2023 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 11
$600 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Entries:  139
Prize Pool:  $72,975
July 29, 2023

Event 11 of the 2023 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open was a $600 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry). A field of 139 entries produced a prize pool of $72,975, and winning the lion’s share of it was Chris Tsiolis, earning the outright victory for $20,425.

With seven players remaining, Tsiolis held a mere 2.8% of the total chips in play. However, after two doubles and one elimination, Tsiolis had gone from the shortest stack to a comfortable 40 big blinds to start heads-up play against chip leader Sam Sternfield, who was in search of his second trophy win of the series.

They proceeded to get the chips in fairly quickly into the heads-up match preflop, and while Sternfield nailed the flop, Tsiolis turned the best hand and held through the river to pull ahead, before closing it out the following hand.

$600 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 139

Big O

Chris Tsiolis raised to 90,000 from the button, and Sam Sternfield called in the big blind.

The flop was , Sternfield bet the pot of 210,000, Tsiolis raised, and Sternfield called all in for another 50,000.

Tsiolis: 
Sternfield: 

Tsiolis had a pair of kings with two straight draws, while Sternfield had an open-ended straight draw with a flush draw.

The turn and river completed the board, safe for Tsiolis to win Event 11 outright for $20,425.

Sternfield finished runner-up for $12,800.

A recap of the event will be posted later tonight.

$600 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 139

Big O

Sam Sternfield raised to 75,000 from the button, Chris Tsiolis three-bet to 225,000 from the big blind, Sternfield four-bet to 675,000, Tsiolis five-bet all in for 1,185,000, and Sternfield called.

Sternfield: 
Tsiolis: 

The flop came down , giving Sternfield a set of fives along with the ace-high flush draw to pull well ahead.

The turn, however, was the and gave Tsiolis an ace-high straight to take the lead.

The river was the , safe for Tsiolis to double into the chip lead.

Chris Tsiolis  –  2,400,000  (80 bb)
Sam Sternfield  –  380,000  (13 bb)

$600 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 139

After the elimination of Josh Thatcher in fourth place, there was no small blind the next hand as Andrea Mastrogiovanni got it all in preflop for 465,000 against Chris Tsiolis, who had him covered with a stack of 530,000.

Chris Tsiolis:  
Andrea Mastrogiovanni:  

The board came , and with no possible lows, Tsiolis won the pot with an ace-high flush to eliminate Mastrogiovanni in third place.

Andrea Mastrogiovanni  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($7,625)

Here are the official chip counts for the start of heads-up play:

Sam Sternfield  –  1,760,000  (70 bb)
Chris Tsiolis  –  1,020,000  (41 bb)

And here are the remaining payouts at stake:

1st:  $20,425 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $12,800

$600 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 139

Sam Sternfield completed the small blind to 25,000, and Josh Thatcher checked his option in the big blind.

The flop came , Sternfield checked, Thatcher bet 40,000, and Sternfield check-raised to 195,000. Thatcher announced a pot-raise, Sternfield quickly moved all in, and Thatcher called all in for roughly 600,000.

Sam Sternfield:    (pair of jacks, pocket fours, jack-high flush draw, 8-7-4 low draw)
Josh Thatcher:    (pair of sevens, ace-high flush draw, gutshot straight draw, 8-7-3 low draw)

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Sternfield scooped the pot with trip jacks for the high and an 8-7 for the low to eliminate Thatcher in fourth place.

Sam Sternfield  –  1,765,000  (71 bb)
Josh Thatcher  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($4,600)

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is around 925,000 (37 big blinds), and the remaining players are guaranteed at least $7,625 each.

$600 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 139

Pot-LImit Omaha

Andrea Mastrogiovanni raised to 90,000 from the button, Sam Sternfield three-bet to 280,000 from the small blind, and Mastrogiovanni called all in for 210,000 with , trailing Sternfield’s .

The board came , giving Mastrogiovanni nines full of queens to double up.

Andrea Mastrogiovanni  –  470,000  (19 bb)
Sam Sternfield  –  1,050,000  (42 bb)

$600 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 139

Pot-Limit Omaha

Sam Sternfield raised to 60,000 from under the gun, Josh Thatcher called on the button, Chris Tsiolis reraised all in for 265,000 in the small blind, Sternfield called, and Thatcher folded.

Sternfield: 
Tsiolis:   

The board ran out , giving Tsiolis an ace-high flush to double through Sternfield.

Chris Tsiolis  –  640,000  (26 bb)
Sam Sternfield  –  1,160,000  (46 bb)

$600 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 139

Pot-Limit Omaha

Following a flop of , Vitaliy Kosenyuk was all in for about 120,000 from the big blind against Sam Sternfield in the cutoff.

Kosenyuk: 
Sternfield: 

The turn and river completed the board, giving Sternfield jacks full of sevens to eliminate Kosenyuk in fifth place.

Sam Sternfield  –  1,450,000  (73 bb)
Vitaliy  Kosenyuk  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($3,575)

$600 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 139

During a round of Big O, Eric Polirer got it all in from the big blind for about 220,000 against chipleader Sam Sternfield in the hijack.

Sam Sternfield:  
Eric Polirer:  

The board came , and with no possible lows, Sternfield won the pot with his flopped ace-high flush to eliminate Polirer in sixth place.

Sam Sternfield  –  1,345,000  (67 bb)
Eric Polirer  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($3,000)

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is around 555,000 (28 big blinds), and the remaining players are guaranteed at least $3,575 each.

$600 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 139

During a round of PLO-8, William Leffingwell raised from the hijack to 70,000, and Sam Sternfield called from the cutoff.

The flop came , and Leffingwell got it all in for his last 170,000 or so.

Sternfield:    (set of eights, 8-6-4 low draw)
Leffingwell:    (pair of aces, pair of nines, gutshot straight draw 8-6-5 draw)

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Sternfield scooped the pot with a set of eights for the high and an 8-6-4 for the low to eliminate Leffingwell in seventh place.

Sam Sternfield  –  1,095,000  (55 bb)
William Leffingwell  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($2,590)

With six players remaining, the average chip stack is around 465,000 (23 big blinds), and the remaining players are guaranteed at least $3,000 each.