2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 26
$600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 330
Prize Pool:  $173,250
August 3, 2021

Event 26 of the 2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open was a $600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry). A field of 330 entries generated a prize pool of $172,250, more than tripling the guarantee.

At about the 13-hour mark, the remaining four players agreed to a deal. As the chip leader, it was Victor Choupeaux who was the official winner, earning $25,328 for his victory.

*denotes four-handed deal

$600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 330

Seat 1:  Bruce McPhillips  –  1,020,000 (68 bb)
Seat 2:  Cameron Storto  – 575,000 (38 bb)
Seat 3:  Timothy Fisher  –  150,000 (10 bb)
Seat 4:  Rafay Asrar  –  340,000  (23 bb)
Seat 5:  Juan Rodriguez –   650,000 (43 bb)
Seat 6:  David Albertson  –  1,700,000 (113 bb)
Seat 7:  Victor Choupeaux  –  1,900,000  (146 bb)

Final Table Payouts
1st:  $34,215
2nd:  $23,680
3rd:  $16,660
4th:  $11,920
5th:  $8,680
6th:  $6,430
7th:  $4,855

$600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  30 of 330

Here are the players who have finished in the money so far, along with their payouts:

31st: Vitor Coelho  –  $1,015
32nd: Raffaello Locatelli  –  $1,015
33rd: Davy Ridout  –  $1,015
34th: Raminder Singh  –  $1,015
35th: Andrew Wilmot  –  $1,015
36th: James Duda  –  $1,015

37th: Filipp Khavin  –  $915
38th: Steven McKoy  –  $915
39th: Tommy Nguyen  –  $915
40th: Gil Levy  –  $915
41st: Elvis Toomas  –  $915
42nd: Neal Corcoran  –  $915

43rd: Steven Glazerman  –  $840
44th: Sergio Alvez Sandoval  –  $840
45th: Ryan Hogan  –  $840
46th: Raymond McDonough  –  $840
47th: Steven Karp  –  $840
48th: Nigel Murray  –  $840

49th: Eric Siegel  –  $795
50th: Jeffrey Benhart  –  $795
51st: Nathan Cho  –  $795
52nd: Donald Williams  –  $795
53rd: Ari Gutman  –  $795
54th: Jason Russianoff  –  $795
55th: Samy Azzam  –  $795

$600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 14:  1,500/3,000 with a 2,500 ante
Players Remaining:  55 of 330

During Hand #4 of hand-for-hand play on the Money Bubble, chipleader Matt Waxman min-raised under the gun to 6,000, and the player on the button moved all in for 40,500.

Waxman asked for an exact count, and then asked the player, “Do you want action?”

His opponent shook his head no, and then Waxman said something like, “Now I’ll feel bad if I call. Unless you have aces.”

The action finished at all the other tables, and then Waxman called and said, “Alright, man. Good luck.”

The short stack turned over , and needed it to hold to stay alive against Waxman’s .

The board came , and Waxman paired his jack on the flop and turned a full house to clinch the pot and eliminate his opponent in 56th place on the Money Bubble.

Matt Waxman  –  500,000  (167 bb)

With 55 players remaining from a field of 330, the average chip stack is about 120,000 (40 big blinds). The field is in the money, guaranteed at least $795 each, and the next pay jump is $840 for 48th place.

$600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 14:  1,500/3,000 with a 2,500 ante
Players Remaining:  56 of 330

During Hand #3 of hand-for-hand play on the Money Bubble, the player in the cutoff raised to 6,000, and Sebastian Medina moved all in from the small blind for 34,500.

The player in the cutoff asked for an exact count and started talking while he was in the tank.

“I don’t have much,” said the cutoff, “but I don’t believe you.”

They talked a bit more, and then the cutoff said, “Now you’re trying to talk me into calling, which means you might talk me into folding.”

After that, it was quiet, but eventually, the cutoff called with . Medina turned over , and needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and Medina flopped a set of eights to win the pot and double up in chips.

Sebastian Medina  –  75,000  (25 bb)

With 56 players remaining from a field of 330, the average chip stack is about 118,000 (39 big blinds). The final 55 players will finish in the money, guaranteed at least $795 each.

$600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 13:  1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 ante
Players Remaining:  58 of 330

As the field nears the Money Bubble with 58 players remaining (the final 55 get paid), we’ve spotted Matt Waxman for the first time this series.

Waxman is 19th on the all-time money list for Floridians with more than $4.2 million in career earnings, including two WPT titles, a WSOP bracelet, and he won the 2013 Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.

Waxman has hit the ground running as he is chipleader with 438,000.

Matt Waxman  –  438,000  (175 bb)

With 58 players remaining from a field of 330, the average chip stack is about 114,000 (46 big blinds). The final 55 players will finish in the money, guaranteed at least $795 each.

$600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 11:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Players Remaining:  90 of 330

The under-the-gun player was all in with , and needed his hand to hold to stay alive against Davy Ridout’s in the big blind.

The board came , and Ridout paired his queen on the flop to win the pot with two pair, queens and sixes, to eliminate his opponent from the tournament.

Davy Ridout  –  85,000  (57 bb)

With about 90 players remaining from a field of 330, the average chip stack is about 73,500 (49 big blinds). The final 55 players will finish in the money, guaranteed at least $795 each.

$600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 10:  500/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Players Remaining:  114 of 330

There was a prizepool guarantee of $50,000 for Event 26, and the field surpassed that around the start of Level 2. By the time registration closed, there were 330 entries, more than tripling the guarantee to create a prizepool worth $173,250.

The final 55 players will finish in the money (1 out of 6, or 16.7% of the field), guaranteed at least $795 each, with $34,215 waiting up top for the winner of this event.

2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 26
$600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  330
Prize Pool:  $173,250
August 3, 2021

1st:  $34,215
2nd:  $23,680
3rd:  $16,660
4th:  $11,920
5th:  $8,680
6th:  $6,430
7th-8th:  $4,855
9th-10th:  $3,730
11th-12th:  $2,920
13th-14th:  $2,330
15th-16th:  $1,895
17th-18th:  $1,570
19th-24th:  $1,330
25th-30th:  $1,150
31st-36th:  $1,015
37th-42nd:  $915
43rd-48th:  $840
49th-55th:  $795

$600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Entries:  328

The players returned form break to begin Level 9, with increased blinds of 500-1,000 with a big blind ante of 1,000.

Registration is now closed, and as soon as we get official numbers from the tournament staff, we will post them here in the updates. It looks like the prizepool will be worth more than 170,000, more than tripling the $50K guarantee.

A scan of the field during the break turned up only two players with at least 130K, and one more knocking on the door to create an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Scott Leventhal  –  139,500  (140 bb)
2.  David Albertson  –  133,500  (134 bb)
3.  Cameron Storto  –  129,500  (130 bb)

$600 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Entries:  301

David Halimi was all in from the button for 8,200 with , and he needed to improve to stay alive against Thomas Boyden’s in the big blind.

The board came , and Halimi paired his ace on the flop to win the pot and double up in chips.

David Halimi  –  17,300  (29 bb)

The next hand, Halimi got it all in again, under the gun for 17,300 with . Halimi was up against the big blind, who had .

The board came , and Halimi won the pot with his aces to double up again.

David Halimi  –  35,500  (59 bb)

The next hand, Thomas Boyden raised from the button to 1,200, the small blind called, and Halimi reraised from the big blind to 3,800. Boyden called, and the small blind folded.

The flop came , Halimi bet 2,600, and Boyden called.

The turn card paired the board with the , Halimi checked, Boyden bet 4,500, and Halimi thought for a while before check-raising to 12,000. Boyden thought for a while before he folded, and Halimi took the pot.

David Halimi  –  47,100  (79 bb)

The field is up to 301, creating a prizepool worth more than $158,000, which crushes the $50K guarantee. Registration remains open with a single re-entry option until 4:30 pm.