2023 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 46
$1,100 Big 4 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  515
Prize Pool:  $515,000
August 7-8, 2023

James Caroll came out on top in Event 46 on the last day of the 2023 SHRPO tournament series at Seminole Hard Rock. The final table was part of the Big 4 lineup, with the final nine set around 3:00 pm local time after three players were eliminated to start the day.

The World Poker Tour champion Carroll was on quite the heater today and he rode that path to victory, which was the first thing he mentioned in his winner’s interview.

“It was one of the strangest days of poker I’ve ever had. I think in the four hours of play I had pocket aces or pocket kings 16 times, no exaggeration. I got dealt a lot of big hands today so it would have been tough for me to not win,” said Carroll after the win with a laugh.

“It’s just nice, because the series as a whole was bad for me. I almost played the $25k instead, but I decided to try this one at the last second, and then just sort of ran up a stack. Yeah, for sure, I wasn’t at peak confidence and decided to play smaller and it worked out,” said Carroll when he was asked about a dry spell during the previous days of the tournament series affecting what he chose to play at the end of the series.

Carroll said he might take a break from the poker grind after this series, but he will be back once again for the next poker series hosted right here around Thanksgiving since he moved down here. “I live down here, so I’m just 15 minutes away now so you guys will see me in November,” said Carroll.

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  40,000/80,000 with an 80,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 411

Dan Sepiol raised from the button to 175,000, and Chance Kornuth called from the big blind.

The flop came , Kornuth checked, Sepiol bet 125,000, and Kornuth called.

The turn card was the , Kornuth checked, Sepiol bet 230,000, and Kornuth called.

The river card paired the board with the , and both players checked. Kornuth showed to win the pot with an ace-high straight, and Sepiol mucked.

Chance Kornuth  –  4,740,000  (59 bb)
Dan Sepiol  –  5,535,000  (69 bb)

Here are the remaining payouts at stake:

1st:  $204,735 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $142,335

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  40,000/80,000 with an 80,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 411

Dan Sepiol raised to 175,000 from the button, Chance Kornuth three-bet to 500,000 from the big blind, Sepiol four-bet shoved for 3,290,000, and Kornuth called with , leading Sepiol’s .

The board ran out , giving Sepiol a set of queens to double up through Kornuth again.

“Did you get that in ahead or behind?” asked one of Sepiol’s friends (who ran up to the table mid-runout).

“All in pre, so behind,” said Sepiol.

“For the third time,” smiled and said Kornuth.

“You count the ace-nine vs. eights as behind?” asked Sepiol.

“Only when I lose,” joked Kornuth.

Dan Sepiol  –  6,660,000  (83 bb)
Chance Kornuth  –  3,615,000  (45 bb)

Here are the remaining payouts at stake:

1st:  $204,735 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $142,335

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  40,000/80,000 with an 80,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 411

Chance Kornuth raised from the button to 175,000, and Dan Sepiol called from the big blind.

The flop came , Sepiol checked, Kornuth bet 125,000, and Sepiol called.

The turn card was the , Sepiol checked, Kornuth bet 475,000, and Sepiol thought for a while before he called.

The river card was the , and both players checked. Sepiol said, “Two pair,” and showed for bottom two pair, but Kornuth turned over to win the pot with a slightly higher two pair.

Chance Kornuth  –  7,125,000  (89 bb)
Dan Sepiol  –  3,150,000  (39 bb)

Here are the remaining payouts at stake:

1st:  $204,735 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $142,335

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  40,000/80,000 with an 80,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 411

Level 28 came to an end, and the players took a 10-minute break. Here are the official chip counts from the table:

Chance Kornuth  –  5,510,000  (69 bb)
Dan Sepiol  –  4,765,000  (60 bb)

And here are the final table payouts:

1st:  $204,735 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $142,335

3rd:  Michael Wang  –  $92,790
4th:  Nitis Udornpim  –  $62,000
5th:  Leonard August  –  $47,680
6th:  Bin Weng  –  $39,525
7th:  Michael Rocco  –  $33,180
8th:  Hamed Zia  –  $26,885
9th:  Brian Altman  –  $20,600

$1,100 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 32:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 515

Rajasekar Govindan raised to 250,000 from the button, James Carroll reraised all in with his chip-leading stack from the big blind, and Govindan called all in for about 2,700,000 with , racing with Carroll’s .

The board ran out , safe for Carroll to win Event 46 outright for $100,000.

Govindan finished runner-up for $68,100.

A recap of the event will be posted later tonight.

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 411

Dan Sepiol raised from the button to 125,000, and Chance Kornuth called.

The flop came , Kornuth checked, Sepiol bet 100,000, and Kornuth called.

The turn card was the , Kornuth checked, Sepiol bet 325,000, and Kornuth called.

The river card was the , Kornuth checked, Sepiol bet 850,000, and Kornuth tanked for a while before he called. Sepiol showed for a jack-high bluff, and Kornuth turned over to win the pot with a pair of nines.

Chance Kornuth  –  8,275,000  (138 bb)
Dan Sepiol  –  2,000,000  (33 bb)

And here are the remaining payouts:

1st:  $204,735 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $142,335

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 411

Dan Sepiol raised from the button to 125,000, and Chance called from the big blind.

The flop came , Kornuth checked, Sepiol bet 125,000, and Kornuth check-raised to 450,000. Sepiol called.

The turn card was the , Kornuth checked, Sepiol bet 450,000, and Kornuth called.

The river card was the , and both players checked. Sepiol showed , but Kornuth turned over to win the pot with a flopped two pair.

Chance Kornuth  –  6,350,000  (106 bb)
Dan Sepiol  –  3,925,000  (65 bb)

And here are the remaining payouts:

1st:  $204,735 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $142,335

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 411

Dan Sepiol raised from the button to 125,000, and Chance Kornuth called from the big blind.

Both players checked to the turn on a board of , Kornuth checked, Sepiol bet 150,000, and Kornuth called.

The river card was the , Kornuth checked, Sepiol bet 325,000, and Kornuth check-raised to 925,000. Sepiol tanked for a while before he folded, and Kornuth took the pot.

Chance Kornuth  –  7,545,000  (126 bb)
Dan Sepiol  –  2,730,000  (46 bb)

And here are the remaining payouts:

1st:  $204,735 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $142,335

$1,100 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 32:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 515

James Carroll limped in for 100,000, Rajasekar Govindan raised to 300,000 from the big blind, Carroll reraised all in for 1,475,000, and Govindan called.

Carroll: 
Govindan: 

The board ran out , giving Carroll aces and kings to double up.

The next hand, on the river of a board with about 3,000,000 in the pot, Carroll was all in for 1,450,000 from the big blind and Govindan called on the button with .

Carroll, however, tabled for kings and treys to double into the chip lead.

James Carroll  –  6,000,000  (60 bb)
Rajasekar Govindan  –  4,300,000  (43 bb)

1st:  $100,000 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $68,100