$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 3: 75/150 with a 25 ante
Players: 300

The field is chock full of notable players, but we thought we’d single out three and tell you why they’re worth keeping an eye on.

Mike Shin – The 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event attracted 6,737 players, and right now nine of those player — known as the The November Nine — are on hiatus waiting to return to Las Vegas to  battle it out for an $8 million first-place prize. Mike Shin will not be there.

Shin, who hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, nearly made it though, making a deep run but ultimately busting in 12^th place for $427,930. The largest score of his career brought his lifetime earnings up to $571,260, but it was bittersweet.

“A little disappointed because obviously I was so close to it, but like I said before, if you’d have told me at the start of the tournament I’d get 12, I would have been stoked,” Shin said a week after his elimination . “I try not to think about it. I don’t think it’s going to go away though. I think about that hand though, every single day, every single hour. I’m thinking about it at this moment.”

His elimination may still be in the back of his mind, but right now he has a new focus as he is in action here in the SHRPO.

James Mackey – Less than two weeks ago, James “mig.com” Mackey topped a field of 1,066 entries to win the World Poker Tour Choctaw Main Event for $681,758, which vaulted him past $3.5 million in career earnings. Not only that, it gave him a WPT title to go along with his World Series of Poker gold bracelet.

Regarding that WSOP bracelet, it came back in 2007 when Mackey took down the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event for $730,740, the largest cash of his career. Other highlights on his poker résumé include third in the 2014 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown for $441,128, runner-up in the 2008 WSOP $10,000 8-Game World Championship for $297,792, and third in the 2012 WSOP Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em for $286,633.

We’ll have to wait and see if Mackey’s momentum from his recent WPT win can carry over to this SHRPO event.

Blake Bohn — One of the superstars to come out of the Midwest, Bohn of Eden Prairie, Minnesota is not only a two-time Mid-States Poker Tour champ, he is one of the tour’s Team Pros.

Bohn, who currently sits second on Minnesota’s all-time money list with nearly $2.4 million in tournament earnings, started making a name for himself in 2013, which is when he topped a field of 392 players to win the Chicago Poker Classic for a career-high $288,171. That summer, Bohn finished runner-up to Jonathan Taylor in the World Series of Poker Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em for $281,049.

Other poker highlights for Bohn include 23^rd in the 2015 WSOP Main Event for $262,574, finishing seventh in the 2014 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event for $249,438, third in the 2014 World Poker Tour Borgata Open for $213,999, and 15^th in the 2013 WSOP $111,111 One Drop High Roller for $208,968

Interestingly, Bohn was selected, alongside “Minneapolis” Jim Meehan, for induction into the Minnesota Poker Hall of Fame last December.

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 2: 75/150
Players: 300

If you know Kane Lai, chances are you know him as a poker player with over $840,000 in cashes. After all, he is both a Mid-States Poker Tour and Heartland Poker Tour champ. However, did you know that he is also a doctor?

That’s right, Lai is a functional medicine practitioner and serves as the Medical Director of BodyLogicMD in Denver, Colorado. Here’s a brief bio of the man as seen on bioidenticaldenver.com.

“Kane Lai, M.D. earned his medical degree from the Vanderbilt School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee and is an active member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. After several years practicing medicine with the traditional reactionary approach, Kane Lai, M.D. wanted a better way to help his patients experience the best quality of life as possible. The best way he could identify to accomplish this goal was to begin practicing functional medicine with a preventative approach to treatment that would help his patients achieve and sustain optimal health throughout their lives. Kane Lai, M.D. has the tools.”

Lai has made his way down to SHRPO, and he is off to a good start here in Event #24.

In a recent three-way hand, there was 4,700 in the pot and a board reading when the player in the big blind checked and Lai bet 2,100 from the hijack. His opponent on the button folded, and the big blind wound up doing the same. Ship the pot to Lai.

Kane Lai – 20,000

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 2: 75/150
Players: 300

Mike Shin – 15,000
James Mackey – 15,000
Dylan Wilkerson – 15,000
Blair Hinkle – 15,000
Kathy Liebert – 15,000
Cate Hall – 15,000
Stan Jablonski – 15,000
Blake Bohn – 15,000
John Monnette – 15,000
Kane Lai – 15,000

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 1: 50/100
Players: 300

Aaron Massey, who earlier this year won the Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan for nearly $175,000, opened for 250 under the gun and action folded all the way to Alabama’s Shannon Shorr in the big blind. The Yellowhammer State’s all-time money winner made the call and the two saw a flop of .

Shorr check-called a bet of 300 and then check called one of 625 on the turn. When the completed the board on the river, Shorr checked for a third time and then quickly called after Massey bet 1,800.

Shorr tabled the , but it was no good as Massey had flopped top set with the .

“Ace-king is brutal,” Massey offered.

Aaron Massey – 19,000
Shannon Shorr – 13,000

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 1: 50/100
Players: 300

There are quite a few notable players among the seated players. Here’s a look of who we saw on our first pass through the field:

Mike Wang – 15,000
Neil Blumenfield – 15,000
Tom Middleton – 15,000
Ralph Massey – 15,000
Aaron Massey – 15,000
Rachel Kranz – 15,000
Amir Lehavot – 15,000
David Levi – 15,000
Shannon Shorr – 15,000
Harrison Gimbel – 15,000

Dozens of players are waiting in the registration line outside the tournament area, which means you can expect more familiar faces to filter in.

$1,100 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

The third event on The Big Four schedule is Event 24: $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em, a tournament featuring unlimited re-entries and a $500,000 guarantee.

The two-day tournament will start players with 15,000 in chips, and the plan for Day 1 is to play 30-minute levels with the intent of getting down to the final table of nine.

Last year, Pennsylvania’s David Aldridge topped a field of 794 entries to win this event for $146,100. Others who cashed that event were Ruben Ybarra (2nd – $84,700), Gavin O’Rourke (3rd – $51,100), Lily Kiletto (17th – $7,300), Aaron Mermelstein (28th – $4,400), and Nick Yunis (35th – $4,400).

Tournament Details:

• $500,000 guaranteed prize pool
• Players begin with 15,000 in chips and 15-minute levels
• Late registration available until start of Level 12 (approximately 6:30 p.m.)
• Unlimited re-entries during the registration period
• Day 1 will end when the final table is reached or at tournament director’s discretion.
• Event 24 Structure Sheet

12PM: Event 24 Day 1 – $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

The cards will be in the air at noon and updates throughout the tournament’s conclusion will be available right here at SHRPO.com.

All eligible, direct buys have been verified and the payouts for those who took part in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Bring a Friend Program are available in the poker room.

Thank you all for participating!