$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 26: 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining 13 of 1,611

On a flop of , Michael Newman moves all in from the big blind for about 700,000. “Hercules” folds from the hijack and Ben Robinson calls from the cutoff.

Newman shows , good for the second nut flush draw and a live overcard, against Robinson’s .

The turn is the and the river is the . Newman bricks his draw and Robinson takes the pot with a pair of tens. Newman is eliminated in 14th place and will take home $1,450. Robinson is once again, one of the bigger stacks remaining.

Ben Robinson – 1,700,000
Michael Newman – Eliminated 

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 25: 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining 14 of 1,611

Action folds around to Hillary Freeman in the small blind, who moves all in for about 150,000. Adam Morck calls in the big blind.

Morck shows and needs an ace against Freeman’s .

The board runs out and Morck rivers an ace to crack Freeman’s kings and send the pot to Morck. Freeman is gone in 15th place and takes home $1,450 for her deep run.

Adam Morck – 1,300,000
Hillary Freeman – Eliminated 

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 25: 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining 16 of 1,611

Elliott Zaydman raises from the cutoff and Spencer Champlin three-bets out of the big blind. Zaydman calls and they are heads-up to a flop of .

Champlin bets 225,000 and Zaydman moves all in for 740,000. Champlin calls and the cards are tabled.

Champlin shows , good fro top set, but needs to pair the board against Zaydman’s .

The turn is the and the river is the . Zaydman improves to a flush and doubles up.

Elliott Zaydman – 1,700,000
Spencer Champlin – 850,000

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 25: 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining 16 of 1,611

Jason Margolin moves all in for about 470,000 from early position and Sebastian Andres calls from middle position. Everybody else gets out of the way and the cards are tabled.

Margolin shows and is in big trouble against Andres’ . Andres doesn’t have much to sweat as the board runs out .

Andres makes the nut flush and Margolin is eliminated in 17th place. Margolin takes home $1,218 for his deep run and Andres moves over the million chip mark.

Sebastian Andres – 1,300,000
Jason Margolin – Eliminated 

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
End of Level 24: 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining 17 of 1,611

The players are taking an impromptu 30-minute dinner break. Cards will be back in the air around 7:30 p.m.

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 24: 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining: 24 of 1,611

Matthew Border moved all in for 222,000 in early position, and “Hercules” called to put him at risk.

Border:
Hercules:

It was a fun run-out, coming . Border flopped the lead, but Hercules turned a flush draw and rivered a Broadway straight to steal the pot back. Border was eliminated in 24th place.

Hercules – 1,275,000 (53 bb)
Matthew Border – Eliminated

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 24: 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining: 25 of 1,611

The player on the button opened with a raise, and Adam Morck three-bet shoved for 173,000 in the big blind. The button called, flipping for the knockout.

Button:
Morck:

The board ran out , and Morck doubled up with two pair.

A couple hands later, Morck limped from middle position, and the player on the button raised to 80,000. Morck shoved for 366,000 total, and his opponent called to put him at risk.

Morck:
Opponent:

The board came , and Morck earned his second double-up of the orbit, this one with queens up.

Adam Morck – 800,000 (33 bb)

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 23: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining: 30 of 1,611

On a flop of , Aaron Hemphill is already all in from the small blind, while Peter Fellows is in the big blind and heads-up with Dmitry Agrachov in middle position.

Fellows checks and Agrachov bets 50,000. Fellows calls and there is a side pot between Agrachov and Fellows.

The turn is the and Fellows checks again. Agrachov moves all in for about 200,000 and Fellows quickly calls. All three hands are exposed and Fellows is in great shape to scoop both pots with his against Agrachov’s and Hemphill’s .

The river is the and Fellows wins a big pot to give him a sizable chip lead over the field. Agrachov finishes in 31st place and Hemphill takes 32nd place. They each take home $870 for their efforts.

Peter Fellows – 1,850,000
Dmitry Agrachov – Eliminated
Aaron Hemphill – Eliminated 

$150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 23: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining: 35 of 1,611

The field is down to its final four tables and everybody is guaranteed a cash of at least $870. Here is a look at the top of the chip counts and the only players to cross into the million chip club.

Spencer Champlin – 1,350,000
Peter Fellows – 1,280,000
Ben Robinson – 1,250,000
“Hercules” – 1,150,000

2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, FL
Championship ($2 Million Guarantee)
$3,500 No Limit Hold’em
Entries: 760
Prize Pool: $2,432,000
November 25-30, 2016

Hollywood, FL – The premiere tournament on the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker (SHRP) Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO) schedule was the $3,500 buy-in Championship. The tournament began on November 25 and played out over five days of action. In the end, it was Patrick Mahoney lifting the trophy as the newest SHRP champion. In addition to $564,227, Mahoney earned a $5,250 seat in next August’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship.

The series finale drew 760 entries over the two starting days to easily surpass the $2 million guarantee. They pushed the prize pool over $2.5 million with the last 72 players earning a piece of the money and the final six each securing six-figure paydays. The field was full of poker pros, champions, local regulars, and a few world champions. Two former WSOP Main Event champions were in the field in Ryan Riess and Joe McKeehen, and they were joined by reigning world champion Qui Nguyen.

Of those 760 starters, only 165 players were around for the start of Day 2. Three-time WSOP bracelet winner Brian Hastings returned with the biggest stack but that was the end of the good news for him. He slid down the rankings as high roller regular Matt Berkey shot to the top. Berkey was the first over 1 million chips, but it was bracelet winner Upeshka De Silva who finished the day with the lead among the 48 survivors. Among those to make the money were two of poker’s power couples – Jason Mercier and Natasha Mercier and Chris Moorman and Katie Lindsay.

De Silva continued to build his stack castle as they played down from 18 to the final table of six as big names dropped out including Will “The Thrill “Failla, Matt Glantz, Ryan Dunn and Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Jessica Dawley.

The six final table members had more than $5 million in combined career earnings with Matt Humphrey coming in with a huge lead. He was closely followed by De Silva as they played it out in front of the Poker Night in America cameras for a live stream and later television broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

Bill Jennings was the shortest stack to start the final table. He found a spot to double up, but it wasn’t enough to propel him higher. He went out in sixth place and was soon followed by Mark Dube in fifth. Billy Pilossoph sat back and laddered up in the payouts until he was sent out in fourth place.

De Silva retook his big lead after a slow start from Humphrey. Patrick Mahoney pulled even, then ahead over a quick series of hands. De Silva’s sudden collapse was complete when he moved all-in with top pair against Mahoney’s rivered flush.

Mahoney began heads up play with a 2-to-1 lead over Humphrey and the match did not last long. Just a few hands into the duel, Humphrey was dealt ace-king of clubs and Mahoney was dealt pocket jacks. All of the chips went into the middle preflop, and a board full of blanks ended the tournament with Mahoney as the champion.

The champ is a 32-year-old professional poker player from Winona, Minnesota. He’s been playing the game full-time since graduating with a degree in Aviation Management.

“It’s kinda hard to differentiate when the transition actually happened,” he said of his profession.

This result is his largest on record so far, and it brings his total career tournament earnings to more than $1.3 million. Mahoney and De Silva are good friends, and the latter arrived to give Mahoney a big congratulatory hug during his winner’s interview.

“We’re real good friends,” Mahoney said, “but our approaches to the game are significantly different.”

The eventual winner almost didn’t it make it into the field for the Championship at all. Coming directly from another tournament abroad, Mahoney got a little tied up in customs in Fort Lauderdale, and he didn’t make it to the table until just before registration closed on Day 1B. He proceeded to double up with pocket kings on the very first hand of his day, though, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“It’s definitely one of the best places I go,” Mahoney said of the Seminole Hard Rock. “Maybe the best.”

The Championship was one of three events during the RRPO to boast a six-figure top prize. The other headliner, the $360 buy-in, $1 million guaranteed opener, drew more than 5,000 entries marking the largest poker tournament in Florida history. Eventual champion Rafael Reis turned his buy-in into more than $150,000. Joining Mahoney and Reis with a six-figure first-prize haul was Ben Tollerene who bested 21 entries in the $50,000 High Roller. Tollerene, who resides in Fort Worth, Texas, took in over $450,000 for his efforts.

Complete results from all RRPO primary events are available at SHRPO.com.

Championship final table results

1st: Patrick Mahoney – $564,227 + $5,250 SHRPO Seat
2nd: Matt Humphrey – $328,320
3rd: Upeshka De Silva – $200,640
4th: Billy Pilossoph – $165,376
5th: Mark Dube – $133,760
6th: Bill Jennings – $109,440
7th: Matthew Zarcadoolas – $87,552
8th: John Spadavecchia – $66,880
9th: Ari Engel – $46,208

Complete Championship Results