2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Hollywood, FL
Event #8
$50,000 Super High Roller
Entries: 19
Prize Pool: $1,000,000
August 8-9, 2017
The $50,000 Super High Roller event was the biggest buy-in tournament on the 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open schedule and the $1,000,000 prize pool attracted some of the top players in the game.
After two long days at the table, World Series of Poker bracelet winner and WPT Champions Club member Nick Schulman defeated Jake Schindler to earn the Super High Roller trophy along with the $440,000 first place prize.
The tournament included former SHRPO Champion Dan Colman, defending SHRPO Champion Jason Koon, WSOP bracelet winners Josh Arieh, David Peters, Ivan Luca, and Sam Soverel along with WSOP Circuit ring winner Schindler, plus high roller stars Bryn Kenney and Isaac Haxton. One of the last to enter was Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Chance Kornuth and one of the first was CEO-turned-high roller Kathy Lehne.
There were 16 players still around when dinner break was complete and it hit the final table only two hours later. Schulman and Kornuth held the two biggest stacks at the final table but each went in a different direction.
Kenney doubled through Kornuth who was eliminated in seventh place. Peters was knocked out in sixth place and the five remaining players bagged up their chips for a Day 2 return with only four of them set to earn a piece of the prize pool.
Schulman began Day 2 with a big lead while Rainer Kempe was the short stack. But it was not Kempe hitting the rail on the money bubble. Kenney lost a huge pot to Schindler with his rivered two-pair versus a straight to send him out short of the money.
Luca followed soon after when his queens could not hold against Schulman’s big slick and Kempe went out in third after his flopped straight flush draw could not hit.
This was the second consecutive deep SHRP Super High Roller finish for Kempe. He finished in third place during the WPT Seminole Hard Poker Showdown Super High Roller in March for $220,000 and he followed that up with a seventh place cash in the $111,111 WSOP High Roller for One Drop.
Schulman began heads up play still holding his big lead but Schindler fought a tough battle. He found himself with a short stack several times but managed to pull three double ups and was all in again with a chance to take the lead. He couldn’t hit what he needed and had to settle for the $260,000 runner-up prize while Schulman took top honors.
Schulman is a man of many talents. At the age of 21, he was the youngest player to win a World Poker Tour title at the time. Schulman followed that up with his first WSOP bracelet in 2009 and his second in 2012, both in No Limit 2-7 Lowball. He almost picked up a third in that game this summer but fell out in third place.
The more recent generation might recognize him from his work on the mic or in front of a camera. Schulman was a commentator for the Super High Roller Bowl at Aria and was part of the ESPN/PokerGo broadcast team during the WSOP Main Event.
Now Schulman can add SHRPO Super High Roller champ to his list of accomplishments. The $440,000 he earned for the victory is only the sixth biggest of his career, a good barometer of Schulman’s skill.
Congratulations to Nick Schulman and good luck in The Big 4.
Super High Roller results:
1st: Nick Schulman – $440,000
2nd: Jake Schindler – $260,000
3rd: Rainer Kempe – $180,000
4th: Ivan Luca – $120,000