Chris Brewer Wins 2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $50,000 Super High RollerThe High-Stakes Tournament Regular Topped A 24-Entry Field To Earn $420,670 |
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The 2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open features 43 poker tournaments, with a number of higher-buy-in options available. The first super high roller event of the series was a $50,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament held on Aug. 4. A total of 24 entries were made before registration closed, building a prize pool of $1.2 million that was paid out among the top four finishers. In the end, it was Chris Brewer who came away with the title and the top payout of $420,670.
Brewer is a former collegiate distance runner for the University of Oregon who found poker while earning his degree. He quickly rose up the ranks after graduating, and now is a regular participant in some of the highest stakes cash games and tournaments in the world. He has accumulated $2,180,645 in tournament earnings since securing his first live cash in 2015.
This latest victory was his largest score to date, topping the $295,365 he earned as the third-place finisher in a $50,000 buy-in event at the same venue, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, back in late April.
In addition to the money and the title, Brewer was also awarded a bounty of rankings points as the champion of this event. He took home 306 Card Player Player of the Year points for what was his first POY-qualified win and 11th final-table finish of the year. He now sits in 22nd place in the 2021 POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker. Brewer earned 252 PokerGO Tour points for the win. With two titles, 14 cashes, and $1,615,520 in qualified earnings, he has climbed into ninth place on the PokerGO Tour leaderboard.
This event drew many of the biggest names in tournament poker, but only four would make the money. Two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Elio Fox was ultimately eliminated on the money bubble when his A8 failed to improve against the JJ of Brewer.
High roller regular Sean Perry took the chip lead into the final four. He lost a sizable pot when his bluff with a missed straight draw ran into the flopped straight of Brewer, who surged to the top of the chip counts. Perry was eliminated soon after when his 109 was failed to beat out the QQ after the chips went in on a flop of 872. Perry’s flush and straight outs never materialized and he settled for $139,680 as the fourth-place finisher. This was his 14th POY-qualified final table of the year, with nearly $2.4 million in earnings secured along the way. As a result, he now sits in sixth place in the POY race standings. He also earned 84 PokerGO Tour points. Perry currently occupies the second-place spot on that leaderboard, with Ali Imsirovic holding a 643 point lead.
Recent PokerGO Cup $100,000 buy-in event winner Cary Katz was the next to fall. He got all-in on a 743 flop with KQ against the A4 of Sean Winter. The 4 turn gave Winter trips and left Katz in need of a heart on the end. The K was not enough and Katz was sent to the rail in third place ($209,520). This was his 11th POY-qualified final table of 2021, with more than $1.9 million cashed for along the way. He climbed into 21st place in the POY rankings as a result. The 126 PokerGo Tour points he earned were enough to move him into fifth place in that race.
The final two players negotiated a deal that brought the event to a conclusion. Brewer, who was in the lead with 1,690,000 in chips, would secure the title and a payday of $420,670, while Winter would take home $394,130 for a larger second-place payday than the pay structure originally called for. Winter secured 236 PokerGO Tour points for his 14th cash in a qualified event, moving into third place as a result. The 255 POY points were enough to catapult him into 13th place on the leaderboard.
Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PokerGO |
1 | Chris Brewer | $420,670 | 306 | 252 |
2 | Sean Winter | $394,130 | 255 | 236 |
3 | Cary Katz | $209,520 | 204 | 126 |
4 | Sean Perry | $139,680 | 153 | 84 |
Winner photo credit: PokerGO.