2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event #1
$570 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guarantee
Entries: 3,064
Prize Pool: $1,532,000
August 2-6, 2018

The 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open began with a big bang and the first tournament of the series kept the Hard Rock Event Center busy. The $570 buy-in, multi-day tournament cruised past its $1,000,000 Guarantee and it was Matt Edge walking away with the biggest piece of the prize pool after an extra day of play.

Edge had to endure some tough situations throughout the tournament but held on, pushed his stack back up, and took home nearly $200,000 in a three-way deal.

“Day 1 was rough. I was down to 10K early,” Edge said. “But I played steady and progressed through the day and was able to bag up a top ten stack at the end of the day.”

The tournament drew 3,064 entries over six starting flights to put more than $1,500,000 in the prize pool. The last 300 players were set to take home some of that money with 477 players surviving into Day 2.

The money bubble hit quickly after less than two hours on the second day. There was no need for the hand-for-hand process as two players went out to leave 300 players looking to move up over the course of the day.

There were ten players remaining when Edge had his pocket kings run into the pocket aces of Jeffrey Trudeau on the very last hand of the evening. The ten players bagged up at 3am and returned on Monday to play out the final table.

“On Day 2 there were a lot of tough players and I did lose quite a bit,” Edge said about his deep run. “Then I lost half of my stack running kings into aces on the last hand of the day.”

Edge had to dodge a bad beat at the hands of Tom Nguyen, swapped the lead several times with Noam Muallem and John Miller throughout the day but took the lead for good as the table began playing short-handed. Edge knocked out Trudeau when he flopped a set of jacks against pocket kings to take out a tough opponent.

“That was pretty big,” Edge commented about his hand versus Trudeau. “Other than that, the other hands were pretty standard.”

Edge knocked Andre Rakusa out in fourth place and the last three players quickly agreed on a deal to divide the remaining prize pool. Shorter stacked Jay Romano earned $159,813 in the deal followed by John Miller with $191,788.

Edge collected $196,150 for his SHRPO Event 1 title for the biggest cash of his career. He came to Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood to play some cash games and enter this tournament. Edge was scheduled to fly back to North Carolina but thinks he will now stick around the play the $3 Million Guarantee SHRPO Championship starting later this week.

Congratulations to all who cashed and thanks to our players for the fantastic turnout to start the series.

Final table results:

1st: Matt Edge – $196,150 + Trophy *
2nd: John Miller – $191,788 *
3rd: Jay Romano – $159,813 *
4th: Andre Rakusa – $94,601
5th: Noam Muallem – $76,983
6th: Tom Nguyen – $60,514
7th: Don Vu – $44,428
8th: Jeffrey Trudeau – $29,874
9th: Domenico Albano – $21,448
10th: Ido Ashkenazi – $13,788
* – denotes three-way deal

Complete Event 1 results

$570 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 36: 300,000/500,000 with a 500,000
Players Remaining: 3 of 3,064

After Andre Rakusa was eliminated, the three remaining players decided to discuss a deal to divide up the remaining prize pool based on their stack sizes.

They quickly agreed to terms with the numbers below. Matt Edge held a slight lead over John Miller and took the biggest payout along with the title of SHRPO Event 1 champion.

Matt Edge – 25,200,000
John Miller – 23,300,000
Jay Romano – 12,600,000

1st: Matt Edge – $196,150
2nd: John Miller – $191,788
3rd: Jay Romano – $159,813

Tournament recap to come shortly.

$570 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 36: 300,000/500,000 with a 500,000
Players Remaining: 3 of 3,064

Matt Edge opened to 1,300,000 and John Miller called in the small blind. Andre Rakusa moved all in from the big blind for 4,700,000 and Edge moved all in with his big stack. Miller open-folded and the cards were tabled.

Rakusa:
Edge:

Rakusa was in trouble and never caught up on the board to exit in fourth place.

Matt Edge – 25,200,000 (50 bb)
Andre Rakusa – Eliminated in 4th place ($94,601)

$570 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 35: 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000
Players Remaining: 4 of 3,064

Jay Romano open-shoved for 5,000,000 even and Matt Edge quickly called. The rest of the players folded and Romano was at risk.

Romano:
Edge:

Romano had two live cards and hit the flop. The board finished and and Romano’s trip tens were good enough for the double.

Jay Romano – 11,000,000 (28 bb)
Matt Edge – 16,300,000 (41 bb)

$570 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 35: 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000
Players Remaining: 4 of 3,064

Noam Muallem dropped another big hand to John Miller and decided to make a stand. Matt Edge opened to 1,200,000 and Muallem moved all in for 6,475,000. Edge confirmed the count and called.

Edge:
Muallem:

Muallem was in a lot of trouble and never caught up on the board to exit in fifth place for $76,983.

Matt Edge – 21,900,000 (55 bb)
Noam Muallem – Eliminated in 5th place ($76,983)

$570 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 35: 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000
Players Remaining: 5 of 3,064

Noam Muallem limped from under the gun, John Miller called, Jay Romano completed from the small blind, and Matt Edge checked his big blind option.

The flop came and Romano and Edge checked. Muallem bet 400,000 and Miller raised to 1,000,000. Romano and Edge folded and Muallem called to the turn. Both players checked and the river came .

Muallem bet 500,000 and Miller pushed out a stack of 100K chips for a 1,800,000 bet. Muallem thought for a few minutes before releasing his hand and pot to Miller.

Noam Muallem – 10,400,000 (26 bb)
John Miller – 18,600,000 (47 bb)

$570 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 35: 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000
Players Remaining: 5 of 3,064

Seat 5: Noam Muallem – 16,500,000 (41 bb)
Seat 6: John Miller – 14,075,000 (35 bb)
Seat 7: Andre Rakusa – 9,250,000 (23 bb)
Seat 8: Jay Romano – 5,350,000 (13 bb)
Seat 9: Matt Edge – 15,825,000 (40 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $263,182 + Trophy
2nd: $171,890
3rd: $112,679
4th: $94,601
5th: $76,983

$570 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 35: 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000
Players Remaining: 5 of 3,064

Jay Romano open-shoved from under the gun for 2,200,000 and Tom Nguyen called from the cutoff. The button and blinds released and Romano was at risk.

Romano:
Nguyen:

Romano needed to catch to stay in the game and hit the flop. Nguyen spiked the turn for the set but Romano came back on the river the make the straight.

Romano doubled up and Nguyen was life with 1.5 blinds. Those went in on the next hand and he was eliminated.

Jay Romano – 5,400,000 (14 bb)
Tom Nguyen – Eliminated in 6th place ($60,514)

$570 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 35: 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000
Players Remaining: 6 of 3,064

The six remaining players took a short break and cards are back in their seats with Matt Edge leading the way.

Seat 3: Tom Nguyen – 7,175,000 (18 bb)
Seat 5: Noam Muallem – 14,850,000 (37 bb)
Seat 6: John Miller – 10,975,000 (27 bb)
Seat 7: Andre Rakusa – 5,875,000 (15 bb)
Seat 8: Jay Romano – 6,000,000 (15 bb)
Seat 9: Matt Edge – 16,175,000 (40 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $263,182 + Trophy
2nd: $171,890
3rd: $112,679
4th: $94,601
5th: $76,983
6th: $60,514

$570 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 34: 150,000/300,000 with a 300,000
Players Remaining: 6 of 3,064

Noam Muallem opened to 650,000 and Andre Rakusa called on the button. Matt Edge three-bet to 1,900,000 from the big blind and Muallem released his hand. After a few minutes to think it through, Rakusa moved all in for 3,125,000 total and Edge quickly called.

Rakusa:
Edge:

It was a race and Edge stayed ahead on the flop. Rakusa took the lead on the turn and had his double up after the river.

Andre Rakusa – 7,350,000 (25 bb)
Matt Edge – 17,200,000 (57 bb)