2023 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 21
$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  3,989
Prize Pool:  $2,074,280
April 20-24, 2023

“I think I still don’t understand what happened,” said Event 21 champion Vladyslav Shovkovyi, “but I am happy and grateful.”

Sometimes things just go your way, like they did for Shovkovyi the past few days. He entered the sixth and final starting flight for Event 21 on Saturday evening, and he had a really good day, bagging up the chip lead for that flight, and the second largest stack overall.

Day 2 wasn’t as kind to Shovkovyi, at least at first.

“At one point I was down to only 13 big blinds,” said Shovkovyi about his Day 2. “I was struggling, waiting for some hands. But then I doubled up a few times.”

The key moment for Shovkovyi seemed to come shortly before midnight on Day 2 with 31 players remaining. Shovkovyi got into a preflop raising war with chipleader Bin Weng, eventually six-betting all in for 83 big blinds. Weng folded, giving Shovkovyi the chip lead with 123 big blinds. (Click here for more details.)

Neither player showed their cards, though Shovkovyi said something in his winner’s interview that implies he might have made an aggressive play there with ace-queen.

“I think ace-queen was my hand of the tournament,” said Shovkovyi, “because I made a few good moves with that hand and I won a lot of chips.”

Nobody knew it at the time, but after that hand, Shovkovyi would be at or near the chip lead for the rest of the tournament.

Shovkovyi had the lead when the nine-handed final table started, and after Charlemagne Benjamin was eliminated in ninth place, Shovkovyi scored the next six knockouts in a row (including two in one hand) to get heads-up against David Trager with a 5-to-1 chip lead.

Trager put up a strong fight, and over the next half hour or so, he doubled up and continued building his stack until he had nearly evened up the stacks — 87 big blinds for Shovkovyi and 73 big blinds for Trager. That’s when they took a scheduled break, and agreed to an ICM deal to end the tournament and split the remaining prizepool.

As chipleader, Shovkovyi was declared the winner, earning the title, the trophy, and $299,715.

“Getting first and the trophy in such a big field is awesome,” said Shovkovyi. “I had a few good runs this year, but I took second, third, and a few more final tables, but not first.”

Shovkovyi battled some tough competition for this title, particularly Darryll Fish (who finished fourth) and Ari Engel (who finished fifth). With their cashes in this event, Fish has just shy of $5 million in live tournament earnings, and Engel has just crossed the $8 million mark.

“The level of some players here is very good,” said Shovkovyi. “The guys on the final table had millions in winnings, and I’m only just starting. So it was awesome to play with good players, and to put pressure on them.”

While his career in poker tournaments is relatively young, and this is by far his biggest live score, based on his performance this weekend, this victory won’t be his last.

Final Table Results:

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 37:  300,000/600,000 with a 600,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 3,989

When the final two players returned from break, they quickly agreed to an ICM deal to split the remaining prizepool. These were their confirmed official chip counts:

Vladyslav Shovkovyi  –  43,300,000  (87 bb)
David Trager  –  36,500,000  (73 bb)

And these are the modified payouts they’ve agreed to:

1st:  Vladyslav Shovkovyi  –  $299,715* + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  David Trager  –  $288,485*

As chipleader, Vladyslav Shovkovyi is awarded the title and the trophy. Stay tuned for a recap from this event, which will be posted later tonight.

Final Table Results:

1st:  Vladyslav Shovkovyi  –  $299,715* + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  David Trager  –  $288,485*
3rd:  Alexandre Henry  –  $161,700
4th:  Darryll Fish  –  $124,600
5th:  Ari Engel  –  $94,300
6th:  Ryan Brown  –  $69,580
7th:  Greg Anda  –  $50,015
8th:  Joseph Dipascale  –  $39,800
9th:  Charlemagne Benjamin  –  $30,765

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 37:  300,000/600,000 with a 600,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 3,989

The final two players return from break to begin Level 37, with increased blinds of 300,000-600,000 with a 600,000 ante.

Here are the official chip counts from the break:

Vladyslav Shovkovyi  –  43,300,000  (87 bb)
David Trager  –  36,500,000  (73 bb)

And here are the final table payouts:

1st:  $360,000 + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  $228,200

3rd:  Alexandre Henry  –  $161,700
4th:  Darryll Fish  –  $124,600
5th:  Ari Engel  –  $94,300
6th:  Ryan Brown  –  $69,580
7th:  Greg Anda  –  $50,015
8th:  Joseph Dipascale  –  $39,800
9th:  Charlemagne Benjamin  –  $30,765

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 3,989

Vladyslav Shovkovyi raised to 1,500,000, David Trager moved all in for 12,900,000, and Shovkovyi asked for an exact count before he called with . Trager turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Trager paired his jack on the flop and his nine on the river to win the pot with two pair and double up in chips.

Vladyslav Shovkovyi  –  53,500,000  (107 bb)
David Trager  –  26,300,000  (53 bb)

A few minutes later, they saw a flop of . Shovkovyi checked, Trager bet 600,000, and Shovkovyi called.

The turn card was the , Shovkovyi checked, Trager bet 600,000 again, and Shovkovyi called.

The river card was the , Shovkovyi checked, Trager bet 2,000,000, and Shovkovyi called. Trager showed for a pair of sevens, but Shovkovyi turned over for a pair of sevens with a better kicker to win the pot.

Vladyslav Shovkovyi  –  58,300,000  (117 bb)
David Trager  –  21,500,000  (43 bb)

1st:  $360,000 + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  $228,200

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 3,989

Alexandre Henry moved all in from the small blind for 4,600,000, and Vladyslav Shovkovyi called from the big blind with . Henry turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Henry flopped a gutshot straight draw and paired his queen on the turn, but it wasn’t enough. Shovkovyi won the pot with a flopped pair of kings to eliminate Henry in third place.

Alexandre Henry  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($161,700)

And here are the updated chip counts for the start of heads-up play, followed by the final table payouts:

Vladyslav Shovkovyi  –  67,200,000  (134 bb)
David Trager  –  12,600,000  (25 bb)

1st:  $360,000 + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  $228,200

3rd:  Alexandre Henry  –  $161,700
4th:  Darryll Fish  –  $124,600
5th:  Ari Engel  –  $94,300
6th:  Ryan Brown  –  $69,580
7th:  Greg Anda  –  $50,015
8th:  Joseph Dipascale  –  $39,800
9th:  Charlemagne Benjamin  –  $30,765

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 3,989

Darryll Fish moved all in from UTG/cutoff for 5,500,000, and Vladyslav Shovkovyi called from the button with . Fish turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Fish paired his ten on the turn, but improved no further. Shovkovyi won the pot with his pocket aces to eliminate Fish in fourth place.

Darryll Fish  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($124,600)

Here are the updated chip counts for the final three players:

Seat 1.  Vladyslav Shovkovyi  –  62,600,000  (125 bb)
Seat 2.  David Trager  –  12,600,000  (25 bb)
Seat 3.  Alexandre Henry  –  4,600,000  (9 bb)

With three players remaining from a field of 3,989, the average chip stack is around 26,600,000 (53 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $161,700 each.

$600 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 36:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 3,989

Alexandre Henry moved all in from the button for 3,700,000, and Vladyslav Shovkovyi tanked for a long time before he called from the big blind with .

Henry turned over , and he was a dominant favorite to double up.

The board came , and Henry paired his nine on the flop and turned a club flush to win the pot and double up in chips.

Alexandre Henry  –  8,200,000  (16 bb)
Vladyslav Shovkovyi  –  50,300,000  (101 bb)

With four players remaining from a field of 3,989, the average chip stack is around 19,900,000 (40 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $124,600 each.