2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 11
$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Entries:  105
Prize Pool:  $35,175
April 20, 2021

Chris Tryba has a WSOP bracelet and more than $2.2 million in career live tournament earnings, and on Tuesday night he won his first trophy here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, winning Event 11, $400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 outright for $9,620.

“I haven’t left the house in 16 months,” said Tryba, who was recently vaccinated against COVID-19. So this is the first live poker Tryba has played in more than a year, and he’s been playing every day here during the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.

After taking that much time off from live poker, was there any rust in his game?

“Not in mixed games,” said Tryba. “I’ve played a lot of cash mixed games online, so I didn’t feel much rust.”

Now that he’s won his first trophy here, Tryba can look forward to bigger and better things.

“I’d rather win the main event,” said Tryba, referring to the $3,500 Championship that begins on Friday. “It’s going to be huge.”

Final Results:

$600 Big Stack Six-Max NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24: 15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  11 of 570

Table 22
Seat 1: Amin Hosein – 1,075,000 (36 bb)
Seat 2: Dustin Colwell – 1,115,000 (37 bb)
Seat 3: John Dollinger – 1,160,000 (39 bb)
Seat 4:
Seat 5: Patrick Quinn – 405,000 (14 bb)
Seat 6: Alex Vazquez – 985,000 (33 bb)

Table 23
Seat 1: Rodrigo Sardi – 660,000 (22 bb)
Seat 2: Joseph Di Rosa Rojas – 695,000 (23 bb)
Seat 3: Chris Shebat – 400,000 (13 bb)
Seat 4: Vinny Giuliano – 450,000 (15 bb)
Seat 5: Jesse Kertland – 610,000 (20 bb)
Seat 6: David Shmuel – 1,190,000 (40 bb)

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  30,000/60,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  1 of 105

The final hand took place during a round of Stud 8.

Chris Tryba:    
Selim Oulmekki:    

On fifth street, Tryba bet 60,000 with his pair of eights, Oulmekki raised to 120,000 with his pair of fives, and Tryba called.

On sixth street, Oulmekki got it all in for his last 30,000, and they turned over their hole cards:

Chris Tryba:      (pair of eights, 8-6 low draw)
Selim Oulmekki:      (two pair, fives and deuces)

Oulmekki needed his two pair to hold to stay alive, though Tryba still had a shot at a low if he couldn’t win the high side.

The dealer dealt seventh street:

Chris Tryba:        (two pair, nines and eights)
Selim Oulmekki:        (two pair, fives and deuces)

Chris Tryba rivered a higher two pair to win the pot, the trophy, and the title, and Selim Oulmekki finished as the runner-up.

Stay tuned for a recap from this event.

1st:  Chris Tryba  –  $9,620 + Trophy
2nd:  Selim Oulmekki  –  $6,410
3rd:  Andrew Laikin  –  $4,355
4th:  Phil Hui  –  $3,070
5th:  Sandy Sanchez  –  $2,245
6th:  Jeffrey Cookson  –  $1,705
7th:  Jon Heneghan  –  $1,350
8th:  Matthew Zazaian  –  $1,035
9th:  Thomas Milmore  –  $1,035
10th:  James Odor  –  $900
11th:  Yuval Bronshtein  –  $900
12th:  William Edward Stanton  –  $900
13th:  Harold Klein  –  $825
14th:  Samoeun Mon  –  $825

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  30,000/60,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  2 of 105

During a round of Omaha-8, Andrew Laikin (small blind) and Chris Tryba (big blind) saw a flop of . Laikin checked, Tryba bet 30,000, and Laikin called.

The turn card was the , Laikin checked, Tryba bet 60,000, and Laikin called.

The river card paired the board with the , Laikin moved all in for his last 25,000, and Tryba called.

Chris Tryba:    (two pair, jacks and fives)
Andrew Laikin:    (two pair, jacks and deuces)

There were no possible lows, and Tryba won the entire pot with his jacks and fives, eliminating Laikin in third place.

Andrew Laikin  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($4,355)

And here are the approximate chip counts for heads-up play:

Chris Tryba  –  825,000  (14 BB)
Selim Oulmekki  –  425,000  (7 BB)

$600 Big Stack Six-Max NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 20: 5,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  25 of 570

31st: James Tomblin – $1,490
32ns: Kevin Rodriguez – $1,490
33rd: Jesse Lonis – $1,490
34th: Michael Wang – $1,490
35th: Drew O’Connell – $1,490
36th: James Burns – $1,490

37th: Robert Hadnott – $1,300
38th: Austin Reilly – $1,300
39th: Carlos Matos Erarte – $1,300
40th: Jose Reyes – $1,300
41st: Blake Whittington – $1,300
42nd: Randal Fernandez – $1,300

43rd: Raffaello Locatelli – $1,155
44th: Scott Robbins – $1,155
45th: Jonathan Grasso – $1,155
46th: David DiBernardi – $1,155
47th: Ryan Depaulo – $1,155
48th: Jacob Ristich – $1,155

49th: Robert Abner – $1,040
50th: Dwayne Vetter – $1,040
51st: David Moreno – $1,040
52nd: William Watson – $1,040
53rd: Jeff Trudeau – $1,040
54th: James Halverson – $1,040

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  25,000/50,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  3 of 105

During a round of Stud-8, Phil Hui got it all in on sixth street against Andrew Laikin, and they turned over their hole cards:

Andrew Laikin:      (two pair, kings and fives, flush draw)
Phil Hui:      (two pair, tens and fours)

Neither player had a qualifying low draw, and Hui needed to catch a four or the last ten to stay alive.

Andrew Laikin:        (two pair, kings and fives)
Phil Hui:        (two pair, tens and fours)

Laikin won the pot with his higher two pair to eliminate Hui in fourth place.

Andrew Laikin  –  625,000  (13 BB)
Phil Hui  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($3,070)

Phil Hui has already won four titles here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, but he’ll have to wait at least a little longer before winning his fifth.

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is about 420,000 (8 Big Bets), and the remaining players are all guaranteed to earn at least $4,355 each.

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  20,000/40,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  4 of 105

During a round of Stud-8, a pretty big hand developed between Phil Hui, Chris Tryba, and Selim Oulmekki.

Phil Hui:    
Chris Tryba:    
Selim Oulmekki:    

On fourth street, Tryba bet 20,000, and Oulmekki and Hui both called.

On fifth street, all three players checked.

On sixth street, it checked to Tryba, who bet 40,000. Oulmekki called, and Hui folded.

On seventh street, Oulmekki and Tryba both checked and turned over their cards:

Chris Tryba:      (set of tens)
Selim Oulmekki:      (two pair, queens and eights)

Neither player made a low hand, and Tryba won the pot with his trip tens to contend for the chip lead.

Level 22 came to an end about two minutes later, and the players took a 10-minute break. Here are their official chip counts, with the blinds about to increase to 25,000-50,000:

Seat 1.  Phil Hui  –  235,000  (5 BB)
Seat 2.  Andrew Laikin  –  380,000  (8 BB)
Seat 3.  Chris Tryba  –  360,000  (7 BB)
Seat 4.  Selim Oulmekki  –  285,000  (6 BB)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 315,000 (6 Big Bets), and the remaining players are all guaranteed to earn at least $3,070 each.

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  15,000/30,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  4 of 105

During a round of Omaha-8, Sandy Sanchez got it all in from the button for 31,000 against Phil Hui (small blind) and Andrew Laikin (big blind).

The flop came , Hui checked, Laikin bet 30,000, and Hui folded. Laikin took the side pot, and then he and Sanchez turned over their cards.

Andrew Laikin:    (pair of fives, 5-4 low draw)
Sandy Sanchez:    (pair of aces, no low draw)

The turn card paired the board with the , and the river card was the . Since neither player made a qualifying low, Laikin won the entire pot with a full house, fives full of fours, eliminating Sanchez in fifth place.

Andrew Laikin  –  350,000  (12 BB)
Sandy Sanchez  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($2,245)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 315,000 (11 Big Bets), and the remaining players are all guaranteed to earn at least $3,070 each.

$600 Big Stack Six-Max NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 18: 4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 ante
Players Remaining:  35 of 570

55th: Amelio Amato – $955
56th: Vincent Moscati – $955
57th: Marco Leonelli – $955
58th: Jonathan Borenstein – $955
59th: Joseph Hebert – $955
60th: Dan Stavila – $955

61st: Aron Dermer – $895
62nd: James Anderson – $895
63rd: Ronnie Day – $895
64th: Unclaimed – $895
65th: Thanhlong Nguyen – $895
66th: Christopher Weber – $895

67th: Daniel Ferreira – $850
68th: Lawrence Brown – $850
69th: Fernando Rodriguez Vasquez – $850
70th: William Blais – $850
71st: Jason Russianoff – $850
72nd: Alan Hamza – $850
73rd: Stuart Greenbaum – $850
74th: Michael Tait – $850
75th: Timothy Stull – $850
76th: Ronald Velez – $850
77th: Thomas Hunnicutt – $850
78th: Martin Robbins – $850

79th: Adam White – $825
80th: Blake Napierala – $825
81st: Christopher Underwood – $825
82nd: Steve Zhang – $825
83rd: Richard Meister – $825
84th: Marcus El Huaick – $825
85th: Matthew Cosentino – $825
86th: Alberto Sabogali – $825
87th: Joseph Henry – $825
88th: Ducarmel Beaubien – $825

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  12,000/24,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  5 of 105

During a round of Omaha-8, Selim Oulmekki (button) and Jeffrey Cookson (big blind) put in about 60,000 each preflop.

The flop came , Cookson bet his last 6,000, and Oulmekki called.

Jeffrey Cookson:    (pair of queens, no low draws)
Selim Oulmekki:    (pair of deuces, 8-7 low)

Oulmekki was guaranteed at least half of the pot with a made low hand, and Cookson needed his pair of queens to hold up to stay alive.

The turn card was the , and the river card was the — Oulmekki rivered two pair to scoop the pot, eliminating Cookson in sixth place.

Selim Oulmekki  –  450,000  (19 BB)
Jeffrey Cookson  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($1,705)

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is about 252,000 (11 Big Bets), and the remaining players are all guaranteed to earn at least $2,245 each.