The World Poker Tour (WPT) will return to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida this November for the WPT Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO), which will culminate with the $3,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Main Event taking place from November 25-30.
Massive fields and big prize pools are expected at the WPT Seminole RRPO, which comes after the successful Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown earlier this year that attracted thousands of players across dozens of events.
“Our previous Main Event for this festival more than doubled the guarantee,” World Poker Tour CEO Adam Pliska said in a press release. “The enthusiasm for these events has been remarkable, and I look forward to continuing our ongoing streak of bigger and bigger prize pools for the RRPO Main Event.”
$2 Million Guarantee
The WPT Seminole RRPO Main Event has a $2 million guaranteed prize pool and could easily surpass that if the Main Events of previous years are any indication. The Season 19 WPT Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open in December 2021 attracted 1,566 runners to generate a prize pool of $5 million, two and a half times the guaranteed $2 million.
The previous year, the WPT Seminole RRPO Main Event drew a field of 988 players to generate $3.1 million in prize money, while the 2018 Main Event had 1,309 entrants for a prize pool of $4.2 million.
“I look forward to continuing our tradition of highly anticipated events this Fall,” said Jason Heidenthal, Tournament Manager at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood. “We’ve been planting seeds to make sure Hollywood is considered a poker player destination for years, and the upcoming festival will continue to accelerate that momentum.”
Previous WPT Seminole RRPO Prize Pools and Turnouts
| YEAR | ENTRANTS | PRIZE POOL (IN USD) | |
| 2021 | 1,566 | $5,011,200 | |
| 2019 | 988 | $3,146,000 | |
| 2018 | 1,309 | $4,188,800 | |
| 2017 | 585 | $2,000,000 |
In addition to the marquee Main Event, WPT Seminole RRPO will feature a $400 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Deep Stack event with a guarantee of $1 million. Other events taking place November 16-30 will be added to the schedule in the coming months, according to a press release from WPT.
Entrants into all events on the WPT Seminole RRPO schedule will be eligible for WPT’s Player of the Festival leaderboard, which awards a $1,100 WPT Prime Passport to the player with the most points over the course of each tournament festival. Additionally, players can qualify online in the coming months through ClubWPT.
2022 WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Preliminary Schedule
| DATE | EVENT | BUY-IN | |
| November 16, 2022 | No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack | $400 | |
| November 25, 2022 | No Limit Hold'em - Main Event | $3,500 |
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Previous Winners
Lithuania's Gediminas Uselis is the reigning WPT Seminole RRPO Main Event champion after taking down the 2021 event for a career-best $778,490 and his first WPT title.
Jacob Ferro finished in second for $573,605, while others players who made it to the six-handed final table included Harout Ghazarian (3rd - $380,000), Selahaddin Bedir (4th - $282,380), Clayton Maguire (5th - $211,925) and Anshul Rai (6th - $170,835).
2021 WPT Seminole RRPO Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gediminas Uselis | $778,490 |
| 2 | Jacob Ferro | $573,605 |
| 3 | Harout Ghazarian | $380,000 |
| 4 | Selahaddin Bedir | $282,380 |
| 5 | Clayton Maguire | $211,925 |
| 6 | Anshul Rai | $170,835 |
Uselis, who has $1.5 million in Hendon Mob-reported earnings, locked up the victory just weeks after taking down the $1,600 buy-in Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) event at Venetian in Las Vegas for $325,428, which was Uselis' best live cash for a brief period of time.
In 2019, it was Milen Stefanov who took down the Seminole RRPO Main Event to earn $545,070 and have his name engraved on the championship trophy, while Scott Margereson won the 2018 event for $696,740 and Michael Newman won the 2017 event for $374,240.
*Image courtesy of WPT.
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