2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 20
$1,700 Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  177
Prize Pool:  $177,000
Bounty Prize Pool:  $88,500
Aug 1-2, 2021

When the nine-handed final table started in Event 20 ($1,700 Purple Chip Bounty), Masato Yokosawa was the short stack with just six big blinds. But he fought his way back, refused to discuss any deals, and won the event outright to earn $44,925.

This is Yokosawa’s first visit to Seminole Hard Rock. He arrived on Sunday, and this was the first tournament he entered — and now he has his first SHRPO trophy.

“I was running so good,” said Yokosawa after his victory. “I think I played well, but I was too lucky.”

However, Yokosawa started the day with some bad luck, losing a very big pot when he made a straight, but his opponent made a higher straight.

That led to Yokosawa being the short stack when the final table began. But he picked his spots well, and scored a couple of double-ups to rebuild his stack. Yokosawa praised the structure for allowing him to make his comeback.

“This is a very good tournament,” said Yokosawa. “The structure was very good. I always play cash games, so I have confidence to play short-handed and deep.”

“I had a lot of strong hands — aces, kings, ace-king suited,” said Yokosawa. “The biggest one was the kings.”

With three players remaining, Yokosawa raised, Kyrylo Kobzyev reraised, and Igor Tretyakov four-bet all in from the big blind with . Yokosawa called with his , and it held up for Yokosawa to double into a big chip lead that he carried to victory.

“It was a cooler,” said Yokosawa. “So it was totally lucky.”

Yokosawa is Japanese, and he has a popular YouTube channel with nearly 600,000 subscribers who watch him as he travels and plays poker. He has dozens of videos that have surpassed a million views each.

Yokosawa’s channel is in Japanese, but he is ready to branch out, and the first step is providing translated captions for all of his videos — past, present, and future.

“I’m making English subtitles for my channel,” said Yokosawa. “I’m trying to publish my videos for everyone all over the world. I wish for my channel to be worldwide.”

Expect one of Yokosawa’s upcoming videos to cover his first visit to Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, and his first victory here at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.

Final Table Results:

1st:  Masato Yokosawa  –  $44,925 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  Kyrylo Kobzyev  –  $29,975
3rd:  Igor Tretyakov  –  $18,145
4th:  Scott Baumstein  –  $11,035
5th:  Josh Reichard  –  $8,525
6th:  Artem Metalidi  –  $7,065
7th:  George Ruby  –  $6,020
8th:  Elvis Toomas  –  $5,285
9th:  Chad Gallimore  –  $4,590