2021 Seminole Hard Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 10
$600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  972
Prize Pool:  $505,440
November 22-24, 2021

With more than $3.2 million in live tournament earnings and a couple of WSOP bracelets, Loni Hui (formerly Loni Harwood) has already seen a lot of success in her career, but one thing missing from her resume was a Seminole Hard Rock trophy.

“I do have a Hard Rock trophy,” said Hui, “but it’s one of the old ones.”

That was back in the days before the four big tournament series each year, with the gorgeous guitar pick-shaped trophies. And it wouldn’t be as big a deal if it weren’t for the fact that her husband, Phil Hui, has four of the newer trophies in their home.

But shortly after 4:00 am on Thanksgiving morning, Hui defeated Neil Zonenashvili heads-up to win her first modern Seminole Hard Rock trophy to add to their household collection.

Oh, and Hui also added $85,355 to bump her career earnings up to $3.29 million — slightly more than her husband Phil’s $3.12 million.

There were 972 entries in this event across four starting flights, and 123 players survived to Day 2. Hui navigated the field like the pro that she is, but caught a bit of bad luck with just 10 or 11 players remaining.

“I lost a really big flip going into the final table, which was a little discouraging,” said Hui. “But the final table went my way, and I won the all ins that I needed to.”

It was a fairly long final table, around 6 1/2 hours, but Hui remained patient, especially against runner-up Zonenashvili.

“I just tried to play really small pots,” said Hui, “and grind him out until he got impatient to make a hand and go all in. I knew it was going to take a very long time. But it went well for me.”

Hui is a regular in our tournaments here, and she plans to play the $3,500 WPT Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open Championship on Day 1A on Friday.

What keeps Hui coming back to Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood?

“Everything about this place is great,” said Hui. “The way it’s run, the people here, the food here, the energy. This is my favorite place to play.”

Final Results:

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 33:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 972

The heads-up battle was long, and it went back-and-forth without either player building up too much of a lead.

With the blinds at 100,000-200,000, Loni Hui raised to 500,000, and Neil Zonenashvili called. Both players checked to the turn on a board of , Zonenashvili bet 500,000, and Hui called.

The river card was the , and Zonenashvili moved all in for about 7.6 million. Hui tanked for a long time before she folded, and Zonenashvili took the pot. Zonenashvili later claimed he had two pair, and Hui said she couldn’t beat two pair.

Neil Zonenashvili  –  10,000,000  (50 bb)
Loni Hui  –  9,500,000  (48 bb)

About 15 minutes later, after the blinds increased to 125,000-250,000, and the pot was worth about 1.4 million when they went to a flop of . Zonenashvili checked, Hui bet 500,000, and Zonenashvili called.

The turn card was the , and both players checked. The river card was the , Zonenashvili checked, Hui bet 1.5 million, and Zonenashvili folded. Hui took the pot.

Loni Hui  –  11,500,000  (46 bb)
Neil Zonenashvili  –  8,000,000  (32 bb)

A minute or two later they saw a flop of , and both players checked. The turn card was the , Zonenashvili checked, Hui bet 600,000, and Zonenashvili called.

The river card was the , Zonenashvili checked, Hui bet 1.2 million, and Zonenashvili called. Hui showed to win the pot with a full house, fours full of sevens, and Zonenashvili mucked.

Loni Hui  –  13,800,000  (55 bb)
Neil Zonenashvili  –  5,700,000  (23 bb)

A minute or two later, Hui raised to 600,000, Zonenashvili moved all in for 5,675,000, and Hui waited for an exact count and thought for a while before she called with .

Zonenashvili turned over , and he was dominated as he faced elimination.

The board came , and the pocket sevens held up for Hui to win the pot — and the title, the trophy, and $85,355 — with two pair, queens and sevens.

Neil Zonenashvili finished as the runner-up, earning $60,210.

Congratulations to Loni Hui!

1st:  Loni Hui  –  $85,355 + RRPO trophy
2nd:  Neil Zonenashvili  –  $60,210
3rd:  Ricardo Eyzaguirre  –  $39,500
4th:  Abhishek Panda  –  $29,140
5th:  Rogrigo Sardi  –  $22,085
6th:  Orlando Maldonado  –  $17,595
7th:  Stewart Yancik  –  $14,600
8th:  Dimitry Agrachov  –  $11,605
9th:  James Patterson  –  $8,675

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 31:  75,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 972

Neil Zonenashvili limped for 150,000, Loni Hui raised to 450,000, and Zonenashvili called.

The flop came , Hui checked, Zonenashvili moved all in, and Hui snap-called all in for 4,300,000 with for a set of aces.

Zonenashvili turned over for a club flush draw, and Hui needed her hand to hold to stay alive.

The turn card was the , giving Zonenashvili additional outs to a gutshot straight, and the river card was the . The set of aces held up for Hui to win the pot and double up in chips.

Loni Hui  –  9,650,000  (64 bb)
Neil Zonenashvili  –  9,825,000  (66 bb)

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 31:  75,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 972

Neil Zonenashvili completed the small blind to 150,000, Ricardo Eyzaguirre moved all in from the big blind for about 3,500,000, and Zonenashvili called with .

Eyzaguirre turned over , and he needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Zonenashvili won the pot with his ace to eliminate Eyzaguirre in third place.

Ricardo Eyzaguirre  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($39,500)

Here are the approximate chip counts for heads-up play, along with the payouts they’re playing for:

Neil Zonenashvili  –  13,000,000  (87 bb)
Loni Hui  –  6,500,000  (43 bb)

1st:  $85,355 + RRPO trophy
2nd:  $60,210

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 31:  75,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 972

The players return from break to begin Level 31, with increased blinds of 75,000-150,000 with a 150,000 ante.

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is about 6,475,000 (43 big blinds). Here are the official chip counts from the break, followed by the remaining payouts:

Seat 1.  Ricardo Eyzaguirre  –  4,800,000  (32 bb)
Seat 2.  Loni Hui  –  6,225,000  (42 bb)
Seat 3.  Neil Zonenashvili  –  8,450,000  (56 bb)

1st:  $85,355 + RRPO trophy
2nd:  $60,210
3rd:  $39,500

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 972

Loni Hui raised under the gun to 225,000, and Abhishek Panda called from the button.

Both players checked to the turn on a board of , Hui bet 350,000, Panda moved all in for about 2,500, and Hui called with for two pair, kings and queens.

Panda turned over for a pair of aces with a gutshot straight draw, and he needed to improve to stay alive.

The river card was the , and Hui won the pot with her two pair to eliminate Panda in fourth place.

Loni Hui  –  7,900,000  (79 bb)
Abhishek Panda  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($29,140)

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is about 6,475,000 (65 big blinds), and they are all guaranteed at least $39,500 each.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 972

Rogrigo Sardi got it all in from the cutoff for 925,000 with , and he needed his hand to hold to stay alive against the of Neil Zonenashvili in the big blind.

The board came , and Sardi won the pot with a pair of kings to double up in chips.

Rogrigo Sardi  –  2,000,000  (20 bb)
Neil Zonenashvili  –  6,500,000  (65 bb)

A few minutes later, Sardi raised from the small blind to 375,000, Loni Hui moved all in from the big blind, and Sardi called all in for about 1,800,000 with .

Hui turned over , and Sardi needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and the pocket tens held up for Hui to win the pot and eliminate Sardi in fifth place.

Loni Hui  –  4,000,000  (40 bb)
Rogrigo Sardi  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($22,085)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 4,850,000 (49 big blinds), and they are all guaranteed at least $29,140 each.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 972

The final five players return from break to begin Level 29, with increased blinds of 50,000-100,000 and a big blind ante of 100,000.

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is about 3,890,000 (39 big blinds). Here are the official chip counts from the break, followed by the final table prizepool:

Seat 1.  Ricardo Eyzaguirre  –  5,500,000  (55 bb)
Seat 2.  Rogrigo Sardi  –  1,450,000  (15 bb)
Seat 3.  Loni Hui  –  2,700,000  (27 bb)
Seat 4.  Abhishek Panda  –  2,625,000  (26 bb)
Seat 5.  Neil Zonenashvili  –  7,225,000  (72 bb)

1st:  $85,355 + RRPO trophy
2nd:  $60,210
3rd:  $39,500
4th:  $29,140
5th:  $22,085
6th:  Orlando Maldonado  –  $17,595
7th:  Stewart Yancik  –  $14,600
8th:  Dimitry Agrachov  –  $11,605
9th:  James “XXX” Patterson  –  $8,675

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28:  40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 972

Orlando Maldonado got it all in preflop for 1,150,000 with , but he needed to improve to stay alive against Ricardo Eyzaguirre’s .

The board came , and Eyzaguirre won the pot with two pair, kings and sixes, to eliminate Maldonado in sixth place.

Ricardo Eyzaguirre  –  6,100,000  (76 bb)
Orlando Maldonado  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($17,595)

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is about 3,890,000 (49 big blinds), and they are all guaranteed at least $22,085 each.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28:  40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 972

Orlando Maldonado raised under the gun to about 200,000, Loni Hui moved all in from the small blind for 1,270,000, and Maldonado called with .

Hui turned over , and needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came — both players turned open-ended straight draws on opposite ends of the board, but the river card was a blank. Hui won the pot with her pocket tens to double up in chips.

Loni Hui  –  2,700,000  (34 bb)
Orlando Maldonado  –  1,020,000  (13 bb)

With six players remaining, the average chip stack is about 3,240,000 (41 big blinds), and they are all guaranteed at least $17,595 each.