The record-setting 2021 WPT Poker Showdown Championship celebrated our 10th anniversary with the World Poker Tour and the tournament is down to its final table; we had  2,482 entries but only six of them remain. They will head to Las Vegas to play it out in the PokerGo Studio on May 18 and one of them will walk away with $1,261,095.

We have a diverse group of players vying for the title with four of the six guaranteed to bank the biggest cash of their year no matter where they finish. Ken “Teach” Aldridge is the only WSOP bracelet winner at the final table and Sonny Franco is a former WPTDeepStacks Paris champ.

Here are the six players with a chance to put their name on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup and take home more than $1.2 million.

Seat 1.  Brek Schutten – 31,350,000

From Grand Rapids, MI, he has nearly $400,000 in earnings and this will be the biggest cash of his career no matter where he finished. Schutten has two WSOP Circuit final table appearances and this is his first SHRP Hollywood cash.

Seat 2.  Ken Aldridge – 10,600,000

From Pleasants Gardens, NC, the man they call “Teach” will cross over $2 million in career earnings with his results from this final table. He won a WSOP bracelet in 2009, has five WSOP final tables, and this is his second WPT final table. Aldridge also owns an SHRP trophy from winning the LHPO Six-Max PLO title in 2020.

Seat 3.  Steven Snyder – 15,975,000

From Charlotte, NC, his earnings will top $1,000,000 following the final table and this will also be the biggest cash of his career. Snyder owns three WSOP Circuit rings and this is his second WPT cash.

Seat 4.  Viet Vo –
4,150,000

From Pearland, TX, just like “Teach” in Seat 2, Vo will push his career earning over $2 million regardless of where he finishes at the final table. Vo has two WSOP Circuit ring, one other WPT final table, and an SHRP trophy from winning the 2015 LHPO Purple Chip Bounty event.

Seat 5.  Albert Calderon – 5,350,000

From Chandler, AZ, this is his first WPT cash and another player booking their biggest career payout from this final table. Calderon won the $1K Arizona State Championship event in 2019 for $237,000.

Seat 6.  Sonny Franco  – 31,900,000

From Morocco via France, Franco has more than $2 million in career earnings but this will still be his biggest cash as well. He won the WPTDeepStacks Paris title in 2020 and has three WSOP Circuit rings including a win in the WSOP Circuit Marrakech Main Event.

2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 29
$2,200 Deep Stack PLO (Re-Entry)
Entries:  168
Prize Pool:  $336,000
April 27-28, 2021

When Anthony Zinno entered the final event of the 2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, he knew that if he made Day 2, he’d have to postpone a trip to visit his family in Rhode Island for the first time since before the pandemic. So if he made it to Day 2, he’d have to make the most of it.

And that’s exactly what he did, winning the title, the trophy, and $68,732 in a heads-up deal with Haim Or Krief.

“Winning my first Seminole Hard Rock trophy feels pretty awesome,” said Zinno, “because it’s not easy in such big fields. Record-breaking fields.”

This $2,200 Deep Stack PLO event was the latest in a string of record-breaking field sizes, with the 168 entries nearly 50% higher than the previous Seminole Hard Rock record for this event.

And it wasn’t just a large field, but an experienced one as well, with some tough PLO players making the final table with Zinno, particularly Leif Force and Dylan Wilkerson.

But while Force was seated on Zinno’s direct right, Wilkerson had position on him, two seats to his left.

The key pot for Zinno was getting it all in with against a short-stacked Wilkerson, who had . The case king fell on the flop to give Zinno the pot and knock out Wilkerson in sixth place.

“Dylan [Wilkerson] was my most formidable opponent,” said Zinno. “Knocking him out was huge for my chances of winning, because instead of doubling him up and having a fierce opponent to my left, he was out and I had more chips. So that was a big momentum shift for me personally at the final table.”

This is Zinno’s fourth Omaha title since 2015, including two WSOP bracelets.

“Omaha is my favorite variant of poker, whether it be four-card PLO high, or five-card PLO, or PLO-8,” said Zinno. “I love all the HORSE games, and I love no-limit hold’em, but Omaha reigns supreme.”

And now Zinno wants to spread his love of the game to more players looking to transition to PLO.

“I’ve been thinking about doing some one-on-one PLO coaching,” said Zinno, “particularly for people who haven’t played much PLO, and want to learn. And this victory is motivation for me to pursue that.”

Final Results:

* Indicates results of a heads-up deal.