2019 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 11
$150 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guarantee
Entries: 486
Prize Pool: $58,320
November 25, 2019
Tuesday is John Gorsuch’s birthday, and he was planning to take the day off from poker to visit his parents. He could enter Event 9 on Monday, hopefully bag up chips, visit his parents on Tuesday, and return on Wednesday for Day 2.
The first part went according to plan, though it took four bullets for Gorsuch to bag up chips in the morning starting flight. But Gorsuch’s buddy was playing the evening starting flight.
“I had literally nothing else to do,” said Gorsich. He figured he could enter this $150 buy-in one-day event, order some food, watch the football game on the big TVs, and then when he and his buddy busted, they could return to his RV.
But Gorsuch never busted, and he wound up winning the tournament in a 6-player deal when he held a massive chip lead with three times as many chips as anybody else. The tournament ended shortly before 4:00 am on Tuesday — Gorsuch’s birthday.
In addition to the prize money, Gorsuch won a $3,500 seat into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Championship, which begins on Friday.
Gorsuch has become pretty recognizable in the poker world since he won the WSOP Millionaire Maker this past summer in Las Vegas. But even with a WSOP bracelet and a seven-figure victory on his poker resume, Gorsuch was pleased to win this relatively small $150 tournament.
“I’ve been playing here [at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood] since 2013,” said Gorsuch. “So it’s good to get it, to finally capture a Hard Rock trophy.”
After his victory, Gorsuch praised the casino and the staff. “Special thanks to the staff here, from Tony [Burns] all the way down to the dealers and the masseuses. Everything here is top notch.”
Gorsuch also had praise for the players at the final table, which felt more like a friendly home game filled with inside jokes than a cutthroat competition. “Everyone was having fun,” said Gorsuch, “and there were no bad attitude players. For me, it’s been a good year, so I’m trying to bring that fun and that attitude to every tournament I play.”
Final Table Results:
1st: John Gorsuch – $8,000 + $3,500 Championship Seat + RRPO Trophy
2nd: Steven Westerholt – $6,000
3rd: Eric Kolodny – $6,000
4th: Tuan Phan – $4,646
5th: Louis Leo IV – $4,546
6th: Theophilus Lawson – $4,134
7th: Francky Dumornay – $1,904
8th: Alfredo Fernandez – $1,527
9th: Jeff Rodriguez – $1,151