2019 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 10
$400 Pot Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Entries:  102
Prize Pool:  $34,680
November 25, 2019

Michael Daud plays poker online, and he plays cash games, but he doesn’t play a lot of tournaments. But Omaha-8 is his game, so he entered today’s PLO-8 tournament. Daud went on to not only notch his first live tournament cash, but he also won the first poker trophy of his career.

“It feels fantastic. This was my first live Omaha-8 tournament, and it feels great to win it. I’m happy that I get the glory and the money.”

There were 102 entries in this field, and the final 13 finished in the money.

“The final table is where the action really started to happen,” said Daud. “After the final 13 players cashed, the flies started dropping and people started making moves. That’s when I started thinking I had the momentum to go forward to win it.”

When the final table began, the chipleader was Gabriel Ramos, who was at his second Omaha final table in two days, and who has won six Omaha trophies here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood in the past two years.

Ramos may have started with the chip lead, but it was Rene Herrera who caught fire at the final table, eliminating five of the nine players — including Ramos — before getting heads-up against Daud. They only got it all in against each other one time, and when Daud won that hand to double up, he had a 9-to-1 chip lead over Herrera. That’s when they made the deal that gave Daud the victory.

“Thank you to everyone who helped put this tournament together,” said Daud. “I’m super happy that I was able to win.”

Final Results:

1st:  Michael Daud  –  $9,015 + RRPO Trophy
2nd:  Rene Herrera  –  $7,175
3rd:  Craig Chait  –  $4,395
4th:  Robert Wachtel  –  $3,095
5th:  Erik Nomberg  –  $2,260
6th:  Gabriel Ramos  –  $1,720
7th:  John Creed  –  $1,360
8th:  Brenda Nelson  –  $1,125
9th:  Carlos Guerrero  –  $970
10th:  Michael Lee  –  $970
11th:  Zachary Milchman  –  $880
12th:  Claudangelo Beaudouin  –  $880
13th:  Natan Wager Vainer  –  $835

$400 Pot Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  8,000/16,000
Players Remaining:  1 of 102

Rene Herrera (670K) and Michael Daud (554K) got it all in preflop with fairly similar stacks, and turned over their cards.

Rene Herrera:  
Michael Daud:  

The board came , with no possible lows. Both players played the three queens on the board, and Daud’s ace-jack outkicked Herrera’s ace-ten for Daud to win the pot and double up into a huge chip lead.

Michael Daud  –  1,108,000  (92 bb)
Rene Herrera  –  116,000  (10 bb)

At that point, the two players agreed to a heads-up deal, and as chipleader, Daud was declared the winner, receiving the trophy and the title.

Stay tuned for a recap, which will be posted later tonight.

1st:  Michael Daud  –  $9,015 + RRPO Trophy
2nd:  Rene Herrera  –  $7,175
3rd:  Craig Chait  –  $4,395
4th:  Robert Wachtel  –  $3,095
5th:  Erik Nomberg  –  $2,260
6th:  Gabriel Ramos  –  $1,720
7th:  John Creed  –  $1,360
8th:  Brenda Nelson  –  $1,125
9th:  Carlos Guerrero  –  $970
10th:  Michael Lee  –  $970
11th:  Zachary Milchman  –  $880
12th:  Claudangelo Beaudouin  –  $880
13th:  Natan Wager Vainer  –  $835

$400 Pot Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  6,000/12,000
Players Remaining:  2 of 102

With the board showing on the turn, Craig Chait got it all in from the big blind against chipleader Rene Herrera in the small blind.

Rene Herrera:    (pair of aces, heart flush draw, gutshot wheel draw)
Craig Chait:    (two pair, aces and deuces, 7-3 low draw)

The river card was the , and there were no qualifying lows. Herrera made his ace-high flush to win the pot and eliminate Chait in third place.

Craig Chait  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($4,395)

With two players remaining, the average chip stack is about 612,000 (51 big blinds). The runner-up will earn $6,475, while the winner will pick up $9,715 and an RRPO Trophy.

Here are the updated chip counts for the final two players:

Rene Herrera  –  728,000  (61 bb)
Michael P. Daud  –  496,000  (41 bb)

$400 Pot Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  6,000/12,000
Players Remaining:  3 of 102

Robert Wachtel and Michael P. Daud put in 27,000 each to see a flop of . Daud checked, Wachtel bet the pot, and Daud re-potted it to 180,000. Wachtel called, thinking he was all in, but he actually had a single 1K chip left in his stack.

The turn card was the , and they got it all in for Wachtel’s last 1,000.

Michael P. Daud:    (two pair, aces and sixes, 8-6 low draw)
Robert Wachtel:    (pair of aces)

The river card paired the board with the , and Daud won the pot with a full house, sixes full of aces, to eliminate Wachtel in fourth place.

Michael P. Daud  –  422,000  (35 bb)
Robert Wachtel  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($3,095)

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is about 408,000 (34 big blinds), and the next player to bust will receive $4,395.

$400 Pot Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  6,000/12,000
Players Remaining:  4 of 102

Erik Nomberg got it all in preflop with a short stack against chipleader Rene Herrera.

Rene Herrera:  
Erik Nomberg:  

The board came , and there were no possible lows. Nomberg paired his jack on the flop, but Herrera paired his queen on the river to win the pot and eliminate Nomberg in fifth place.

Rene Herrera  –  575,000  (48 bb)
Erik Nomberg  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($2,260)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 306,000 (26 big blinds), and the next player to bust will receive $3,095.

$400 Pot Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  6,000/12,000
Players Remaining:  5 of 102

After a flop of , Gabriel Ramos got it all in from the cutoff against Rene Herrera in the hijack. Herrera had Ramos covered by about 40K in chips.

Rene Herrera:    (pair of fives, gutshot wheel draw, 5-3 low draw)
Gabriel Ramos:    (pair of deuces, gutshot wheel draw, 5-4 low draw)

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and there were no qualifying lows. Herrera won the pot with a higher two pair, kings and fives, to eliminate Ramos in sixth place.

Rene Herrera  –  505,000  (42 bb)
Gabriel Ramos  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($1,720)

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is about 245,000 (20 big blinds), and the next player to bust will receive $2,260.

$400 Pot Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  5,000/10,000
Players Remaining:  6 of 102

John Creed was all in from the hijack for 70,000 against Rene Herrera on the button.

Rene Herrera:  
John Creed:  

The board came , and with no qualifying lows, Herrera won the pot with a full house, sevens full of jacks, to eliminate Creed in seventh place.

Rene Herrera  –  260,000  (26 bb)
John Creed  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($1,360)

With six players remaining, the average chip stack is about 204,000 (20 big blinds), and the next player to bust will receive $1,720.

$400 Pot Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  3,000/6,000
Players Remaining:  7 of 102

Craig Chait raised from the hijack to 6,000, Brenda Nelson reraised from the big blind to 27,000, and Chait called.

The flop came , Nelson checked, Chait moved all in for 23,000, and Nelson called all in for 22,500.

Craig Chait:    (wheel)
Brenda Nelson:    (two pair, gutshot wheel draw)

Nelson was behind and needed to improve to stay alive.

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and the wheel held up for Chait to scoop the high and the low, eliminating Nelson in eighth place.

Craig Chait  –  102,500  (17 bb)
Brenda Nelson  –  Eliminated in 8th Place  ($1,125)

With seven players remaining, the average chip stack is about 175,000 (29 big blinds), and the next player to bust will receive $1,360.

$400 Pot Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  3,000/6,000
Players Remaining:  8 of 102

After a flop of , Rene Herrera checked, Carlos Guerrero bet, Herrera raised, and Guerrero moved all in. Herrera called, and they turned over their cards.

Rene Herrera:    (diamond flush)
Carlos Guerrero:    (set of kings)

Even with a set of kings, Guerrero needed to improve to stay alive against Herrera’s flush.

The turn card was the , the river was the , and the flush held up for Herrera to win the high. Herrera also caught a runner-runner 7-6 low for good measure to scoop the pot, eliminating Guerrero in ninth place.

Rene Herrera  –  150,000  (25 bb)
Carlos Guerrero  –  Eliminated in 9th Place  ($970)

With eight players remaining, the average chip stack is about 153,000 (26 big blinds), and the next player to bust will receive $1,125.

$400 Pot Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  3,000/6,000
Players Remaining:  9 of 102

After the elimination of Michael Lee in 10th place, the final nine players drew for random seats at the final table.

Here are their approximate chip counts, followed by the prizepool:

Seat 1.  Robert Wachtel  –  146,000  (24 bb)
Seat 2.  Craig Chait  –  114,000  (19 bb)
Seat 3.  Michael P. Daud  –  210,000  (35 bb)
Seat 4.  John Creed  –  124,000  (21 bb)
Seat 5.  Rene Herrera  –  95,000  (16 bb)
Seat 6.  Brenda Nelson  –  50,000  (8 bb)
Seat 7.  Gabriel Ramos  –  240,000  (40 bb)
Seat 8.  Carlos Guerrero  –  50,000  (8 bb)
Seat 9.  Erik Nomberg  –  186,500  (31 bb)

1st:  $9,715 + RRPO Trophy
2nd:  $6,475
3rd:  $4,395
4th:  $3,095
5th:  $2,260
6th:  $1,720
7th:  $1,360
8th:  $1,125
9th:  $970

10th:  Michael Lee  –  $970
11th:  Zachary Milchman  –  $880
12th:  Claudangelo Beaudouin  –  $880
13th:  Natan Wager Vainer  –  $835