2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Hollywood, FL
Event 24
$570 No Limit Hold’em
Entries: 290
Prize Pool: $145,000
April 3, 2017

Ryan Dunn added a second Seminole Hard Rock trophy to his mantle in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

His first Seminole Hard Rock win came at the 2016 Rock n’ Roll Poker Open when he won $140,000 in the $2,650 no limit hold’em. His second came when Dunn defeated a 290-entry field and won $31,963 in the $570 no limit hold’em event.

“I’m going to win my third tomorrow in the PLO event,” said Dunn after his win. “I love the way they run their series. I think it’s great. I try and play every single time.”

The win comes near the end of what was previously a rough series for the 30-year-old professional poker player. But he’ll be able to share his latest win with his wife and son when they get into town on Tuesday.

“She is going to be super excited to see the trophy because she knows I’ve had a tough time and I haven’t been winning anything at this series,” said Dunn. “Hands weren’t going my way. It was a very frustrating series, but this is good for my mind. A ‘W’ is good for that.”

Dunn makes his home in Tallahassee with his wife and 4-year-old son, Declan Bear. With his family based in the sunshine state and another son on the way in two months, Dunn doesn’t travel as much as other tournament grinders.

He opted to travel mostly within Florida, which gives him the ability to spend more time with his family than most professional poker players do.

“Traveling outside of Florida right now isn’t practical,” said Dunn. “I try and play in Florida so that I can bring my family with me. Getting on a plane to go to California or Atlantic City and stuff. It just gets expensive and it’s hard to bring your family. Florida is busy as it is.”

Before poker, Dunn was running a company that would do a lot of environmental work through the state. The business started to go south and he looked towards what was once a casual hobby as his main source of income.

“The business was collapsing, so I had to find other means to make the money,” said Dunn. “I started playing PLO cash games and actually winning substantial amounts of money. I started taking that more seriously. I have a lot of good friends that I’m able to talk strategy and talk hands with. I just tried to become better and improve.”

Dunn made a name for himself by earning a fifth place finish in a televised WPT final table in Jacksonville. At the time, he was a fledgling pro, but has turned into a fixture at all of the big series that take place in the state.

“That was it. When I played that $5K, I hadn’t played anything that big and I wasn’t even considering myself a pro,” said Dunn. “From then til now, I’ve basically been playing basically as a pro.”

While Dunn’s second win at the Seminole Hard Rock wasn’t a six-figure score, he still had to beat out a very talented final table.

Dunn came into the final table with the chip lead and came out on top of a final table that featured WPT Champion Shawn Cunix, and fellow pros Henry Tran and Nancy Birnbaum. He defeated Alex Greenblatt heads-up to earn the series-saving title.

Final Table Results:

1st: Ryan Dunn – $31,963
2nd: Alex Greenblatt – $22,475
3rd: Pavel Hordan – $14,457
4th: Shawn Cunix – $9,026
5th: Richard Aguirre – $6,967
6th: Jason Gooch – $5,771
7th: Nancy Birnbaum – $4,850
8th: Gloria Jackson – $3,988
9th: Henry Tran – $3,196