2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 11
$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Entries:  105
Prize Pool:  $35,175
April 20, 2021

Chris Tryba has a WSOP bracelet and more than $2.2 million in career live tournament earnings, and on Tuesday night he won his first trophy here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, winning Event 11, $400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 outright for $9,620.

“I haven’t left the house in 16 months,” said Tryba, who was recently vaccinated against COVID-19. So this is the first live poker Tryba has played in more than a year, and he’s been playing every day here during the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.

After taking that much time off from live poker, was there any rust in his game?

“Not in mixed games,” said Tryba. “I’ve played a lot of cash mixed games online, so I didn’t feel much rust.”

Now that he’s won his first trophy here, Tryba can look forward to bigger and better things.

“I’d rather win the main event,” said Tryba, referring to the $3,500 Championship that begins on Friday. “It’s going to be huge.”

Final Results:

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  30,000/60,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  1 of 105

The final hand took place during a round of Stud 8.

Chris Tryba:    
Selim Oulmekki:    

On fifth street, Tryba bet 60,000 with his pair of eights, Oulmekki raised to 120,000 with his pair of fives, and Tryba called.

On sixth street, Oulmekki got it all in for his last 30,000, and they turned over their hole cards:

Chris Tryba:      (pair of eights, 8-6 low draw)
Selim Oulmekki:      (two pair, fives and deuces)

Oulmekki needed his two pair to hold to stay alive, though Tryba still had a shot at a low if he couldn’t win the high side.

The dealer dealt seventh street:

Chris Tryba:        (two pair, nines and eights)
Selim Oulmekki:        (two pair, fives and deuces)

Chris Tryba rivered a higher two pair to win the pot, the trophy, and the title, and Selim Oulmekki finished as the runner-up.

Stay tuned for a recap from this event.

1st:  Chris Tryba  –  $9,620 + Trophy
2nd:  Selim Oulmekki  –  $6,410
3rd:  Andrew Laikin  –  $4,355
4th:  Phil Hui  –  $3,070
5th:  Sandy Sanchez  –  $2,245
6th:  Jeffrey Cookson  –  $1,705
7th:  Jon Heneghan  –  $1,350
8th:  Matthew Zazaian  –  $1,035
9th:  Thomas Milmore  –  $1,035
10th:  James Odor  –  $900
11th:  Yuval Bronshtein  –  $900
12th:  William Edward Stanton  –  $900
13th:  Harold Klein  –  $825
14th:  Samoeun Mon  –  $825

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  30,000/60,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  2 of 105

During a round of Omaha-8, Andrew Laikin (small blind) and Chris Tryba (big blind) saw a flop of . Laikin checked, Tryba bet 30,000, and Laikin called.

The turn card was the , Laikin checked, Tryba bet 60,000, and Laikin called.

The river card paired the board with the , Laikin moved all in for his last 25,000, and Tryba called.

Chris Tryba:    (two pair, jacks and fives)
Andrew Laikin:    (two pair, jacks and deuces)

There were no possible lows, and Tryba won the entire pot with his jacks and fives, eliminating Laikin in third place.

Andrew Laikin  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($4,355)

And here are the approximate chip counts for heads-up play:

Chris Tryba  –  825,000  (14 BB)
Selim Oulmekki  –  425,000  (7 BB)

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  25,000/50,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  3 of 105

During a round of Stud-8, Phil Hui got it all in on sixth street against Andrew Laikin, and they turned over their hole cards:

Andrew Laikin:      (two pair, kings and fives, flush draw)
Phil Hui:      (two pair, tens and fours)

Neither player had a qualifying low draw, and Hui needed to catch a four or the last ten to stay alive.

Andrew Laikin:        (two pair, kings and fives)
Phil Hui:        (two pair, tens and fours)

Laikin won the pot with his higher two pair to eliminate Hui in fourth place.

Andrew Laikin  –  625,000  (13 BB)
Phil Hui  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($3,070)

Phil Hui has already won four titles here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, but he’ll have to wait at least a little longer before winning his fifth.

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is about 420,000 (8 Big Bets), and the remaining players are all guaranteed to earn at least $4,355 each.

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  20,000/40,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  4 of 105

During a round of Stud-8, a pretty big hand developed between Phil Hui, Chris Tryba, and Selim Oulmekki.

Phil Hui:    
Chris Tryba:    
Selim Oulmekki:    

On fourth street, Tryba bet 20,000, and Oulmekki and Hui both called.

On fifth street, all three players checked.

On sixth street, it checked to Tryba, who bet 40,000. Oulmekki called, and Hui folded.

On seventh street, Oulmekki and Tryba both checked and turned over their cards:

Chris Tryba:      (set of tens)
Selim Oulmekki:      (two pair, queens and eights)

Neither player made a low hand, and Tryba won the pot with his trip tens to contend for the chip lead.

Level 22 came to an end about two minutes later, and the players took a 10-minute break. Here are their official chip counts, with the blinds about to increase to 25,000-50,000:

Seat 1.  Phil Hui  –  235,000  (5 BB)
Seat 2.  Andrew Laikin  –  380,000  (8 BB)
Seat 3.  Chris Tryba  –  360,000  (7 BB)
Seat 4.  Selim Oulmekki  –  285,000  (6 BB)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 315,000 (6 Big Bets), and the remaining players are all guaranteed to earn at least $3,070 each.

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  15,000/30,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  4 of 105

During a round of Omaha-8, Sandy Sanchez got it all in from the button for 31,000 against Phil Hui (small blind) and Andrew Laikin (big blind).

The flop came , Hui checked, Laikin bet 30,000, and Hui folded. Laikin took the side pot, and then he and Sanchez turned over their cards.

Andrew Laikin:    (pair of fives, 5-4 low draw)
Sandy Sanchez:    (pair of aces, no low draw)

The turn card paired the board with the , and the river card was the . Since neither player made a qualifying low, Laikin won the entire pot with a full house, fives full of fours, eliminating Sanchez in fifth place.

Andrew Laikin  –  350,000  (12 BB)
Sandy Sanchez  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($2,245)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 315,000 (11 Big Bets), and the remaining players are all guaranteed to earn at least $3,070 each.

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  12,000/24,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  5 of 105

During a round of Omaha-8, Selim Oulmekki (button) and Jeffrey Cookson (big blind) put in about 60,000 each preflop.

The flop came , Cookson bet his last 6,000, and Oulmekki called.

Jeffrey Cookson:    (pair of queens, no low draws)
Selim Oulmekki:    (pair of deuces, 8-7 low)

Oulmekki was guaranteed at least half of the pot with a made low hand, and Cookson needed his pair of queens to hold up to stay alive.

The turn card was the , and the river card was the — Oulmekki rivered two pair to scoop the pot, eliminating Cookson in sixth place.

Selim Oulmekki  –  450,000  (19 BB)
Jeffrey Cookson  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($1,705)

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is about 252,000 (11 Big Bets), and the remaining players are all guaranteed to earn at least $2,245 each.

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  10,000/20,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  6 of 105

During a round of Stud-8, Jon Heneghan got it all in around fourth street in a hand against Selim Oulmekki.

Selim Oulmekki:      
Jon Heneghan:      

Despite promising starts, neither player made a qualifying low hand, and Heneghan’s pair of nines wasn’t good enough against Oulmekki’s two pair, fours and threes. Oulmekki won the pot to eliminate Heneghan in seventh place.

Selim Oulmekki  –  345,000  (17 BB)
Jon Heneghan  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($1,350)

With six players remaining, the average chip stack is about 210,000 (11 Big Bets), and the remaining players are all guaranteed to earn at least $1,705 each.

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  10,000/20,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  7 of 105

With the board showing in Omaha-8 (and no possible lows), Andrew Laikin bets 20,000 from the small blind, and Matthew Zazaian calls from the big blind.

The river card was the , Laikin bets 20,000, Zazaian raises to 40,000, and Laikin reraises to 60,000. Zazaian only had about 15,000 left in his stack, and he tanked for a while before he folded face up — quad queens!

Laikin took the pot, and then turned over for the queen-high straight-flush, letting Zazaian know he made the correct fold.

Andrew Laikin  –  280,000  (14 BB)
Matthew Zazaian  –  15,000  (<1 BB)

A few minutes later, during Stud Hi/Lo, Zazaian got it all in on an early street against Chris Tryba, starting with a pair of jacks against Tryba’s pair of aces.

Chris Tryba:      
Matthew Zazaian:      

Neither player made a qualifying low hand. Zazaian picked up a diamond flush draw, but never improved beyond his jacks, and Tryba won the pot with two pair, aces and eights, to eliminate Zazaian in eighth place.

Chris Tryba  –  220,000  (11 BB)
Matthew Zazaian  –  Eliminated in 8th Place  ($1,035)

With seven players remaining, the average chip stack is about 180,000 (9 Big Bets), and the remaining players are all guaranteed to earn at least $1,350 each.

$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Freeze-Out)
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  10,000/20,000 Limits
Players Remaining:  8 of 105

When the field got down to the final eight players, there was a draw for random seats at the final table. Here are their updated seating positions and chip counts, along with how many big bets (BB) in their stacks:

Seat 1.  Jeffrey Cookson  –  55,000  (3 BB)
Seat 2.  Phil Hui  –  263,000  (13 BB)
Seat 3.  Andrew Laikin  –  139,000  (7 BB)
Seat 4.  Matthew Zazaian  –  109,000  (5 BB)
Seat 5.  Chris Tryba  –  187,000  (9 BB)
Seat 6.  Jon Heneghan  –  48,000  (2 BB)
Seat 7.  Selim Oulmekki  –  341,000  (17 BB)
Seat 8.  Sandy Sanchez  –  122,000  (6 BB)

And here is the remaining prizepool they’re playing for:

1st:  $9,620 + Trophy
2nd:  $6,410
3rd:  $4,355
4th:  $3,070
5th:  $2,245
6th:  $1,705
7th:  $1,350
8th:  $1,035