2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open 
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida
SHRPO Championship
$5,250 No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$3,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  914
Prize Pool:  $4,432,900
August 10-14, 2018

Brandon Eisen came into the final table of the $5,250 SHRPO Championship with the chip lead, and while he didn’t lead wire-to-wire, he comfortably cruised to heads-up play against Jeremy Ausmus.

Even though Eisen entered heads-up play with a big lead, both players had more than 100 big blinds, and Ausmus put up a strong fight that lasted more hands (84 hands) than it took to reach heads-up play (61 hands). But Eisen came out on top to win the top prize of $771,444.

These were the official chip counts at the start of the final table:

Seat 1.  Joseph Cheong  –  1,265,000  (16 bb)
Seat 2.  Marcos Exterkotter  –  4,370,000  (55 bb)
Seat 3.  Adam Adler  –  3,745,000  (47 bb)
Seat 4.  Ryan D’Angelo  –  3,810,000  (48 bb)
Seat 5.  Stoyan Obreshkov  –  6,540,000  (82 bb)
Seat 6.  Jeremy Ausmus  –  4,090,000  (51 bb)
Seat 7.  Ido Ashkenazi  –  1,470,000  (18 bb)
Seat 8.  Jared Griener  –  3,975,000  (50 bb)
Seat 9.  Brandon Eisen  –  7,330,000  (92 bb)

In Hand #8, Stoyan Obreshkov and Marcos Exterkotter built up a pot of 3.2 million on a board of . Obreshkov moved all in, and Exterkotter called with . But Obreshkov turned over for a seven-high straight to send Exterkotter home in ninth place.

Marcos Exterkotter  –  Eliminated in 9th Place  ($77,132)

In Hand #17, Joseph Cheong shoved for 13 big blinds with , but it failed to hold up against the of Jeremy Ausmus, and Cheong busted in eighth place.

Joseph Cheong  –  Eliminated in 8th Place  ($102,843)

In Hand #26, Jared Griener check-raised all in after a flop of . Obreshkov called with , and Griener was on a draw with . The on the turn completed Griener’s flush, but the on the river gave Obreshkov a full house to eliminate Griener in seventh place.

Jared Griener  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($129,308)

Ido Ashkenazi had been the short stack ever since Cheong busted, and he had slowly dwindled down to just five big blinds by the time he shoved with in Hand #54. Unfortunately, he ran into Eisen’s , and the best hand held up to bust Ashkenazi in sixth place.

Ido Ashkenazi  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($156,215)

Three hands later, in Hand #57, Adam Adler three-bet all in with , and Ausmus called with . Usually this would be a chop, with Adler the favorite to make a flush. But the board came , sending Adler home in fifth place on one of the most annoying beats in hold’em.

Adam Adler  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($195,491)

The players were still talking about that hand when another all-in situation developed in Hand #58. Eisen four-bet all in, and D’Angelo called with — the same hand that sent Adler home a few minutes earlier. Eisen turned over , and it was a race situation.

The board came , and the pocket sixes held for Eisen to win the pot and eliminate D’Angelo in fourth place.

Ryan D’Angelo  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($258,615)

Stoyan Obreshkov was the short stack at that point, but he still had more than 50 big blinds, and with 90-minute levels, there should have been no sense of urgency.

But three hands later, in Hand #61, Obreshkov raised, Ausmus called, and Eisen three-bet it from the big blind. Obreshkov called, and Ausmus folded. There was already more than 2.8 million in the pot as the flop came . Eisen bet 900K, and Obreshkov called, building the pot to 4.6 million.

The turn card was the , Eisen check-raised all in, and Obreshkov called with and a freshly-turned pair of queens. But Eisen turned over , and when the hit the river, Obreshkov was out in third place.

Stoyan Obreshkov  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($349,889)

Unbelievably, it took only 61 hands to shrink the field down from nine to two, but that meant the final two were deep, with more than 100 big blinds each. These were the approximate chip counts at the start of heads-up play:

Brandon Eisen  –  23,000,000  (184 bb)
Jeremy Ausmus  –  13,000,000  (104 bb)

The situation didn’t change much over the next 23 hands. Then, in Hand #84, Eisen and Ausmus saw a flop of . Ausmus bet 300,000, and Eisen called. the turn was the , Ausmus bet 800,000, and Eisen called.

The river card was the , Ausmus checked, Eisen bet 2.1 million, and Ausmus check-raised to 8 million. Eisen eventually called with for a rivered nine-high straight, but Ausmus turned over to win a pot worth 18.9 million with a flopped full house.

That pot pretty much reversed the chip counts:

Jeremy Ausmus  –  23,550,000  (188 bb)
Brandon Eisen  –  13,050,000  (104 bb)

The chip stacks didn’t change too much over the next 22 hands, until the next big pot in Hand #107. Eisen three-bet it before a flop of , and then check-called a 1 million bet from Ausmus. The turn was the , and again Eisen checked, Ausmus bet 2.5 million, and Eisen called.

With 9.95 million in the pot, the river card was the . Eisen checked for the third street in a row, and Ausmus moved all in.

Eisen tanked for a long time before he called, and Ausmus showed for a flopped two pair. But Eisen turned over to win the pot with a jack-high straight and double up into a massive 30 million-to-6 million chip lead.

Ausmus was knocked down, but not out, and he fought hard for more than an hour on the short stack, making great folds and unwilling to give up.

But as the blinds got larger and his stack got smaller, he would have to make a stand, and when Eisen shoved the button in Hand #144 with , Ausmus eventually called all in for 19 big blinds with .

The board came — Eisen flopped two pair and Ausmus turned a king, but the river card was a blank. Eisen won the pot — and the SHRPO Championship — with two pair, queens and jacks.

And with that, the $5,250 SHRPO Championship was the third of the Big 4 tournaments to come to an end. Here are the final table results:

1st:  Brandon Eisen  –  $771,444
2nd:  Jeremy Ausmus  –  $540,459
3rd:  Stoyan Obreshkov  –  $349,889
4th:  Ryan D’Angelo  –  $258,615
5th:  Adam Adler  –  $195,491
6th:  Ido Ashkenazi  –  $156,215
7th:  Jared Griener  –  $129,308
8th:  Joseph Cheong  –  $102,843
9th:  Marcos Exterkotter  –  $77,132