2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 16
$50,000 Super High Roller
Entries:  42
Prize Pool:  $2,037,000
April 21-22, 2021

With four players remaining in the $50K Super High Roller, Arthur Conan tried to pull off a big bluff with nine high against Seth Davies, shoving the river with everything he had except for a single 25K chip — one big blind. Unfortunately for Conan, Davies called with two pair, leaving Conan with the proverbial chip and a chair.

“I was almost dead,” said Conan, who is French but speaks English pretty well. “But I still had one chip. One chip and one chair, as we say.”

The next hand, Conan was all in from the small blind with , and he outflopped Chris Brewer’s to quadruple his stack to 100,000 — four big blinds.

The hand after that, Conan’s held up against Sam Soverel’s , doubling him up to 260,000 — nine big blinds.

Two hands later, Conan got it all in with , and they held up against Chris Brewer’s . That took Conan up to 505,000 — 17 big blinds, and enough to take the immediate pressure off.

Over the next 45 minutes or so, Conan built his stack up over a million, and then he doubled thru Seth Davies, getting it all in on the river with a straight against Davies’ set of nines.

That hand gave Conan the chip lead, and he never looked back.

A few minutes later, Conan and Davies got it all in again on the river, this time with two aces on the board and each of them holding an ace for trips. But Conan’s outkicked Davies’ , and Davies was out in fourth place, earning $203,700.

A few minutes after that, Brewer limp-shoved from the small blind with , but Conan woke up in the big blind with . There was an ace on the river to tease Brewer, but it was also the fourth club on the board, giving Conan a flush and another knockout. Brewer was felted in third place, earning $295,365.

Conan began heads-up play against Soverel with a huge 8-to-1 chip lead. And it didn’t take long for them to get it all in, with Soverel’s needing to catch up to Conan’s .

The flop brought three hearts to give Soverel a flush draw, but one of them was the , giving Conan a set. The turn and river missed Soverel’s outs, and Conan won the Super High Roller with his set of fives.

“I’m very shocked with that comeback,” said Conan. “Very happy, of course.”

With 42 entries and a prizepool worth more than $2 million, this was the largest Super High Roller in Seminole Hard Rock history, and the $733,320 first prize is far and away the biggest of Conan’s career (his previous best was about $84,000). Conan’s career live tournament earnings have doubled to nearly $1.5 million.

This is Conan’s first trip to Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, and it’s his first time playing live poker since the pandemic hit in early 2020 and shut everything down.

“We don’t have live events now in Europe,” said Conan, “and this event is very good. So I came here a week ago, and I’m going to stay in the U.S. for two or three months playing live poker.”

When asked why he entered the Super High Roller, which seems to be a much higher buy-in than what he usually plays, Conan simply said, “I wanted to try bigger events.”

Tomorrow he’ll be taking his shot in the $3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship, which looks like it could have one of the largest fields in WPT history.

“The tournaments are very good here,” said Conan. “The fields are big and this event is amazing.”

Final Results:

1st:  Arthur Conan  –  $733,320
2nd:  Sam Soverel  –  $468,510
3rd:  Chris Brewer  –  $295,365
4th:  Seth Davies  –  $203,700
5th:  Sean Winter  –  $142,590
6th:  Jeremy Ausmus  –  $112,035
7th:  Ilyas Muradi  –  $81,480

$50,000 Super High Roller
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 42

Arthur Conan moved all in, and Sam Soverel called all in for 545,000 with .

Conan turned over , and Soverel needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came — Soverel flopped a flush draw, but improved no further. Conan flopped a set of fives and rivered a full house to win the pot — and the Super High Roller title — with fives full of eights.

Sam Soverel finished as the runner-up, earning $468,510.

Arthur Conan came back from a single big blind during four-handed play to win the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Super High Roller, earning $733,320 and the coveted trophy.

Stay tuned for a recap of Conan’s incredible comeback.

1st:  Arthur Conan  –  $733,320
2nd:  Sam Soverel  –  $468,510
3rd:  Chris Brewer  –  $295,365
4th:  Seth Davies  –  $203,700
5th:  Sean Winter  –  $142,590
6th:  Jeremy Ausmus  –  $112,035
7th:  Ilyas Muradi  –  $81,480

$50,000 Super High Roller
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 42

Chris Brewer completed the small blind to 40,000, Arthur Conan raised from the big blind to 125,000, and Brewer moved all in for about 1,400,000.

Conan called with , and Brewer turned over . Brewer needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came — Brewer briefly relaxed when he saw the ace on the river, until he noticed that Conan had a club in his hand. Conan won the pot with a club flush to eliminate Brewer in third place.

Chris Brewer  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($295,365)

Here are the updated chip counts for the start of heads-up play, along with the final two payouts:

Arthur Conan  –  4,665,000  (117 bb)
Sam Soverel  –  585,000  (15 bb)

1st:  $733,320
2nd:  $468,510

$50,000 Super High Roller
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 42

Seth Davies completed the small blind to 30,000, Arthur Conan raised from the big blind to 105,000, and Davies called.

Both players checked to the turn on a board of , Davies checked, Conan bet 175,000, and Davies called.

The river card paired the board with the , Davies checked, Conan moved all in, and Davies thought for a while before he called all in for 630,000 with for trip aces.

But Conan turned over to win the pot with a full house, aces full of kings, eliminating Davies in fourth place.

Arthur Conan  –  3,140,000  (105 bb)
Seth Davies  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($203,700)

With three players remaining from a field of 42, the average chip stack is about 1.75 million (58 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $295,365.

$50,000 Super High Roller
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 42

Seth Davies min-raised from UTG/cutoff to 60,000, and Arthur Conan called from the button.

The flop came , Davies bet 110,000, and Conan called. The turn card was the , Davies bet 260,000, and Conan tanked for a while before he called.

The river card was the , Davies moved all in, and Conan called all in for 640,000. Davies showed for a flopped set of nines, but Conan turned over for a rivered ten-high straight to win the pot.

About an hour ago, Arthur Conan had been down to a single big blind — and now he’s the chipleader.

Arthur Conan  –  2,215,000  (74 bb)
Seth Davies  –  870,000  (29 bb)

A few minutes later, the players agree to take a five-minute bathroom break near the end of the level. Here are the official chip counts:

Seat 1.  Arthur Conan  –  2,290,000  (76 bb)
Seat 2.  Sam Soverel  –  710,000  (24 bb)
Seat 3.  Chris Brewer  –  1,280,000  (43 bb)
Seat 4.  Seth Davies  –  970,000  (32 bb)

With four players remaining from a field of 42, the average chip stack is about 1.31 million (44 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $203,700.

$50,000 Super High Roller
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 42

Chris Brewer raised from the button to 60,000, and Arthur Conan called from the big blind. The flop came , Conan checked, Brewer bet 40,000, and Conan called.

The turn card was the , Conan checked, Brewer bet 180,000, and Conan thought for a while before check-raising to 425,000.

Brewer smiled and asked, “What the f*** are you doing?” before quickly folding. Conan took the pot.

Arthur Conan  –  1,400,000  (47 bb)
Chris Brewer  –  1,400,000  (47 bb)

The next hand, Arthur Conan completed the small blind to 30,000, Sam Soverel raised from the big blind to 80,000, and Conan called. The flop came , Conan checked, Soverel bet 35,000, and Conan check-raised to 90,000. Soverel called.

The turn card was the , Conan moved all in, and Soverel called all in for 170,000 with for a pair of aces.

Conan turned over for a double-gutshot straight draw, and Soverel needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The river card was the , and Soverel won the pot with his pair of aces to double up in chips.

Sam Soverel  –  710,000  (24 bb)
Arthur Conan  –  1,070,000  (36 bb)

With four players remaining from a field of 42, the average chip stack is about 1.31 million (44 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $203,700.

$50,000 Super High Roller
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 42

Chris Brewer min-raised from UTG/cutoff to 60,000, and Sam Soverel called from the big blind.

The flop came , Soverel checked, Brewer bet 30,000, and Soverel called.

The turn card was the , Soverel checked, Brewer bet 110,000, and Soverel called.

The river card was the , and both players checked. Soverel showed for two pair, kings and queens, but Brewer turned over to win the pot with an ace-high straight.

Chris Brewer  –  1,450,000  (48 bb)
Sam Soverel  –  310,000  (10 bb)

With four players remaining from a field of 42, the average chip stack is about 1.31 million (44 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $203,700.

$50,000 Super High Roller
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 42

Here are the official chip counts from the break:

Seat 1.  Arthur Conan  –  100,000  (3 bb)
Seat 2.  Sam Soverel  –  1,055,000  (35 bb)
Seat 3.  Chris Brewer  –  1,590,000  (53 bb)
Seat 4.  Seth Davies  –  2,505,000  (84 bb)

In the first hand back from the break, Arthur Conan moved all in from the button for 100,000, and Sam Soverel called from the small blind with .

Conan turned over , and needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and the two low cards on the board allowed Conan’s kicker to play, giving him the double-up.

Arthur Conan  –  260,000  (9 bb)
Sam Soverel  –  955,000  (32 bb)

Two hands later, Conan got it all in from the big blind for 230,000 with , and he needed it to hold to stay alive against the of Chris Brewer on the button.

The board came , and the pocket deuces held up for Conan to win the pot and double up in chips again.

Conan had been down to a single big blind — 25,000 — and a short while later he’s got 505,000.

Arthur Conan  –  505,000  (17 bb)
Chris Brewer  –  1,290,000  (43 bb)

With four players remaining from a field of 42, the average chip stack is about 1.31 million (44 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $203,700.

$50,000 Super High Roller
Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 42

Chris Brewer raised from UTG/cutoff to 75,000, and Arthur Conan called all in from the small blind for 25,000 with .

Brewer turned over , and Conan needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Conan paired his four on the flop to win the pot and quadruple his stack to 100,000.

Arthur Conan  –  100,000  (4 bb)
Chris Brewer  –  1,590,000  (64 bb)

This was the last hand of Level 17, and the players take a 15-minute break.

$50,000 Super High Roller
Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 42

Seth Davies raised from the small blind to 60,000, and Arthur Conan called from the big blind.

The flop came , Davies bet 90,000, and Conan called.

The turn card was the , Davies bet 90,000 again, and Conan thought for a while before raising to 250,000. Davies thought for a while before he called.

The river card was the , Davies checked, and Conan bet 265,000, leaving himself just 25K behind. Davies tanked for a while before he called, and Conan tapped the table before showing for a nine-high bluff.

Davies turned over to win the pot with a flopped two pair, knocking Conan down to a single big blind.

Seth Davies  –  2,550,000  (102 bb)
Arthur Conan  –  25,000  (1 bb)

With four players remaining from a field of 42, the average chip stack is about 1.31 million (52 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $203,700.