$1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo NLH (Freeze-Out)
Prizepool
Level 20: 8,000/16,000 with a 16,000 ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 97

Marcus Stein raised from the hijack to 40,000, Raman Afanasenka moved all in from the button for 142,000, and Stein called with . Afanasenka turned over , and he was dominated as he faced elimination.

The flop came , giving Stein a pair of queens. Aaron Mermelstein was standing behind Stein, sweating his action, and he said, “That’s a good flop.”

The turn card was the , giving Afanasenka a double-gutshot straight draw, and Mermelstein said, “That’s … not a good turn.”

The river card was the , giving Afanasenka a queen-high straight to win the pot. Mermelstein said, “That’s … a bad river.”

Afanasenka won the pot with his straight to double up in chips.

Raman Afanasenka  –  324,000  (20 bb)
Marcus Stein  –  118,000  (7 bb)

$1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo NLH (Freeze-Out)
Prizepool
Level 19: 6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 97

Dustin Lee was all in from UTG+1 with , but he ran into Marcus Stein’s on the button.

The board came , and Stein turned a set of aces and rivered a full house to win the pot and eliminate Lee in eighth place.

Marcus Stein  –  293,000  (24 bb)
Dustin Lee  –  Eliminated in 8th Place  ($3,056)

The remaining seven players are guaranteed at least $3,783 each.

$1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo NLH (Freeze-Out)
Prizepool
Level 19: 6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 97

Manny Tarich moved all in under the gun for about 115,000, and Raj Vohra called all in from middle position for about 85,000 with .

Tarich turned over , and Vohra needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The board came — Tarich paired his jack on the flop, turned a gutshot straight draw, and rivered two pair to win the pot and eliminate Vohra in ninth place.

Manny Tarich  –  230,000  (19 bb)
Raj Vohra  –  Eliminated in 9th Place  ($2,425)

The remaining eight players are all guaranteed at least $3,056 each.

$1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo NLH (Freeze-Out)
Prizepool
Level 18: 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 97

The final table is set in the Eight-Handed Turbo, and WPT champion James Romero leads the final nine players with 480K.

Here are their seating assignments and chip counts, followed by the remaining prizepool:

Seat 1.  Jake Bazeley  –  205,000  (21 bb)
Seat 2.  Manny Tarich  –  110,000  (11 bb)
Seat 3.  Marcus Stein  –  200,000  (20 bb)
Seat 4.  Raj Vohra  –  80,000  (8 bb)
Seat 5.  Brandon Eisen  –  304,000  (30 bb)
Seat 6.  Raman Afanasenka  –  180,000  (18 bb)
Seat 7.  Brett Apter  –  253,000  (25 bb)
Seat 8.  Dustin Lee  –  135,000  (14 bb)
Seat 9.  James Romero  –  480,000  (48 bb)

1st:  $26,373
2nd:  $15,520
3rd:  $11,543
4th:  $8,148
5th:  $6,160
6th:  $4,705
7th:  $3,783
8th:  $3,056
9th:  $2,425

$1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo NLH (Freeze-Out)
Prizepool
Level 18: 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 97

Here are the players who have been eliminated in the money so far, leading up to the final table:

10th:  Nashaat Antonious  –  $2,425
11th:  Michael Benko  –  $2,425
12th:  Aaron Mermelstein  –  $2,425
13th:  Tomas Soderstrom  –  $2,003
14th:  Jean Gaspard  –  $2,003
15th:  Michael Wang  –  $2,003
16th:  Stephen Song  –  $2,003

$1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo NLH (Freeze-Out)
Prizepool
Level 16: 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining: 15 of 97

Jake Bazeley moved all in button for 45,000, and the player in the small blind moved all in over the top for nearly 70,000 with . Bazeley turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Bazeley caught running diamonds to win the pot with a king-high straight to double up in chips.

Jake Bazeley  –  102,000  (17 bb)

A short while later, Manny Tarich raised from the cutoff to 14,000, Tomas Soderstrom moved all in from the button for 30,000, and Tarich called with . Soderstrom turned over , and needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came — Tarich flopped a gutshot straight draw, but improved no further. Soderstrom won the pot with his pocket aces to double up in chips.

Tomas Soderstrom  –  75,000  (13 bb)
Manny Tarich  –  169,000  (28 bb)

Then, in the sixth hand of hand-for-hand play after the break, the player in the hijack moved all in for 23,000, Stephen Song moved all in over the top from the button for 52,000, and Raman Afanasenka called from the small blind, covering both of them.

Raman Afanasenka:  
Stephen Song:  
Hijack:  

The board came , and Afanasenka won the pot with ace-queen high to eliminate both players from the tournament.

If the two eliminations had come at different tables, they would have chopped 16th place, but since they were at the same table, the player with the lower chip stack (the hijack) bubbles while the higher chip stack (Song) claims 16th place.

Raman Afanasenka  –  280,000  (47 bb)
Stephen Song  –  Eliminated in 16th Place  ($2,003)

The remaining 15 players are all guaranteed at least $2,003 each.

$1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo NLH (Freeze-Out)
Prizepool
Level 16: 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining: 17 of 97

With 17 players remaining, the Eight-Handed Turbo just started playing hand-for-hand on the Money Bubble. The final eight players are guaranteed at least $2,003 each.

In the last hand before the break, Jake Bazeley moved all in under the gun for 11,500. Raman Afanasenka called from the small blind, and Michael Benko called from the big blind.

The flop came , Afanasenka bet into the dry side pot, and Benko folded.

There was still action pending at another table, so the players had to wait before revealing their cards. Bazeley gathered up his things and put on his backpack, ready to leave, and looked to be in a hurry to get out of there.

One of the players at their table left to begin his break, and Marcus Stein said, “If you leave, you’re gonna miss the best slowroll.”

Eventually, the other hand wrapped up, and it was time to reveal their cards.

Afanasenka showed , and Bazeley turned over — for top set.

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Bazeley won the pot with his set of aces to triple up in chips.

Bazeley laughed and said, “I just angled the whole room.”

Jake Bazeley  –  39,500  (7 bb)
Raman Afanasenka  –  165,000  (28 bb)
Michael Benko  –  62,000  (10 bb)

That was the last hand before the break, with the blinds increasing to 3,000/6,000 and a 6,000 big-blind ante. Here are updated chip counts from the break for some of the other notables still in the field:

Brett Apter  –  293,000  (49 bb)
James Romero  –  255,000  (43 bb)
Manny Tarich  –  177,000  (30 bb)
Raman Afanasenka  –  165,000  (28 bb)
Nashaat Antonious  –  151,000  (25 bb)
Marcus Stein  –  139,000  (23 bb)
Aaron Mermelstein  –  95,000  (16 bb)
Jean Gaspard  –  82,000  (14 bb)
Dustin Lee  –  76,000  (13 bb)
Raj Vohra  –  74,000  (12 bb)
Stephen Song  –  67,000  (11 bb)
Michael Benko  –  62,000  (10 bb)
Jake Bazeley  –  39,000  (7 bb)
Michael Wang  –  34,000  (6 bb)

$1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo NLH (Freeze-Out)
Prizepool
Level 14: 2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining: 20 of 97

The field is down to the final three tables, with the final two tables (16 players) finishing in the money.

Jean Gaspard raised under the gun to 10,500, Marcus Stein called UTG+1, and next to act, Michael Wang moved all in for 28,000. Gaspard moved all in over the top for about 115,000, slightly covering Stein.

Stein said, “I’ve got a monster. A baby monster.” Stein thought for a little while, saying he entered the pot expecting this and prepared to call, but now he’s not so sure.

Stein folded and said, “Please, someone show me a monster.”

Wang showed , and Gaspard turned over . Stein looked like he wanted his cards back.

The board came , and Wang paired his nine on the turn to win the pot and double up in chips.

Another player asked Stein if he would have won the pot. Stein replied, “Oh yeah, I win.” The player asked if Stein had king-queen, but Stein claimed he folded a pocket pair.

“I expected them to at least have more overcards, and not so many unders.”

Michael Wang  –  76,500  (19 bb)
Marcus Stein  –  105,000  (26 bb)
Jean Gaspard  –  90,000  (23 bb)

At the next table, the hijack moved all in for 20,500, and Raman Afanasenka called from the big blind with . The hijack turned over , and needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and Afanasenka paired his king on the flop to win the pot and eliminate his opponent from the tournament.

Raman Afanasenka  –  155,000  (39 bb)

And here are updated chip counts for other notables still in the field:

Manny Tarich  –  188,000  (47 bb)
Mukul Pahuja  –  120,000  (30 bb)
Raj Vohra  –  110,000  (28 bb)
Nashaat Antonious  –  105,000  (26 bb)
Stephen Song  –  75,000  (19 bb)
James Romero  –  44,000  (11 bb)
Jake Bazeley  –  43,000  (11 bb)
Aaron Mermelstein  –  42,000  (11 bb)
Trent Smith  –  31,000  (8 bb)

$1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo NLH (Freeze-Out)
Prizepool
Level 13: 1,500/3,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining: 28 of 97

With the prizepool released and the final 16 players getting paid, this Eight-Handed Turbo field is shrinking quickly, down to the final four tables with 28 players remaining.

Nashaat Antonious was all in from the cutoff for 40,500 with , and he needed his hand to hold to stay alive against big blind’s .

The board came — the big blind flopped a diamond flush draw, but improved no further as Antonious won the pot with his pocket kings.

Nashaat Antonious  –  83,500  (33 bb)

And here’s an update on some of the notables still in the field after the blinds increased to 1,500/3,000:

Manny Tarich  –  150,000  (50 bb)
Stephen Song  –  140,000  (47 bb)
Jean Gaspard  –  100,000  (33 bb)
Mukul Pahuja  –  77,000  (26 bb)
James Romero  –  75,000  (25 bb)
Michael Wang  –  70,000  (23 bb)
Marcus Stein  –  65,000  (22 bb)
Trent Smith  –  47,000  (16 bb)
Evan Teitelbaum  –  42,000  (14 bb)
Aaron Mermelstein  –  40,000  (13 bb)
Corey Burbick  –  37,000  (12 bb)
Raj Vohra  –  37,000  (12 bb)
Martin Kozlov  –  27,000  (9 bb)
Jake Bazeley  –  25,000  (8 bb)

$1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo NLH (Freeze-Out)
Structure 
Level 10: 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 big blind ante
Total Entries: 97

With players back from break and the 10th level underway, registration is closed for the $1,100 no-limit hold’em turbo. There were 97 entries, generating a prize pool of $97,000.

The top 16 spots will finish in the money and the winner will walk away with $26,373.

Full prize pool and payouts:

2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open 
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida
Event #13
$1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo No-Limit Hold’em 
Entries: 97 
Prize Pool: $97,000 
August 7, 2018 

1st: $26,373
2nd: $15,520
3rd: $11,543
4th: $8,148
5th: $6,160
6th: $4,705
7th: $3,783
8th: $3,056
9th-12th: $2,425
13th-16th: $2,003