2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 3
$400 H.O.R.S.E. (Re-Entry)
Entries: 88
Prize Pool: $29,920
August 2, 2019 

H.O.R.S.E. is a five-game poker variant where players play a round each in limit Hold’em, Omaha 8, Razz, Stud, and Stud 8. When asked which of these games was his worst, Event 3 champion Brandon Caputo said, “All of them.”

Caputo primarily plays no-limit hold’em and PLO, but he was attracted to this $400 H.O.R.S.E. event by the low buy-in.

“It’s a great experience to come for a $400 buy-in and get some practice in.” Caputo paused for a moment before he smiled and added, “But I ran like God and probably didn’t learn anything.”

When the nine-handed final table began, Caputo was third in chips behind Phil Hui and Peter Walsworth. But Hui hit a horrible stretch of cards with nine players left, and fell from chipleader down to a single chip. And as Hui dropped, Caputo rose to take the lead.

Caputo described his run by saying, “I made hands when I was behind and held when I was ahead.”

Hui bounced back from his single chip to survive a little longer, but Caputo eventually knocked Hui out in eighth place. At that point, Caputo had a huge lead, holding roughly twice as many chips as anyone else, and he cruised to the finish line to win his first trophy here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.

When he was asked about the casino, Caputo said, “This is one of the best stops anywhere in the country. There are also good cash games, and I like to play cash. And it’s close to home, so I don’t have to go to Atlantic City, Vegas, or California.”

Final Results:

1st:  Brandon Caputo  –  $8,825 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  Michael Rosenberg  –  $5,880
3rd:  Wayne Brown  –  $3,990
4th:  Matt Vinke  –  $2,805
5th:  Lucas Poelker  –  $2,050
6th:  Miami John Cernuto  –  $1,555
7th:  Peter Walsworth  –  $1,235
8th:  Phil Hui  –  $1,020
9th:  Matt Axelrod  –  $880
10th:  Donaldson Brown  –  $880
11th:  Michael Dreese  –  $800

$400 H.O.R.S.E. (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  25,000/50,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  1 of 88

During the Stud round, Brandon Caputo had the showing, and he completed to 25,000. Michael Rosenberg had the showing, and he raised to 50,000, and they continued back and forth for a few more bets until Rosenberg was all in, and then they turned over their hole cards:

Brandon Caputo:  ()
Michael Rosenberg:  ()

Rosenberg led with a pair of queens, and he needed them to hold to stay alive.

Brandon Caputo:  () ()
Michael Rosenberg:  () ()

Caputo picked up a pair of jacks on fifth street, but Rosenberg still led with his pair of queens. But seventh street was a killer for Rosenberg, as Caputo spiked a queen to fill an ace-high straight, winning the pot — and the tournament.

Stay tuned for a recap of this event.

1st:  Brandon Caputo  –  $8,825 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  Michael Rosenberg  –  $5,880
3rd:  Wayne Brown  –  $3,990
4th:  Matt Vinke  –  $2,805
5th:  Lucas Poelker  –  $2,050
6th:  Miami John Cernuto  –  $1,555
7th:  Peter Walsworth  –  $1,235
8th:  Phil Hui  –  $1,020
9th:  Matt Axelrod  –  $880
10th:  Donaldson Brown  –  $880
11th:  Michael Dreese  –  $800

$400 H.O.R.S.E. (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  25,000/50,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  2 of 88

At the end of Level 20, the final three players took a break, and these were their updated chip counts with the limits increasing to 25,000-50,000:

Seat 1.  Brandon Caputo  –  600,000  (12 BB)
Seat 2.  Wayne Brown  –  48,000  (1 BB)
Seat 3.  Michael Rosenberg  –  404,000  (8 BB)

The first hand back from break was Omaha 8, and Wayne Brown got it all in against Brandon Caputo.

Brandon Caputo:  
Wayne Brown:  

The board came , so there were no possible lows. Both players finished with straights, but Caputo’s queen-high straight beat Brown’s nine-high straight, and Brown was eliminated in third place.

Wayne Brown  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($3,990)

Here are the approximate chip counts for the start of heads-up play:

Seat 1.  Brandon Caputo  –  650,000  (13 BB)
Seat 3.  Michael Rosenberg  –  400,000  (8 BB)

$400 H.O.R.S.E. (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  15,000/30,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  3 of 88

Lucas Poelker was eliminated during the Omaha 8 round, and he received $2,050 for fifth place.

Lucas Poelker – Eliminated in 5th Place ($2,050)

During the Razz round, Matt Vinke got it all in on third street for 34,000, and there was a 22,000 side pot between Brandon Caputo and Michael Rosenberg.

Matt Vinke:  ()
Brandon Caputo: ()
Michael Rosenberg: ()

4th Street: Rosenberg bet 15,000, and Caputo called.

5th Street: Rosenberg bet 30,000, and Caputo called.

6th Street: Rosenberg bet 30,000, and Caputo folded as his best possible hand could be jack-low.

Matt Vinke:  () ()
Michael Rosenberg: () ()

Vinke was drawing dead on sixth street, as the best hand he could make would be an 8-6, and Rosenberg already had a 7-5.

Vinke made his 8-6, but it was too little, too late, and Rosenberg won the pot to eliminate Vinke in fourth place.

Matt Vinke  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($2,805)

$400 H.O.R.S.E. (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  12,000/24,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  5 of 88

Pete Walsworth was eliminated a few hands after Phil Hui, during the Hold’em round. Walsworth received $1,235 for seventh place.

Pete Walsworth  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($1,235)

In the last hand of Hold’em, Miami John Cernuto got it all in preflop from the big blind for 42,000 against Brandon Caputo in the hijack and Michael Rosenberg on the button.

The flop came , Caputo checked, Rosenberg bet 12,000, and Caputo called. The turn card was the , and both players checked.

The river card was the , putting four spades on the board, and Caputo bet 24,000. Rosenberg thought for a moment before calling, and all three players turned over their cards:

Brandon Caputo:    (ace-high flush)
Michael Rosenberg:    (two pair, aces and sevens)
Miami John Cernuto:    (queen-high flush)

Rosenberg hadn’t noticed that there were four spades on the board, and said he wouldn’t have called if he had seen them.

Caputo won the entire pot with his ace-high flush to eliminate Cernuto in sixth place.

Brandon Caputo  –  615,000  (26 BB)
Michael Rosenberg  –  47,000  (2 BB)
Miami John Cernuto  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($1,555)

$400 H.O.R.S.E. (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  10,000/20,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  7 of 88

In Hold’em, Phil Hui got it all in from the button against Brandon Caputo (UTG) and Miami John Cernuto (big blind), who were playing for a side pot.

With the board showing on the turn, Cernuto checked, Caputo bet, and Cernuto folded.

Hui showed for the pair on the board with a king kicker, but Caputo turned over to clinch the pot with flopped quad aces. Hui was drawing dead.

The meaningless river card was the , and Hui was eliminated in 8th place.

Brandon Caputo  –  465,000  (23 BB)
Miami John Cernuto  –  45,000  (2 BB)
Phil Hui  –  Eliminated in 8th Place  ($1,020)

$400 H.O.R.S.E. (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  10,000/20,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  8 of 88

The first hand of Level 19, the two short stacks got it all in against each other on third street in Stud. Phil Hui started the hand with 9K and held , while Matt Axelrod started the hand with 22K and held a much stronger .

The dealer dealt out the rest of their cards, and these were their final hands. (The order of the cards may be off a bit.)

Matt Axelrod:  
Phil Hui:  

Hui finished the hand with two pair, eights and sevens, to double up against Axelrod’s pair of aces.

Phil Hui  –  31,000  (1.5 BB)
Matt Axelrod  –  15,000  (1 BB)

The next hand (still in a Stud round), Hui got it all in on third street against Matt Vinke. Vinke hit a pair of threes on sixth street, and that’s as good as his hand got. Hui caught a pair of jacks to win the pot and double up to 77K.

Phil Hui  –  77,000  (3 BB)

The next hand (still in a Stud round), Axelrod got it all in with () against Miami John Cernuto’s () .

Miami John Cernuto:  ()
Matt Axelrod:  ()

Axelrod took the lead on fifth street with ace-king to Cernuto’s ace-queen, but seventh street gave both players a pair, with Cernuto’s aces beating Axelrod’s kings. Axelrod was eliminated in ninth place, earning $880.

Miami John Cernuto  –  93,000  (5 BB)
Matt Axelrod – Eliminated in 9th Place  ($880)

$400 H.O.R.S.E. (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  10,000/20,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  9 of 88

Matt Axelrod has been steadily blinding down as the short stack, while Phil Hui has been losing some pots to lose his lead and steadily drop at a quicker pace.

Axelrod was down to just a few chips when Hui played the final hand of the Razz round to showdown against Brandon Caputo and lost. That left Hui as the short stack with just a single 1K chip — the smallest denomination in play.

Hui was forced all in on the next hand for the ante (in the first hand of a Stud round), and Axelrod had just enough chips to fold and play at least one more hand. Caputo isolated Hui, and here’s what they held in Stud:

Brandon Caputo:  ()
Phil Hui:  ()

Hui started out with the lead, but could he hold it to stay alive? These were their final hands:

Brandon Caputo:  () ()
Phil Hui:  () ()

Hui hit a set of deuces on sixth street, and Caputo was drawing dead. Hui won that pot to survive.

Phil Hui  –  9,000  (0.5 BB)
Brandon Caputo  –  385,000  (24 BB)

The next hand (second hand of Stud), Matt Axelrod was left with 1K after paying the ante, and he moved all in showing the . It ended up being a multi-way pot, with 22K available for Axelrod to win in the main pot. Everyone checked third street to see a free card:

Lucas Poelker:  ()
Miami John Cernuto:  ()
Matt Axelrod:  ()
Brandon Caputo:  ()

Poelker bets his ace-king, and Cernuto and Caputo both folded for Poelker to win the side pot. Axelrod and Poelker turned over their cards, and the dealer dealt out the rest of the hand for the main pot:

Lucas Poelker:  () ()
Matt Axelrod:  () ()

Poelker’s pair of tens was ahead of Axelrod’s pair of sevens, until Axelrod spiked trip sevens on seventh street to win the pot and get up to 22K.

That was the last hand of Level 18, and the players took a 15-minute break. These were the official chip counts at that point:

Seat 1.  Lucas Poelker  –  97,000  (5 BB)
Seat 2.  Miami John Cernuto  –  72,000  (4 BB)
Seat 3.  Matt Vinke  –  200,000  (10 BB)
Seat 4.  Matt Axelrod  –  22,000  (1 BB)
Seat 5.  Brandon Caputo  –  379,000  (19 BB)
Seat 6.  Wayne Brown  –  82,000  (4 BB)
Seat 7.  Peter Walsworth  –  93,000  (5 BB)
Seat 8.  Michael Rosenberg  –  103,000  (5 BB)
Seat 9.  Phil Hui  –  7,000  (1/3 BB)

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Flight D Entries:  453 (Total Entries: 1,606)

Registration has closed, and Flight D attracted 453 entries to push the combined total for Event 1 up to 1,606. That leaves the field on 281 entries away from crossing the $1,000,000 prize pool with two flights remaining.

The prizepool should surpass the guarantee fairly early tomorrow afternoon, and everything after that will be icing on the prizepool cake.

Chip counts through Flight C

$400 H.O.R.S.E. (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  6,000/12,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  9 of 88

Once the Money Bubble burst, the next two eliminations came quickly, and the final nine have drawn for random seats at the final table. Here are their new seating assignments and their updated chip counts, along with how many big bets (BB) each stack is worth:

Seat 1.  Lucas Poelker  –  89,000  (7 BB)
Seat 2.  Miami John Cernuto  –  111,000  (9 BB)
Seat 3.  Matt Vinke  –  99,000  (8 BB)
Seat 4.  Matt Axelrod  –  33,000  (3 BB)
Seat 5.  Brandon Caputo  –  125,000  (10 BB)
Seat 6.  Wayne Brown  –  78,000  (7 BB)
Seat 7.  Peter Walsworth  –  195,000  (16 BB)
Seat 8.  Michael Rosenberg  –  113,000  (9 BB)
Seat 9.  Phil Hui  –  224,000  (19 BB)

Phil Hui, who won the WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship this summer, enters the final table with the chip lead. Hui lives here in South Florida, and he already has four trophies from Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.

Here are the remaining payouts at stake:

1st:  $8,825 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $5,880
3rd:  $3,990
4th:  $2,805
5th:  $2,050
6th:  $1,555
7th:  $1,235
8th:  $1,020
9th:  $880