Event 23: Cards Back in the Air

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
Level 4: 100/200/25
Players: 399

Level 4 is underway. Here are some notable chip counts from the break:

Alexander Vhanas – 44,450
Tom Thomas – 42,000
Blake Bohn – 40,000
Mike Wang – 35,800
Shannon Shorr – 32,000
Ryan Tepen – 29,700
Matt Stout – 27,000
Harrison Gimbel – 26,200
Jonathan Little – 26,000
Jake Cody – 25,300
Scott Clements – 25,050
Kane Kalas – 25,000
Nick Yunis – 24,675
Melanie Weisner – 24,600
Brian Hastings – 24,000
Anthony Spinella – 23,900
Darren Rabinowitz – 23,000
Jason Wheeler – 20,400
Darryll Fish – 20,225
Scott Davies – 19,600
Mike Leah – 19,950
Vinny Pahuja – 19,400
Ryan Olisar – 19,000
Allen Kessler – 18,600
Joe McKeehen – 18,550
Mukul Pahuja – 16,000
Jonathan Duhamel – 14,500
Jennifer Tilly – 10,800

Event 23: Florida’s Own Take to the Ballrooms

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
Level 3: 75/150 with a 25 ante
Players: 399

Charlemagne Benjamin
Charlemagne Benjamin
Abbey Daniels
Abbey Daniels

Charlemagne Benjamin and Abbey Daniels are regulars of the Seminole Hard Rock poker room. The pair takes a shot in the majority of the property’s in house events as well as their SHRP series. They’re among a field of roughly 380 entries to this point and both looking for a title on their home turf.

Charlemagne Benjamin – 33,500
Abbey Daniels – 7,000

Event 23: Darryll Fish Takes One Before The Break

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
Level 3: 75/150 with a 25 ante
Players: 399

On a flop of Ts9s8d, the small blind checked and Darryll Fish bet from the big blind. The small blind called.

Both players checked the Jd turn card and the Js came on the river. The small blind checked and Fish bet 2,000. The small blind quickly folded and Fish took the pot.

The SHRPO team member mucked his hand and moved back over starting stack as the field heads on their first break of the day.

Event 23: Liebert Shoves on Laplante; Geilich Gone

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
Level 3: 75/150/25
Players: 399

Kathy Liebert, who currently sits second on the Women’s All-Time Money List with over $6 million in winnings, raised to 400 from middle position and action folded to Ryan Laplante, who if you recall won a gold bracelet this summer at the World Series of Poker.

Laplante opted to defend and then both players checked the As8s8h flop. After the dealer burned and turned the 9d, Laplante led out for 800 and a short-stacked Liebert took her time before moving all in for 4,625 total. That did the trick as Laplante quickly released.

Meanwhile, Ludovic Geilich was eliminated from the tournament. He was crippled after getting it in with a pair and flush draw, which was bested by an overpair. Geilich’s few remaining chips disappeared a short time later.

For those unfamiliar with Geilich, he is an accomplished European pro who speaks with a strong Scottish accent, though he considers himself both Scottish and German (he has a parent from each country).

A proficient snooker player, Geilich topped a field of 499 entires earlier this year to win the 2016 Wynn Classic Main Event for $150,662. Geilich has nearly $1.3 million in lifetime earnings, but of course he won’t be adding to that in this event.

Ryan Laplante – 17,000
Kathy Liebert – 9,800
Ludovic Geilich – Eliminated

Event 23: Kornuth Takes a Chance

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
Level 2: 75/150
Players: 356

Chance Kornuth, who a few days back won the Charity Series of Poker event here at SHRPO for $5,000, was just eliminated from the tournament.

“He took a chance,” Mike Leah explained after his departure. “He took a chance with a combination draw.”

Ryan Tepen, who was also at the same table, was kind enough to shed some light on the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Team Member’s departure.

As he told it, Kornuth had raised to 400 only to have Joe Hwang three-bet to 1,600 from the button. Both blinds folded, Kornuth called, and the flop came down KsQc2s.

Kornuth checked, Hwang bet 1,650, and Kornuth sprung to life with a check-raise to 4,500. Hwang made the call and was soon put to the test as Kornuth shoved for roughly 16,000 on the 8c turn. Hwang hit the tank and eventually made the call.

Hwang: KhJh
Kornuth: Js10s

Hwang was ahead with top pair, but Kornuth was drawing strong to both an open-ended straight and a flush. The dealer burned one last time and put out the 2h. It was a dud as far as Kornuth was concerned, and he hastily gathered his things before making a beeline for the door.

Joe Hwang – 40,000
Chance Kornuth – Eliminated

Event 23: Joseph Cheong Eliminated

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
Level 2: 75/150
Players: 350

There is about 11,000 in the middle on the river with a completed board of Qd9c4hTs3h.

Joseph Cheong bet 7,175 from under the gun and the cutoff moved all in for about 22,500, which was more than enough to cover Cheong’s remaining 10,000.

Cheong thought for a minute before calling. The cutoff showed KdJd, good for the nut straight, and Chong showed 9s9d.

Cheong’s set wasn’t good enough to stay alive and hit the rail halfway through the second level.

Joseph Cheong – Eliminated 

Event 23: A Team SHRP Family Affair

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
Level 2: 50/100

SHRPO-Event-23-07618
Vinny Pahuja
Joel Harwood
Joel Harwood

The Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood ballrooms are often littered with the SHRPO patches of #TeamSHRP, and today’s $2,650 is no exception. Joining the team early in the event, though, are some family members of the property’s pros — Vineet Pahuja and Joel Harwood.

Vinny is the brother of pro Mukul Pahuja and is quite the player in his own right. He owns more than $2,000,000 in earnings much of which came over the course of his eight career tournament victories.

Joel, meanwhile, is the father of Loni Harwood. Joel taught Loni how to play poker and has a solid resume making more than 30 final tables throughout his career.

Vinny Pahuja – 16,500
Joel Harwood – 19,000

Event 23: A Few Players to Keep an Eye On

$2,650 No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)
Level 2: 75/150
Players: 321

Ryan Laplante
Ryan Laplante

There are plenty of players worth knowing in today’s field, but we thought we’d single out a few we recommend keeping an eye on.

Ryan Laplante – What a year it has been for Laplante, who earlier this summer notched an astounding 12 cashes during the 2016 World Series of Poker. The best result? That would be a win in Event #12: $565 Pot-Limit Omaha for $190,328 and his first gold bracelet.

The day after his win at his bracelet ceremony, Laplante, an openly gay poker player, made a heartfelt speech in the wake of the worst mass shooting in American history where 49 people lost their lives inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando.

“I am so proud to call myself a World Series of Poker champion,” Laplante said battling back tears. “I’m proud to call myself an openly gay man. I encourage all of you to be proud of who you are.”

Laplante, who has been playing since 2011, is already having a career year with $287,556 in winnings thus far in 2016. His previous best was $234,604 back in 2014.

Nick Yunis – Only two players from Chile have amassed more than $1 million in earnings. Nicolas Fierro sits atop the South American country’s all-time money list with more than $1.7 million in lifetime earnings, while Yunis is in second with $1,152,604.

Just a couple days ago, Yunis finished third in Event #21: $300 Charity Series of Poker, which earned him $2,000. Before that, he was in Vegas for the 2016 World Series of Poker where he put together six cashes, including a sixth-place finish in Event #9: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship for $56,202.

As far as his overall poker résumé is concerned, Yunis’ career-best score was $249,152 for winning the 2015 World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic Event #12: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em. The only other six-figure score of his came right here at Seminole Hard Rock when he placed fifth in April’s WPT SHRP Showdown High Roller for $133,950.

Ari Engel – If you’ve spent any time on the tournament circuit, there’s no doubt you’ve crossed paths with Ari Engel. All he does is travel from stop to stop playing poker, and it seems all he does when there is win.

Engel has eight WSOP Circuit gold rings to his credit, which ties him with Valentin Vornicu and Chris Reslock, though that triumvirate trails Alex Masek’s by a single ring. While Engel is a Circuit beast, he established himself as a powerhouse earlier this year when he won the 2016 Aussie Millions Main Event for $1,120,110.

Most recently – three days ago to be exact – Engel came out on top of the SHRPO Event #19: $1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up for $22,400. Only time will tell if Engel can capture another title in this event.