Several Big Winners Crowned On 2022 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open's Final Day

The 2022 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open featured 45 events from Jul. 27 through Aug. 9, with more than 20,000 entries turning up to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in South Florida. In the end, more than $19.6 million in prize money paid out during this year’s SHRPO. The series built to a climax on the final day of action, with several tournaments all wrapping up on Tuesday, Aug. 9. The largest event in question was the $5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em championship event, which saw Sergio Aido top a field of 1,110 entries to earn $900,100. While the centerpiece of the series drew much of the limelight, there were several other huge events that determined winners in the closing hours of the SHRPO festival, including the other three ‘Big 4’ tournaments. Below is a look at the key results from the final day’s action.

Event 40 – $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller

The $2,000,000 guaranteed $25,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller drew 105 total entries by the time registration closed, easily surpassing the guarantee to create a prize pool of nearly $2.6 million that was paid out among the top 15 finishers.

In the end, the largest share of that money was awarded to Florida resident Nolan King, who was playing in his first high roller tournament ever. He earned a career-high payday of $713,190 as the champion. Prior to this, his largest live tournament cash was the $117,545 he earned as the runner-up in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha bounty event at this year’s World Series of Poker.

“One of my buddies, James Carroll, texted me and said, ‘Hey, come play this satellite with me.’” King told SHRPO blog reporters after winning. “I was in bed, getting ready to go to sleep, but I said ‘Alright, I’ll come play.’ So I came and played, and I won that. I never would have played this otherwise.”

In addition to the title and the money, King also secured 840 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. With this title run and his second-place showing at the WSOP, King now sits within reach of the top 100 in the 2022 POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker. He also secured 428 PokerGO Tour points with this victory.

King had to overcome a stacked final table on his way to securing the trophy, including outlasting his previously-mentioned friend, two-time World Poker Tour main event winner James Carroll (4th). Other notables included bracelet winner and WPT champion Dylan Linde (8th), bracelet winner and WPT champion Chad Evelsage (7th), four-time bracelet winner and recent SHRPO $50,00 high roller champion David Peters (6th), and high-stakes tournament regular Sean Winter (2nd). Winter climbed into sixth place in the POY standings thanks to the $505,700 and 700 POY points he earned as the runner-up. This was his 14th final-table finish of the year, with more than $2.6 million in POY earnings accrued so far in 2022.

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

Event 43 – $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em

The other high roller tournament to reach a conclusion on Tuesday was the single-day $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. The tournament more than doubled it’s $500,000 guarantee, with 111 entries creating a $1,065,600 prize pool that was paid out among the top 14 finishers. Ed Sebesta emerged victorious, defeating Brandon Lulov heads-up to secure the title and the $311,915 first-place prize.

This was Sebesta’s second six-figure payday, with the other being another win in a $10,000 buy-in high roller. He took down event no. 7 at the Summer Aria High Rollers series in June for $120,000. With this latest win, he now has nearly $815,000 in recorded earnings.

Sebesta also earned 600 POY points and 312 PGT points for his second high-stakes win of 2022.

He was joined at the final table by the likes of four-time WPT champion Darren Elias (8th), and two-time bracelet winner Elio Fox (7th). 2021 WSOP $50,000 buy-in event runner-up Ren Lin (6th), and bracelet winner Stephen Song (5th) also final tabled this event, after both had made another final table earlier in the day (more on that later).

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

Event 35 – $2,700 No-Limit Hold’em

The $2,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em event also surpassed its $1 million guarantee, with a field of 435 entries building a final prize pool of $1,065,750 that was divvied up amongst the top 55 finishers.

Josh Adcock from Hopkinsville, Kentucky was ultimately crowned the champion, after he struck a four-way deal that saw him take home the title and the largest share of the seven-figure prize pool. The 38-year-old Hopkinsville, Kentucky resident earned $151,469 for the win. This was his first live tournament title and first-ever six-figure score.

Three-time WPT champion and bracelet winner Brian Altman (8th) was among the big names to make the final table in this event. Joining him were recent WSOP Monster Stack third-place finisher Francis Anderson (3rd), along with the pair of Lin (5th) and Song (6th), who swapped places from how they finished in the $10,000 buy-in at this final table. The two deep runs earned Lin a total of $99,325, while Song cashed for $101,475 with his two top-six showings.

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

Event 39 – $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em

The last of the four tournaments that are considered part of the SHPRO ‘Big 4’ to discuss is the $500,000 guaranteed $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. A 563-entry turnout saw the guarantee surpassed by $63,000, with 72 players making the money.

Ivan Ruban came out on top, defeating 2013 SHRPO main event champion Blair Hinkle heads-up to get his hands on the $107,125 top prize and the trophy. The Moscow native, who now resides in South Florida, increased his career earnings to more than $400,000.

Hinkle, a WSOP bracelet winner from Kansas City, earned $73,425 as the runner-up, growing his total amount cashed for to more than $4.9 million.

Other notables at the final table include this year’s Golden Nugget Grand Poker Series main event winner Gary Gelman (4th), WSOP ‘Million Dollar Bounty’ sixth-place finisher (6th), and WPT champion Soheb Porbandarwala (9th).

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

Event 41 – $2,200 Five-Card Pot-Limit Omaha

Accomplished self-described part-time poker player Esther Taylor captured the title in the $2,200 buy-in five-card pot-limit Omaha event, besting the 115-entry field to earn her second live tournament title and the top prize of $59,825. The score increased Taylor’s lifetime earnings to nearly $2.1 million.

The mixed-game regular, known to many as ‘E-TAY’, struck a heads-up deal with Roman Hrabec that saw him earn $50,000 as the runner-up.

Melad Marji, who won the $25,500 buy-in PLO high roller earlier in this series for $443,118, placed seventh in this event.

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

Event 44 – $1,100 Six-Max Pot-Limit Omaha

Four-time WSOP bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus secured his first trophy from the Seminole Hard Rock by taking down the $1,100 buy-in pot-limit Omaha six-max event, topping a field of 139 entries to win $36,675. Ausmus now has nearly $12.7 million in lifetime earnings after coming out on top in this short-handed PLO event.

“A max late reg bullet last night in six-max PLO allowed me a small rebate on my
SHRPO losses from the prior seven days,” said Ausmus on social media after securing the win in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Aug. 10.

Ausmus also scored 264 POY points for the win. This was his fourth title and 17th final-table finish of the year. As a result, he moved into fifth place on the overall POY leaderboard, with 4,527 points and more than $2 million in earnings to date.

Twelve-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Joshua Reichard joined Ausmus at the final table. He placed fourth, earning $10,980 for his 164th recorded live tournament cash.

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

Winner photo credits: SHRPO blog.

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