Sergio Aido Wins 2022 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship For $900,100

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Southern Florida played host to the 2022 SHR Poker Open $3,000,000 guaranteed $5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em championship event from Aug. 5-9. The tournament attracted a massive field of 1,110 entries, blowing away the guarantee to create a final prize pool of $5,383,500. In the end, Sergio Aido emerged victorious with the title, the SHR guitar trophy, and the top prize of $900,100.

This was the third-largest score of the Spanish high-stakes tournament regular’s career, behind the $1.8 million he earned for winning the 2019 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo €100,000 super high roller, and the $1.35 million payday he secured as the runner-up in a $128,000 buy-in Triton Poker event back in 2017.

Aido now has more than $14 million in career tournament earnings, further securing his hold on the second-place spot on Spain’s all-time money list. Only his countryman Adrian Mateos ($28.7 million) has cashed for more on the circuit.

In addition to the money and the title, Aido also scored 1,920 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his first title and sixth final-table finish of the year. With 3,153 total points and nearly $1.3 million in year-to-date POY earnings, Aido now sits in 19th place in the 2022 POY race, sponsored by Global Poker.

This tournament played out over the course of five days. Plenty of big names were among the 139 players to make the money, including 2022 Wynn Millions champion Tony Sinishtaj (35th), Cherish Andrews (30th), reigning WSOP main event champion Espen Jorstad (29th), Andrew Ostapchenko (28th), Matt Affleck (14th), and 2021 Wynn Millions main event winner Andrew Moreno (11th).

The final day began with seven players remaining, with Mike Kilker (9th – $90,650) and James Mackey (8th – $122,260) having been eliminated late on day 3. Ryan Gianquitti was the short stack to start, and he soon found himself all-in and at risk with K-Q racing against the pocket jacks of two-time bracelet winner Jim Collopy. A jack on the flop gave Collopy a set, which remained the best hand from there on out. Gianquitti earned $154,185 as the seventh-place finisher.

Ugis Steinman’s run in this event came to an end in a brutal fashion. He picked up the best hand in hold’em: pocket aces. He moved all-in for his last 8.5 or so big blinds from early position and received a call from the pocket tens of high-stakes tournament regular Chris Brewer, who was in the cutoff. The rest of the table got out of the way and Steinman was a 4:1 favorite to double up. Brewer flopped tens full of fours, though, turning the tables to leave Steinman in dire straights. Steinman got no help from the turn or river and was knocked out in sixth place ($186,200).

The next elimination didn’t take place for nearly six hours. After that extended stretch of five-handed action, short stack Raul Hernandez raised from under the gun with pocket sixes, and Aido called from the big blind with Q-10. Aido flopped a queen and check-raised all-in over Hernandez’s continuation bet. Hernandez made the call on the Q-5-3 flop with two diamonds on board. He picked up a straight draw on the turn, but a river board pair sent him to the rail in fifth place ($231,060).

A classic preflop coin flip spelled the end of start-of-day chip leader Justin Liberto. The bracelet winner got all-in with AQ facing the 99 of Aido. The pocket pair held up and Liberto was knocked out in fourth place ($305,955). The score increased his career earnings to nearly $4.6 million.

Brewer came into this event with three titles and 14 final-table finishes under his belt in 2022. The former collegiate distance runner fell to 20 big blinds after folding in a big clash with Collopy. The pair soon locked horns again, this time with all of the chips in preflop. Brewer min-raised from the button with A10 and Collopy three-bet shoved with 99 out of the big blind. Brewer called all-in and the board came down K73QK to lock up the pot for Collopy.

Brewer took home $412,375 for his third-place showing. This was the fourth-largest score of his career, and it increased his recorded earnings to nearly $6.6 million. Brewer also secured 1,280 POY points for his podium finish. With 4,723 points and more than $2.6 million in POY earnings so far in 2022, Brewer has surged up the standings and into second place on the POY leaderboard. He now trails current top-ranked contender Stephen Chidwick by just 178 points.

With that, heads-up play began with Collopy holding 26,525,000 to Aido’s 17,850,000. Aido overtook the lead by winning a big pot with A-J for jacks full, beating the pocket queens of Collopy on a double-paired board. After that, he held more than a 2.5:1 chip advantage.

In the final hand, Collopy raised from the button with A5 and Aido called from the big blind with Q10 The flop brought the K65. Aido check-raised a 600,000 continuation bet from Collopy with his flush draw, making it 1,850,000 to go. Collopy called and the turn brought the 4. Aido bet 1,800,000 with his flush and Collopy called with the nut flush draw and a pair of fives. The 10 completed the board. Aido checked and Collopy, after some consideration, moved all-in for 12,300,000. Aido made the call to lock up the pot and the title. Collopy was sent home as the runner-up, earning a career-high $614,775 for his strong showing. He now has more than $4.2 million in tournament scores to his name.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: SHPRO tournament blog.

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