2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 15
$600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  4,529
Prize Pool:  $2,377,725
July 26 – August 2, 2021

It’s probably mathematically impossible to go wire-to-wire as chipleader in a field of 4,529 entries, but from the final 50 players or so, Jeff Trudeau effectively cruised to the finish line to win Event 15 ($600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em) to earn $352,200 — the biggest score of his career.

“It feels great,” said Trudeau. “It’s a little surreal.”

Trudeau started Day 2 with a sizable stack of of 82 big blinds (46th of 568), but we didn’t notice him with a big lead until there were 53 players remaining — and Trudeau towered over the field with 103 big blinds in his stack. And he seemed to hold onto his chip lead for the rest of the day, finishing on a high note after knocking out Colbert Silva in 14th place with straight-over-straight near the end of the day.

“I ran really good yesterday,” said Trudeau. It’s a bit of an understatement, since he finished Day 2 with more than 25% of all the chips in play.

Did Trudeau have a plan for Day 3?

“I felt like if I played my game and ran pretty well,” said Trudeau, “I’d have a good chance of winning.” And that’s pretty much what happened.

Trudeau began the final table with a huge lead, then scored five of the eight eliminations on his way to victory.

Two of the other knockouts came from runner-up Jordan Flaschner, who knocked out third-place finisher Lunique Petiote to begin heads-up play relatively close to Trudeau. And in the first five minutes of heads-up play, Flaschner actually took the lead, possibly the first time Trudeau hadn’t had the lead since the field was at seven or eight tables.

But shortly after that, Flaschner five-bet all in with , only to run into Trudeau’s .

The board came , and while Flaschner finished with a straight, that same river card gave Trudeau a flush. That pot propelled Trudeau to a 10-to-1 chip lead, and about 10 minutes later, Trudeau won the final hand to win the title, the trophy, and $352,200.

Trudeau now has more than $2 million in career earnings in live tournaments, and of course he plans to play in the $5,250 SHRPO Championship that begins on Friday.

Trudeau will be playing more tournaments this series, and of course he plans to play in the $5,250 SHRPO Championship that begins on Friday.

What keeps Trudeau coming back to Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood?

“The environment,” said Trudeau. “They always run really good tournaments with good turnouts. It’s just a great venue in general.”

$600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 37:  300,000/600,000 with a 600,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 4,529

About 10 minutes after the massive double-up for Jeff Trudeau, Jordan Flaschner got it all in with , and he needed it to hold to stay alive against Trudeau’s .

The board came , and Trudeau paired his four on the turn to win the pot — and the trophy — with two pair, sixes and fours.

Congratulations to Jeff Trudeau!

1st:  Jeff Trudeau  –  $352,200 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  Jordan Flaschner  –  $224,395
3rd:  Lunique Petiote  –  $166,440
4th:  Robyn Marshman  –  $135,530
5th:  Sergio Giha  –  $107,000
6th:  Damjan Radanov  –  $83,220
7th:  Roland Wakim  –  $60,395
8th:  Joe Ebanks  –  $42,085
9th:  Daniyal Gheba  –  $27,740

$600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 37:  300,000/600,000 with a 600,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 4,529

Jeff Trudeau raised from the button, Jordan Flaschner reraised to 4,000,000, and Trudeau reraised to 12,000,000.

Flaschner five-bet all in, and Trudeau snap-called all in for 40,850,000 with .

Flaschner turned over , and Trudeau needed his queens to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and for the briefest of moments, Flaschner celebrated the ten on the river that gave him an ace-high straight — but he immediately realized that it also gave Trudeau a club flush to win the pot and double up into a massive chip lead.

Jeff Trudeau  –  82,300,000  (137 bb)
Jordan Flaschner  –  8,275,000  (14 bb)

1st:  $352,200 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $224,395

$600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 37:  300,000/600,000 with a 600,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 4,529

Jordan Flaschner raised from the button to 1,800,000, Jeff Trudeau called from the small blind, and Lunique Petiote moved all in from the big blind for about 11.3 million. Flaschner tanked for a while before he called, and Trudeau quickly folded.

Petiote showed , and he needed to improve to stay alive against Flaschner’s .

The board came — Petiote flopped an open-ended straight draw, but improved no further. Flaschner won the pot with a pair of threes to eliminate Petiote in third place.

Lunique Petiote  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($166,440)

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

Jeff Trudeau  –  50,200,000  (84 bb)
Jordan Flaschner  –  40,400,000  (67 bb)

However, in the first five minutes or so, Flaschner won a couple of pots to take the lead.

Jordan Flaschner  –  52,100,000  (87 bb)
Jeff Trudeau  –  38,500,000  (64 bb)

As a reminder, here are the final table payouts:

1st:  $352,200 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $224,395

3rd:  Lunique Petiote  –  $166,440
4th:  Robyn Marshman  –  $135,530
5th:  Sergio Giha  –  $107,000
6th:  Damjan Radanov  –  $83,220
7th:  Roland Wakim  –  $60,395
8th:  Joe Ebanks  –  $42,085
9th:  Daniyal Gheba  –  $27,740

$600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  250,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 4,529

Robyn Marshman was all in from the big blind for 3,550,000 with , and she needed to improve to stay alive against Jeff Trudeau’s in the UTG/cutoff position.

The board came , and the ace-king held up for Trudeau to win the pot and eliminate Marshman in fourth place.

Jeff Trudeau  –  52,900,000  (106 bb)
Robyn Marshman  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($135,530)

With three players remaining from a field of 4,529, the average chip stack is about 30,200,000 (60 big blinds). The remaining players are all guaranteed at least $166,440 each.

$600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  250,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 4,529

It folded to Sergio Giha in the small blind and he moved all in for 7,550,000. Jeff Trudeau was in the big blind and quickly called.

Giha:
Trudeau:

Giha needed to pair his ace or find something interesting to double but the board ran out . Giha was eliminated in fifth place while our chip leader built his stack higher.

Jeff Trudeau – 37,200,000 (74 bb)
Sergio Giha – Eliminated in 5th Place ($107,000)

$600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  250,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 4,529

Lunique Petiote raised from the (dead) button to 1,200,000, Damjan Radanov moved all in from the small blind for 7,975,000, and Jordan Flaschner asked for an exact count from the big blind.

Flaschner tanked for a while before he called, and Petiote quickly folded.

Radanov turned over , and needed his hand to hold to stay alive against Flaschner’s .

The board came , and Flaschner paired his ten on the flop and turned two pair to win the pot and eliminate Radanov in sixth place.

Jordan Flaschner  –  19,950,000  (40 bb)
Damjan Radanov  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($83,220)

With five players remaining from a field of 4,529, the average chip stack is about 18,125,000 (36 big blinds). The remaining players are all guaranteed at least $107,000 each.

$600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  250,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 4,529

Roland Wakim was all in from the small blind for 2,250,000 with , and he needed to improve to stay alive against the of Lunique Petiote on the button.

The board came , and Petiote turned a king-high straight to clinch the pot and eliminate Wakim in seventh place.

Lunique Petiote  –  24,300,000  (49 bb)
Roland Wakim  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($60,395)

With six players remaining from a field of 4,529, the average chip stack is about 15,100,000 (30 big blinds). The remaining players are all guaranteed at least $83,220 each.

$600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  250,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 4,529

Sergio Giha raised under the gun to 1,100,000, chipleader Jeff Trudeau reraised UTG+1 to 1,700,000, and Robyn Marshman tanked for a while before moving all in from the big blind for 2,975,000.

Giha folded, and Trudeau called with . Marshman turned over , and she needed her hand to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and the pocket sixes held up for Marshman to win the pot and double up in chips.

Robyn Marshman  –  7,800,000  (16 bb)
Jeff Trudeau  –  33,600,000  (67 bb)

With seven players remaining from a field of 4,529, the average chip stack is about 12,950,000 (26 big blinds). The remaining players are all guaranteed at least $60,395 each.

$600 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  250,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 4,529

The players return from break to begin Level 36, with increased blinds of 250,000-500,000 and a big blind ante of 500,000.

Here are the official chip counts from the break, followed by the final table payouts:

Seat 1.  Jeff Trudeau  –  34,825,000  (70 bb)
Seat 2.  Lunique Petiote  –  19,725,000  (39 bb)
Seat 3.  Roland Wakim  –  3,900,000  (8 bb)
Seat 4.  Damjan Radanov  –  8,975,000  (18 bb)
Seat 5.  Jordan Flaschner  –  11,275,000  (23 bb)
Seat 6.  Robyn Marshman  –  3,475,000  (7 bb)
Seat 7.  Sergio Giha  –  8,400,000  (17 bb)

1st:  $352,200 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $224,395
3rd:  $166,440
4th:  $135,530
5th:  $107,000
6th:  $83,220
7th:  $60,395

8th:  Joe Ebanks  –  $42,085
9th:  Daniyal Gheba  –  $27,740

With seven players remaining from a field of 4,529, the average chip stack is about 12,950,000 (26 big blinds). The remaining players are all guaranteed at least $60,395 each.