The Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida is a poker player's dream. I drove to this East Coast poker destination while staying in the middle of the state in Lake Placid, while visiting my Dad and his wife. It's about a two-hour drive from there. Fortunately, however, there are over a million people living on the east coast of Florida in the West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami area who can visit here in 30 minutes or less. It's well worth the trip.

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2019 Winter Poker Open Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Florida $1,650 Winter Poker Open Main Event $500,000 Guaranteed Entries: 479 Prize Pool: $718,500 December 12-16, 2019. The Winter Poker Open spent 13 days awarding big money and Guitar Trophies with the Main Event headlining the schedule. The $1,650 buy-in tournament.

The Hard Rock casinos are the latest jewels in the gambling crown of the Seminole tribe of Florida. They have three of these huge and beautiful facilities – two on the east coast and one on the west coast in Tampa. This is in addition to three smaller rooms, including Immokalee and Brighton, that I've already reviewed, which have been around for about ten years.

The best adjective I can think of to describe the Hard Rock's poker room is 'snazzy'. There are 50 new tables, tastefully laid out in a beautiful, softly lit, nicely carpeted room. The ceilings are enormously high, giving the room almost an open-air feel. The chairs are well padded and very comfortable (but no wheels or height adjustments). The chips are new, as are the cards. This is poker at its best.

The games are great, too. Florida law does not permit limits higher than $5, nor no-limit games with higher than a $100 cap on the buy-in. Nevertheless, within those confines, the games are dynamic.

They have no-limit with blinds of $1 and $2, $2 and $5, and even $5 and $10 (yes, with only a $100 buy-in). For a short time, they tried to spread a $10/25 no-limit game with no cap on the buy-in. It went smoothly for three days or so, with pots into the five digits, until the state came in, with great fanfare, and shut it down permanently. Apparently, some Florida rooms have attempted to skirt the lawful limits by having players go all in on multiple hands in a row, until all players have $1,000 or so. But that's just a rumor.

In addition to the no-limit games, the room spreads $1/2 and $2/4 limit hold'em and Omaha-8. They 'offer' stud but never get enough players for a stud game (though the old Seminole casino literally across the street gets stud going, I later found out). They rake 10% up to a maximum of $5.

Unlike the other Seminole casinos I had visited prior to coming here, the crowd is young, vibrant, and full of gamble. Games run 24/7, so I had the pleasure, early on a Sunday morning, of playing with a few young folks who had been up all night playing poker and drinking. These were not the timid affairs of the no-limit games at Brighton or Immokalee. In my first hand, the player to my right raised blind to $25, 'because,' as he said, 'I have two green chips – hahahahahahahah.' I looked down and saw two queens and went all in after him. He called me blind with his remaining green chip as did a very attractive woman, dressed like a hooker.

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'Why not – any two cards can win,' she said. She only had $50 or so. She turned over K-6. He turned over 6-3. My queens held up and I won a nice little pot.

The game proceeded much like that for the hour or so that I was there, with unbelievably loose and wild play punctuated with laughing. Unfortunately I didn't have any other quality hands during my time at the table – and I lost a little of it back trying to push a couple of guys off a hand when I was under-gunned. But I managed a $100+ win for my brief stay.

I also found out that the room runs terrific and fairly big tournaments. There's a daily bounty tournament with a $100 - $350 buy-in, depending on the day of the week. On Saturday there's a $500 tournament with one $500 rebuy. The house charge for that is $75. If you take the rebuy that's only a 7.5% vig, pretty small by most standards.

The poker room is non-smoking but there is no wall separating it from the rest of the casino, which is smoking. There's just a rail. Smokers lean on it while watching the action. My table was next to the rail. A player literally would stand up when he was out of the hand, smoke a cigarette at the rail, and then come back in when he was done. The smoke often carried into the room and over the tables.

The place is filled with young guys and gals – in couples and alone – vacationing and having a grand old time. There was an equal mix of what looked like older tourists, maybe grandparents with their kids and grandkids. The average age on this Sunday morning seemed to be about 40 or so. As is befitting a mixed-age crowd like this there are a lot of eating options. I walked into the most elaborate buffet I had ever seen – custom-made omelets, sushi, exquisite pastries, beef tenderloin, eggs benedict, baked Alaska, smoked salmon, stir-fried prawns in pepper sauce, and just about anything else you can imagine. There are also other restaurants on the premises, and a multi-restaurant food court with a full array of Mexican, Italian, Chinese, and standard American fare – none of it terribly pricey.

I'd love to come back. And unlike the other Seminole properties, this is a place that I could bring the wife and kids, who could find many ways other than poker to amuse themselves.

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino - Hollywood
1 Seminole Way
Hollywood, FL 33314
General phone: 954-327-7625

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“The Big 4” Four-Tournament Finale Carrying a Combined $6.5 Million in Guaranteed Prize Pools Will Be Televised and Live Streamed in Partnership with Poker Night in America

Poker action at Seminole Hard Rock’s new Hard Rock Event Center during April 2018’s Poker Showdown

The Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) will celebrate the sixth season of highly anticipated, top tournament play at South Florida’s iconic entertainment destinationSeminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. SHRPO will kick off Thursday, Aug. 2 with the $570 Deep Stack series opener highlighting a $1 Million Guarantee.

Unique to South Florida, SHRPO is known for its one-of-a-kind finisher – The Big 4. The Big 4 is a collection of four-tournament finales that feature staggered structures, timed so the events climax alongside one another in front of a live audience. Filmed by Poker Night in America and televised on CBS Sports Network, The Big 4 will be played at the resort’s new Hard Rock Event Center on Tuesday, Aug.14. All of the synchronized poker action will be live streamed on SHRPO.com.

Carrying combined prize pools of $6.5 million, The Big 4 premium events include:

• $5,250 SHRPO Championship NLH (Single Re-Entry), $3 Million Guarantee, starts at noon on Friday, Aug. 10
• $2,650 NLH (Single Re-Entry), $1 Million Guarantee, starts on at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 12
• $1,100 NLH (Re-Entry), $500,000 Guarantee, starts at 11 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 13
• $25,500High Roller (Re-Entry), $2 Million Guarantee, starts at noon on Monday, Aug. 13

Other highlight events surrounding The Big 4 include the $50,000 Super High Roller highlighting a $1 Million Guarantee and the Jeff Conine Celebrity Poker Classic presented by the Charity Series of Poker.

The resort’s new Hard Rock Event Center will serve as the primary tournament space during the 13-day series. This space first hosted poker events during April’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown when it housed nearly 80 tables and was filled to capacity during the weekend play.

Last year’s SHRPO Championship saw Martin Kozlov best 887 entries for more than $750,000. The Big 4 in 2017 boasted more than $5.8 million earned between the four final tables with the quartet of winners taking home more than $1.8 million.

On Thursday, Aug. 9, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and the Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) will once again host The Jeff Conine Celebrity Poker Classic benefitting the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation. The charity event will kick off with an exclusive VIP player party in the new Terrace Ballroom at Hard Rock Event Center from 5:30 – 7 p.m. prior to the tournament’s start time at 7 p.m. Guests will enjoy live music, cocktails, hors d’ oeuvres, and a chance to win a variety of prizes including a seat in the SHRPO Championship. Buy-in for the charity event is $300 and players can re-enter throughout the evening. Former major league baseball player Jeff Conine will be in attendance along with other celebrities.

Tournament promotions include the property’s signature “Win a Seat” program. Participants can visit HardRockPoker.com to enter for a chance at a $5,250 entry into the SHRPO Championship. A total of three winners will be selected.

Poker hotel rates during SHRPO will start at $139 on weekdays and $189 on weekends. For more information and to view the series schedule, future tournament details and make hotel reservations, please visit SHRPO.com. Follow us on Twitter at @SHRPO and @SHRThePokerRoom, #SHRPO.

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About Seminole Hard Rock Poker

Seminole Hard Rock Poker encompasses four major poker series held annually at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. In August 2013, the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) was introduced to poker players around the world and featured a $10 million guarantee championship, the largest guarantee in history. In addition to the SHRPO, Seminole Hard Rock Poker series’ includes the Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open (January), Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown (April) and Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll” Poker Open (November). All four series fall under the SHRPO umbrella with tournament news, live updates and championship live streaming. Visit www.SHRPO.com. Join the conversation at #SHRPO, and tag us @SHRPO.

About Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Hard Rock Casino Hollywood Florida Poker Tournament

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is South Florida’s iconic entertainment destination located minutes from Fort Lauderdale’s world-famous beach. The AAA Four Diamond-rated resort features 469 luxury guest rooms and suites, award-winning restaurants, a lagoon-style pool and Beach Club Bar & Grill, a Hard Rock-inspired spa, premium meeting and convention space and Hard Rock Event Center – the 3,600-seat entertainment venue that is home to some of South Florida’s top concerts, comedy shows and events. The casino offers 120 live table games, 2,000 of the newest and most popular slots and a 37-table poker room. Fine dining options include Council Oak Steaks & Seafood, the resort’s signature steakhouse, and Kuro, a luxe and socially vibrant restaurant offering new-style Japanese cuisine. In the heart of the hotel is L Bar, a sophisticated, contemporary lounge showcasing handcrafted classic cocktails with a twist. Contemporary and casual eateries, include Blue Plate, the hotel’s 24-hour diner-inspired restaurant; Constant Grind, a gourmet coffee and pastry shop; and the ever-famous Hard Rock Cafe – Hollywood, part of Hard Rock’s 182 globally recognized rock ‘n’ roll restaurants.

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For more information, call 800-937-0010, visit us online at www.seminolehardrockhollywood.com, or follow us on Facebook: @SeminoleHardRockHollywood, Twitter: @HardRockHolly, Instagram: @HardRockHolly