$5,250 SHRPO Championship $3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts Level 21: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante Players Remaining: 27 of 887
Samuel Bernabeu raised to 40,000 preflop from the hijack, and Aaron Mermelstein reraised to 115,000 on the button. Bernabeu tanked before reraising all in, and Mermelstein quickly called to cover him. The two players then tabled their cards.
Mermelstein: Bernabeu:
Board:
Bernabeu was eliminated in 28th place, good for $19,531, and Mermelstein increased his chip lead to 4.06 million. Play was paused after the hand so the field could draw for new seats at the final three tables.
Aaron Mermelstein – 4,060,000 (203 bb) Samuel Bernabeu – Eliminated in 28th Place ($19,531)
$5,250 SHRPO Championship $3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts Level 21: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante Players Remaining: 28 of 887
Joel Harwood raised all in for about 195,000 from the cutoff and chip leader Aaron Mermelstein called instantly from the big blind with , leading Harwood’s .
The board came down , giving Mermelstein queens full of deuces to eliminate Harwood in 29th place.
Aaron Mermelstein – 2,890,000 (145 bb) Joel Harwood – Eliminated in 29th Place ($19,531)
$5,250 SHRPO Championship $3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts Level 21: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante Players Remaining: 29 of 887
AJ Kelsall raised to 44,000 preflop from late position, and Gautam Lillaney reraised all in for 177,000. Kelsall tanked for a moment but called. The two players then tabled their cards.
Lillany: Kelsall:
Board:
Lillaney doubled up to survive with 408,000, and Kelsall is down to 515,000 after paying out the double.
$5,250 SHRPO Championship $3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts Level 21: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante Players Remaining: 29 of 887
Luke Brereton limped in from the small blind and Daniel Blum checked his option in the big blind.
The flop came down and Brereton bet 25,000. Blum raised to 85,000, Brereton reraised to about 225,000, Blum shoved with a covering stack, and Brereton called all in for 546,000.
Brereton: Blum:
Brereton led with two pair and held up through the turn and river to double up.
Luke Brereton – 1,153,000 (58 bb) Daniel Blum – 435,000 (22 bb)
$5,250 SHRPO Championship $3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts Level 21: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante Players Remaining: 30 of 887
Cards are in the air on Day 3 at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship. The final 30 players return to blinds of 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 ante for the first 60-minute level of the day. They will march down to a final table of nine today. Shuffle up and deal!
$5,250 SHRPO Championship $3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts Returning to Level 21: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante Players Remaining: 30 of 887
Aaron Mermelstein
The 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship continues at noon with Day 3. The starting field of 887 entries is down to just 30 players, each looking to capture the top prize of $754,083.
Leading the way into Day 3 is two-time WPT champion Aaron Mermelstein with 2,706,000. A plethora of notables remain, including Adam Levy (1,960,000), Matt Berkey (1,795,000), David Sands (1,044,000), Glenn Becker (1,029,000), Day 1 chip leader Diana Shirey (923,000), David Diaz (788,000), Scott Clements (776,000), Joe Kuether (615,000), Luke Brereton (569,000), Shannon Shorr (506,000), and Joel Harwood (291,000).
Becker is still in the hunt for SHRP Player of the Year, while Kuether has a chance to lock up a second seat at a final table in The Big 4, having already made the final table in the $1,100 NLH Re-Entry.
Levels will continue to be 60 minutes until 27 players remain. From there, levels will be increased to 90 minutes. That will carry over into the final table tomorrow, and levels will be reduced back to 60 minutes once heads-up play is reached.
Speaking of the final table, today’s remaining field of 30 will be playing down to nine players, at which point the official final table will be set for the spotlight event of The Big 4.
Here are the seating assignments and chip counts to begin Day 3:
$5,250 SHRPO Championship $3 Million Guaranteed | Payouts Level 20: 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante Players Remaining: 30
Aaron Mermelstein
Day 2 saw 266 players return in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship, and after another ten levels of play the field was sliced all the way down the final 30. The top 111 players made the money, and we had three players fall simultaneously on the money bubble earlier today (including 2015 SHRPO Champion Omar Zazay), so they split the min-cash of $7,528.
The field played deep into the money tonight, and Aaron Mermelstein leads the pack at the end of play with a big stack of 2,706,000. Mermelstein came on strong late in the day when he eliminated Ashton Griffin in 45th place to grow his stack to 1.8 million. Mermelstein never looked back once he secured the chip lead, and he is the only player to bag up over 2 million. Here is a look at the top 10 chip counts at the end of play.
Aaron Mermelstein – 2,706,000 Adam Levy – 1,960,000 Yi Chi Li – 1,816,000 Matt Berkey – 1,795,000 Samuel Bernabeu – 1,285,000 Odie Dardon – 1,154,000 David Sands – 1,044,000 Glenn Becker – 1,029,000 Michael Aron – 1,000,000 Diana Shirey – 923,000
Joe Kuether
Top storylines to keep an eye on tomorrow include the quest of Joe Kuether to make his second final table of The Big 4 in this SHRPO Championship event. He already made the final table in the $1,100 event that will play out on Tuesday, so if he makes the final nine in this tournament life could get tricky for him in two days. Kuether bagged up 615,000 at the end of play.
Glenn Becker
Glenn Becker is the last player alive in the SHRPO Championship who can catch Nathan Papp for the SHRP Player of the Year award. Becker ended Day 2 with 1,029,000, and he will have some extra incentive to keep his deep run going on Monday.
Other big names still in the hunt to keep an eye on include David Diaz, Odie Dardon, Scott Clements, Shannon Shorr, Nicholas Palma, and Joel Harwood (Loni’s father).
Notables that cashed today included Christian Harder, Keven Stammen, Harrison Gimbel, Taylor Paur, Neil Blumenfield, Kane Kalas, John Gordon, John Hennigan, Kevin Saul, Jean Gaspard, Allen Bari, Asher Conniff, Paul Volpe, Jonathan Jaffe, Jason Brin, Kurt Jewell, Shaun Deeb, Ari Engel, Matt Waxman, Event 1 winner Nipun Java, and the final Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member standing – Chance Kornuth.
Day 3 begins on Monday at Noon ET, and the returning field will play down to the final table of nine no matter how long it takes. Catch all of the live updates, chip counts, photos, and videos right here from the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Live Updates team.
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, giving Mermelstein queens full of deuces to eliminate Harwood in 29th place.
and Brereton bet 25,000. Blum raised to 85,000, Brereton reraised to about 225,000, Blum shoved with a covering stack, and Brereton called all in for 546,000.
turn and 
