2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
Entries: 395
Prize Pool: $1,000,000
August 13-15, 2017
The $2,650 Big 4 Freeze-out drew a talented field of players all vying for the $1 million guaranteed prize pool. After three long days, Alex Foxen won the title along with $204,600 despite some late trouble. Foxen was down to less than two big blinds with 20 players remaining, but he never gave up. He ran his stack back up, made the final table, and took over from there.
“I lost a big hand and I actually think I made a pretty big mistake,” he recalled. “I was down to 12,000 (blinds at 10,000/20,000) but I was back to 550,000 after one orbit.”
Foxen didn’t stop there. He finished Day 2 with a ticket to the final table, returned with the third biggest stack, and turned that into a six-figure payday.
The $2,650 buy-in tournament drew 395 players to the freeze-out tournament and only 69 of them were around when Day 1 came to a close. The starting Day 2 leader was Seminole Hard Rock regular Nigel Murray but he did not factor in the latter parts of the tournament. The field made into the money early in Day 2 with 52 players earning a piece of the seven-digit prize pool.
Jason Koon grabbed the lead late in Day 2 as the reigning Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Champion made a big run towards his second major SHRPO title. Several players took the lead as the night grew late and it was Jack Duong locking up the biggest final table stack as Day 2 came to a close.
The final table gathered on Day 3 in the Hard Rock Live Arena to play down to a winner in front of the Poker Night in America live-stream camera with more than $200,000 set aside for the winner.
Local favorite Jacquelyn Scott, the 2015 World Series of Poker Ladies Champion, was an early exit from the final table and she was followed by Tom Thomas not far behind. Darryl Ronconi went out next in a huge three-way all-in pot that sent him out and put Charles Gomez into the lead.
Local favorite Jacquelyn Scott, the 2015 World Series of Poker Ladies Champion, was an early exit from the final table and she was followed by Tom Thomas not far behind. Darryl Ronconi went out next in a huge three-way all-in pot that sent him out and put Charles Gomez into the lead.
That hand also put Duong on the short stack and he went out in fifth place followed by former SHRP winner Paul Balzano. That left newcomer Gomez up against Koon and Foxen, two of the most experienced players to start the final table, but he held his own.
Those three players took turns exchanging the lead and it was Koon who was first to fall. He went out to Foxen when his big slick could not hold against Foxen’s ace-queen. Foxen took a big lead into heads-up play and it ended quickly when Gomez ran into Foxen’s turned flush.
Gomez earned $143,340 for his runner-up finish, adding to his $8,000 in career results coming into the day, and he fought a tough battle. Foxen continued a hot run of results that includes three World Series of Poker final tables this summer.
“I feel like I’m playing the best I ever have,” Foxen said. “And I hope to keep it going.”
“I’ve been putting a lot of work into the game for a long time and that’s made a big difference in my game.” Foxen continued.
The Big 4 Freeze-out drew a field of great players and produced some great action. The entire final table was a great representation of the quality of play we expect during the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.
Congratulations to Alex Rosen for the win and thanks to our players for a great event.
Final table results:
1st: Alex Foxen – $204,600
2nd: Charles Gomez – $143,340
3rd: Jason Koon – $92,150
4th: Paul Balzano – $61,550
5th: Jack Duong – $47,350
6th: Faraz Jaka – $39,250
7th: Darryl Ronconi – $32,950
8th: Tom Thomas – $26,700
9th: Jacquelyn Scott – $20,460