2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open 
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida
Event 35
$2,650 No-Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry) 
Entries: 490 
Prize Pool: $1,188,250
August 8-10, 2021

The last time Shannon Shorr made his way to South Florida for a poker tournament was last April when he came down for the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.

The Alabama native and longtime poker pro took down the $5,000 no-limit hold’em deep stack event for $296,535. His next trip to the Hard Rock also produced a title.

Shorr bested a 490-entry and Aditya Prasetyo heads-up to earn $186,261 after the final three players agreed to a chop and a save. Shorr was guaranteed to take home $155,606 after the deal was made between the two finalists and Mukul Pahuja, but earned an additional $30,655 for the victory.

Prasetyo earned $170,243 for his runner-up finish and Pahuja netted $141,966.

“I actually bought into this tournament after busting the main [event] about 30 shy of the money. And immediately busted a bullet,” said Shorr after the win. “You get a single re-entry and from there it just went really smoothly.”

After the re-entry, Shorr had problems losing pots. He finished both Day 1 and 2 near the top of the chip counts and had one of the smoother rides to a title of any champion this series.

Outside of being seated on the direct right of Aditya Prasetyo, the only player who could bust him at the outset of the final table, Shorr’s path to victory saw very few speed bumps.

“On Day 1, I just ran really good in preflop all ins. And then yesterday I went on a super heater. Sometimes you just go on these rushes. Poker is so crazy because sometimes you just don’t have a clue how to play and sometimes everything just works out,” said Shorr. “I came into the final table with probably the worst seat at the table. I got off to a slow start, but I rallied and it was fun.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on most of the world, it did wonders for Shorr’s poker game.

“Since the pandemic, I’ve been working really hard on my game. I’ve been studying a lot and playing a lot of online poker during the break,” he said.

Aside from the increased studying, Shorr is expecting his first child in the coming months. With fatherhood looming, Shorr is becoming more efficient with his time and making the most of his time on the road.

“It’s actually sort of tunneled me into this mindset where I’m actually super motivated to bring my best self and sort of do all the right things on these trips, as opposed to party and waste time,” said Shorr.  “I’m living much more intentionally knowing that I’m going to be a dad.”

*Reflects chop and save

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 490

Mukul Pahuja raised to 600,000 on the button, leaving less than that behind. Shannon Shorr three-bet out of the small blind to 1,125,000, which was exactly Pahuja’s entire stack.

Aditya Prasetyo folded and Pahuja called. Pahuja showed and was dominated by Shorr’s .

The board ran out and Pahuja was out in third place for $141,966.

Shannon Shorr – 6,175,000
Mukul Pahuja – Eliminated

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 490

Once James Miller was eliminated in fourth place, the remaining three players began talking about a chop.

After looking at the ICM numbers, Mukul Pahuja, Aditya Prasetyo and Shannon Shorr started talking about a possible chop.

After lengthy negotiations, the three players agreed to a chop with money saved for the eventual champion. Prasetyo took the most guaranteed money since he possessed the largest stack, Pahuja took the least money and the three players agreed to save $30,655 to give to the eventual winner.

Here is a look at the guaranteed payouts:

Aditya Prasetyo – $170,243
Shannon Shorr – $155,606
Mukul Pahuja – $141,966

Whoever wins will earn an additional $30,655.

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 490

On the turn, with the board reading , James Miller checked from the big blind and Aditya Prasetyo bet 150,000 on the button.

Miller check-raised to 700,000 and Prasetyo moved all in. Miller called and was all in for about 1,800,000. He showed , good for two pair, but needed to fill up against Prasetyo’s .

The river was the and Prasetyo won the pot with a straight to eliminate Miller in fourth place for $72,650.

With the win, Prasetyo has about half of the chips in play as three-handed play begins.

Aditya Prasetyo – 6,150,000
James Miller – Eliminated

2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida 
Event 39 
$25,500 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller
$2,000,000 Guaranteed 
Entries: 91 
Prize Pool: $2,247,700
August 9-10, 2021

Joe McKeehen added another title to his already lengthy poker resume on Tuesday evening at the Hollywood Hard Rock after taking down one of the largest buy-ins of the series.

The 2015 World Series of Poker main event champion bested a field of 91 entries in the $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller event to earn $550,990 in a heads-up chop with four-time World Poker Tour champion Darren Elias.

Over the course of his decade-long career as a poker pro, Tuesday’s victory was his 24th of his career. And in his words, it was a smooth ride to victory.

“I came in with a lot of chips and had a lot of hands early. I made some nice hands, won some pots and kind of just stayed afloat from that point on,” said McKeehen. “I got to three-handed and had some chips. I got a little lucky and that was that.”

McKeehen made his mark on the poker world with his WSOP main event win worth $7.68 million. Unlike several other main event champs, the Pennsylvania native has proven himself to be more than a one-hit wonder.

Since then, McKeehen has cemented himself as one of the best in the game and will play the highest stakes available if he’s at the tournament stop.

The victory is a continuation of his success from the summer. In June, McKeehen won the $10,000 no-limit hold’em at the U.S. Poker Open for $200,200 and then turned around two days later and finished third for $102,000 in another $10,000 U.S. Poker Open event. His latest six-figure score bumped his career live tournament earnings to more than $18 million.

“I love playing the high rollers here,” said McKeehen. “They get good turnouts usually and they’re good fields. They end in two days so the structure is pretty good. There’s a decent amount of play, but I also like the one-day ones as well. I just like to play. I play what’s offered.”

McKeehen came into the final table with 56 big blinds and the chip lead. He extended it as he eliminated Nadya Magnus in eighth, Joseph Cheong in sixth and Thomas Boivin in third.

After Boivin was eliminated in third, McKeehen was left heads-up with Darren Elias. The two were very close in chips, but agreed to a deal that saw McKeehen take home $550,990 and Elias $539,135.

*Reflects Heads-Up Deal

2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida
Event 38
$1,100 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 567
Prize Pool: $567,000
August 9-10, 2021

Heading into one of the final events of the 2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, Scott Baumstein already cashed six times and made three final tables.

Following a third-place finish in an $1,100 no-limit hold’em deepstack for $34,855 and a fourth-place in the $1,700 no-limit hold’em deepstack purple chip bounty for $11,035 just last week, Baumstein capped off his series with a victory in the Big 4’s $1,100 no-limit hold’em.

Baumstein took the winner’s spot in a four-way chop after defeating a field of 567 entries to earn the trophy and $81,220. Over the course of the three-week series, Baumstein earned $132,215.

Baumstein came into the Tuesday’s final table second in chips and vaulted into chip lead one of the first hand off the deck. Baumstein found himself in a three-way all in against Katie Wier and Matt Giametta. Baumstein tabled A-K and was up against Wier’s 10-10 and Giametta’s Q-Q.

Baumstein drilled an ace on the river to open up a massive chip lead and cruise to the eventual victory.

“It was a really interesting spot,” said Baumstein after his victory. “He’s opening and first in chips and I’m second in chips. I just flat my ace-king suited. It would’ve been ICM suicide to three-bet there because I don’t really want to get it in, but once Katie goes all in, he sort of isolated her a little bit and then it is what it is at that point. My hand is really under repped and I just sort of have to go with it.”

Wier was eliminated in ninth for $10,800 and Giametta hit the rail a few hands later in seventh.

From there, Baumstein was just trying to make adjustments and not make the same mistakes he made at final tables earlier in the series.

“It was a really good way to cap a really long and grueling series,” he said. “I’ve been here grinding almost every day for 20 days and I was able to finally close one out after the chop. I was at the $1K final table last week and had some regrets. So I did things a little differently this time. I’m happy that it went better today.”

Baumstein ended up in a cooler situation five-handed or he likely would’ve taken home more money in the four-handed ICM deal. When Kyle Merron was eliminated in fifth, Baumstein and Aaron Pinson played a massive side pot with Pinson’s A-A besting Baumstein’s K-K. Merron was drawing dead on the turn after he also got all the chips in the middle preflop with Q-10.

With Pinson dragging the pot, he moved up the leaderboard and was second in chips, but the chip counts were so close that when the final four players looked at ICM numbers, Pinson and Baumstein received the exact same payout.

Since Baumstein had the ever so slight chip lead, the New York native took home the top spot and the trophy.

World Poker Tour Borgata champion Donald Maloney finished fourth and earned $48,500 in the chop.

*denotes four-handed deal

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 490

On the river, with a completed board of , Dan Colpoys was in the big blind and heads-up against Aditya Prasetyo on the button.

Colpoys checked the river and Prasetyo bet enough to put Colpoys all in. Colpoys quickly committed his last 350,000 and tabled .

Prasetyo stared at the cards for a few moments, realizing that Colpoys rivered a flush, and flashed , good for two pair, before his cards were sent to the muck.

Dan Colpoys – 1,150,000
Aditya Prasetyo – 2,600,000

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 567

Kyle Merron raised to 400,000 from under the gun, leaving himself with about 220,000 behind. Aaron Pinson called on the button before Scott Baumstein moved all in from the big blind.

Merron called and Pinson called as well. Pinson was all in for 1,855,000 and all three hands were tabled.

Merron:
Baumstein:
Pinson:

Merron was in bad shape, but the cold deck produced a massive side pot between Pinson and Baumstein.

The board ran out , which sent both the main and the side pot to Pinson and eliminated Merron in fifth place for $26,570.

Aaron Pinson – 3,700,000
Scott Baumstein – 4,650,000
Kyle Merron – Eliminated

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 490

David Shmuel moved all in from the cutoff for 490,000 and Shannon Shorr called on the button.

Shorr turned over and was dominated by Shmuel’s .

The board came and Shmuel doubled up again.

David Shmuel – 1,105,000
Shannon Shorr – 2,450,000

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 490

Steve Karp raised to 200,000 on the button, leaving himself just 20,000 behind. David Shmuel folded his small blind and Shannon Shorr raised from the big blind. Karp called and was all in for 220,000.

Karp showed and had a slight lead against Shorr’s .

The board came and Karp doubled up through the chip leader.

Steve Karp – 515,000
Shannon Shorr – 3,350,000