$5,250 SHRPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 20: 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 37

John Dubois raised to 36,000 from the hijack and action folded to Carlos Chang, who simply moved all in from the big blind. Dubois, who had a stack of 364,000, couldn’t call off quick enough.

Dubois:
Chang:

The flop gave Dubois top set, and that meant Chang needed to catch running straight cards to eliminate his opponent. The turn took away any chance of that happening, and Dubois was pushed the pot after the was run out on the river.

John Dubois – 725,000 (45 bb)
Carlos Chang  – 520,000 (32.5 bb)

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 12: 800/1,600 with a 200 ante
Players Remaining: 126 of 395

Players have returned from a 15-minute break in which we had a chance to check out some chip counts:

Jason Koon  –  146,000
Blake Bohn  –  114,000
Aaron Massey  –  110,000
Brian England  –  104,100
Tom Thomas  –  100,500
Grayson Ramage  –  83,200
Matt Smith  –  80,200
Matt Salsberg  –  73,000
Lexy Gavin  –  52,000
Faraz Jaka*  –  47,400
David Jackson  –  41,000
Steve Karp  –  40,000
Joe McKeehen  –  34,500
Niall Farrell  –  34,000
Ronit D’Angelo  –  35,200
Cate Hall  –  27,000
Michael Laake*  –  26,000
Brian Altman  –  20,100
Dan O’Brien  –  19,000
Keven Stammen  –  12,500

*denotes Seminole Hard Rock Team Member

$5,250 SHRPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 20: 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 39

Martin Kozlov raised to 32,000 under the gun and Matt Waxman just called from middle position. The player on the button then three-bet to 90,000, and after the blinds folded, Kozlov moved all in for 428,000.

Waxman took his time before moving all in for 448,000, and that chased the three-bettor from the hand.

Waxman:
Kozlov:

Waxman was primed to score the knockout after the flop, but then disaster struck when the dealer burned and turned the to give Kozlov a boat.

The river was no help to Waxman and he saw all but 20,000 of his chips pushed across the table. Waxman would go broke the very next hand.

Martin Kozlov – 950,000 (59 bb)
Matt Waxman – Eliminated in 40th Place ($16,950)

$5,250 SHRPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 20: 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 40

Scott Clements raised from the cutoff only to have Ari Engel three-bet all in from the small blind for right around 240,000 . Clements called  and it was off to the races.

Clements:
Engel:

Engel was ahead, and maintained the lead on the flop. However, it was short lived as Clements hit his open-ended straight draw when the appeared on the turn.

The river was salt in the wound for Engel, who had no recourse but to head to the payout desk.

Scott Clements – 1,700,000 (106 bb)
Ari Engel – Eliminated in 41st Place ($16,950)

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 11: 600/1,200 with a 200 ante
Players Remaining: 126 of 395

On a final board reading Alex Condon in the big blind put Joe Cheong all in. Cheong thought about it a while before calling with . Condon turned over for the winning full house eliminating Cheong.

Alex Condon  –  140,000 (117 bb)
Joe Cheong  –  Eliminated

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 11: 600/1,200 with a 200 ante
Players Remaining: 135 of 395

Rainer Kempe (middle position) and the player in the small blind waged a preflop war that left the small blind all in for about 60,000 and at risk.

Kempe:
Small blind:

The board ran out , and Kempe earned the big knockout, nearly doubling up in the process.

Rainer Kempe – 135,000 (113 bb)

$5,250 SHRPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 20: 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 42

The Championship is into the final level of the evening with 42 remaining and Aaron Mermelstein leading the way. More big names hit the rail including Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Chance Kornuth.

43rd: Danny Shiff – $16,950
44th: Chance Kornuth – $16,950
45th: Ashton Griffin – $16,950
46th: Nichan Khorchidian – $15,014
47th: Michael Krasien – $15,014
48th: Sean Shah – $15,014
49th: Kurt Jewell – $15,014
50th: Jason Brin – $15,014
51st: Jonathan Jaffe – $15,014
52nd: Salomon Sutton – $15,014

$5,250 SHRPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 19: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 44

Aaron Mermelstein raised to 27,000 under the gun and Ashton Griffin raised it to 70,000 from the cutoff. Action folded back to Mermelstein and he called to see the flop, which came down .

Both players checked and the appeared on the turn. Mermelstein checked for a second time and Griffin bet 115,000. Mermelstein then sprung to life with a check-raise to 265,000, Griffin called, and the completed the board on the river.

Mermelstein paused for a few beats and then slid out 400,000, which had Griffin covered. Griffin wasted little time in calling off for 290,000 with the , and he was both shocked and disappointed to see Mermelstein roll over the for the rivered straight.

Aaron Mermelstein – 1,800,000 (150 bb)
Ashton Griffin – Eliminated in 45th Place ($16,950)

$5,250 SHRPO Championship
$3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 19: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 42

Aaron Mermelstein raised to 26,000 preflop UTG+1, and Gautam Lillaney reraised all in for 139,000 from the hijack. Mermelstein called, and the two remaining players revealed their cards.

Lillaney:
Mermelstein:

Board:

Lillaney doubled up to survive with 316,000, and Mermelstein was still cruising with 1.11 million after paying out the double.

Gautam Lillaney – 316,000 (26  bb)
Aaron Mermelstein – 1,110,000 (92 bb)

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 11: 600/1,200 with a 200 ante
Players Remaining: 153 of 395

Curt Kohlberg opened to 2,800, Sean Perry three-bet shoved 24,000 and Marvin Rettenmaier called. Perry turned over and needed to get lucky against Rettenmaier’s .

The board came and Rettenmaier’s king kicker held eliminating Perry.

Marvin Rettenmaier  –  108,000
Sean Perry  –  Eliminated