. The tournament features a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million.
The $1,1000 No-Limit Hold’em Re-entry with a guaranteed $500,000 prize pool and the $25,500 High Roller Re-Entry $1 Million Guaranteed are set to begin today and to be concluded tomorrow, thus marking the end of this year’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.
