Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Event 15: $2,200 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Freezeout)
$200,000 Guaranteed
February 3rd-4th, 2015
Total Entries:94
Total Prize Pool: $200,000
> Download complete list of event results.
Recap:
It’s not easy to win a poker tournament.
It’s even harder when you have Jason Mercier, Darryll Fish and Shannon Shorr standing in your way. But that’s what Matt Stout did early Thursday morning shaking off the ghosts of so many near misses to claim his first live tournament win since May 20, 2009.
Stout battled his way through one of the most loaded fields you could have imagined, a final table of Mercier, Fish, Shorr along with Stephen Pinta and Cliff Goldkind and a brutal four-handed marathon.
Before the official final table, the likes of Jared Jaffee, Brian Hastings, Ory Hen, Uri Kadosh, Scott Efron and 2015 PCA Main Event winner Kevin Schulz were also vying for the title but Stout managed to weave his way through the field and reach the six-handed final table.
After Goldkind fell in 6th and Pinta went down in 5th place, the final four players were a group anyone would have loved to see battling for a championship. And it did not disappoint as Stout, Fish, Shorr and Mercier duked it out for over three hours before Shorr and Fish had quick back-to back eliminations paving the way for a Stout/Mercier heads-up battle.
Stout held an overwhelming chip lead going into heads-up against Mercier, who is currently the #5 ranked player in the world. But after surviving Mercier hitting a three-outer, Stout nailed a nut flush on the turn of the final hand and could finally call himself a champion again after a wait that seemed like forever.
Stout felt very fortunate when the tournament had two tables left as the table draw happened. “I got really lucky when we got down to two tables I got the way softer table so I kinda got to chip up pretty heavily before the final table because I didn’t have battle with all the sickos. Table draws can mean a lot; especially in a six-handed tournament.”
On the incredible four-handed play Stout said he just “won every pot and was cruising until I doubled up Jason but other than that I never really lost a big pot. It was pretty awesome. But of the people in the tournament to not want to be four-handed with I could have immediately eliminated those three. It was not the ideal match. That whole four-handed match I was thinking if I take this down, I’d be extra-proud.”
Stout was able to keep his composure even after the three-outer in the heads-up match against Jason Mercier and claim the title. “You can’t slip once against Jason or he’s going to eat you alive. I was going to have to continue to make sure I made no mistakes against him and I like to think I did. I felt amazing after I had him drawing dead on the turn and it’s a great sense of relief. This title against these players has extra meaning for sure and especially since I love this property.”
Congratulations to our Event 15 Champion – Matt Stout!
Final Table Results:
1st – Matt Stout (Clifton, NJ) – $53,920
2nd – Jason Mercier (Hollywood, FL) – $36,520
3rd – Darryll Fish (Cape Coral, FL) – $23,860
4th – Shannon Shorr (Tuscaloosa, AL) – $19,080
5th – Stephen Pinta (North Bethesda, MD) – $14,320
6th – Cliff Goldkind (Potomac, MD) – $11,020