2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood
Event #16
$1,100 No Limit Hold’em Shootout
Total Entries: 70
Total Prizepool: $67,900
Michael Aron spends most of his time in Mexico grinding away on the virtual felt, but the online multi-table tournament specialist made a live score on Wednesday night. He took down SHRPO’s first-ever $1,100 No Limit Hold’em Shootout.
Aron won both of his tables to best a field of 70 players to take home $23,765 along with another trophy to add to his collection.
“It feels good,” said Aron after the win. “It was a tough grind. I didn’t expect it to last this long. I haven’t won a live tournament in a long time, so it feels great even though it was a small field.”
The West Palm Beach native spends most of his time in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, where he can play a full slate of online multi-table tournaments. He typically makes his way back to Florida around the same time that the Seminole Hard Rock runs tournament series. It allows him to visit family and play a few poker tournaments as well.
This time, his visit home not only got home some family time, but landed him at a final table that featured Jean Gaspard, Nick Palma, Jack Duong, and 2016 November Niner Jerry Wong.
Gaspard, Duong and Wong were all eliminated fairly early in the final table, but Palma was still alive when three-handed play began with Aron and Michael McNeil.
There were a few discussions about a chop, but Aron was always the player who squashed any possibility of chopping up the prizepool and wanted to play the tournament to the end.
“I just wanted to play, ” said Aron of his reasons not to chop. ” I feel like people chop too much and this is why you play tournaments. To be in theses spots and have fun and enjoy yourself.”
Aron’s decision to play the tournament to the end worked out. He ended up heads-up with Michael McNeil and after 90 minutes of heads-up play, Aron had secured all of the chips in play, the title, and the first place money.
He gives credit to his online background for why he thrived in this format. The ability to play short-handed is something online players get to do more of.
“Once you get to the final table, it plays pretty much the same (as any other tournament),” said Aron. “But I think maybe at the first table it helped me a little bit because I play a lot of short-handed poker. So this benefits people who have short-handed experience.”
With 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open hitting the home stretch and the bigger buy-in events set to kick off, Aron will be spending more time in the tournament area and less time with his family.
“I’ll be here for the rest of the series,” said Aron.
Here is a look at the results:
1st: Michael Aron – $23,765
2nd: Michael McNeil – $13,580
3rd: Nick Palma – $8,148
4th: Brad Patton – $5,907
5th: Mark Smith – $4,549
6th: Jack Duong – $3,497
7th: Jerry Wong – $2,716
8th: Lawrence Paden – $2,173
9th: Haim Toorgeman – $1,901
10th: Jean Gaspard – $1,664