$20 Million Awarded Across 50 Events at WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown

SHRPS

Three weeks of non-stop tournament poker action at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood, Florida finally came to an end this past week in a series defined by huge turnouts and massive prize pools.

The historic series, which kicked off on March 24 and wrapped up on Wednesday, generated $20.8 million in prize money across 50 events — ranging from 5-Card Pot-Limit Omaha to H.O.R.S.E. to Omaha 8 or Better — and attracted a total of 20,359 entries.

The series culminated with the $3,500 buy-in World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event, which ended up being the second-largest WPT Main Event in history with 2,010 entrants, second only to last year's Main Event at the same venue that had 2,482 entries.

Four-time WPT champion Darren Elias leads the six remaining players in the event, who will finish out the final table on May 25 at Esports Arena Las Vegas at the Luxor.

PokerNews has already covered several highlights at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, which include Yuval Bronshtein winning two events to give himself seven SHRP titles, Andrew Lichtenberger defeating Alex Foxen heads-up in the $50,000 buy-in Super High Roller and WPT history being made when two female players, Valerie Novak and Jennifer Aguilar, took down events on the same day.

Here are a few more highlights from the three weeks of tournament poker action in South Florida.

Singh Wins Record-Setting Eighth Seminole Hard Rock Title

Delray Beach resident Raminder Singh won a record-setting eighth SHRP series trophy late in the series when he took down Event #35: $150 No Limit Hold'em - Big Stack after a four-handed deal that earned him $5,008.

Singh, who was born in India and has $1.7 million in tournament earnings, according to the Hendon Mob, had his first SHRP score at the 2015 Poker Open, where he took down $250 No-Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Turbo to win $6,716. His biggest score came a few years later at the 2019 Poker Open, where a victory in $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deep Stack earned him $200,000.

Raminder Singh
Raminder Singh

“It feels great,” Singh told SHRP after his latest victory. “For my children, it motivates them. When I win in poker, they do exceedingly well in their respective sports. My daughter is into ice skating, and my son is into swimming. So they win their trophies, and that’s the motivational factor for them. It feels great from that angle as well.”

The other players who got in on the chop were Karen Duffy ($4,158), Tomislav Krizanic ($3,116) and Dan Kashvin ($2,468).

Event #35: $150 No Limit Hold'em - Big Stack Final Results

 PLACEPLAYERPRIZE (IN USD)
 1Raminder Singh$5,008*
 2Karen Duffy$4,158*
 3Tomislav Krizanic$3,116*
 4Dan Kashvin$2,468*
 5Attila Kocsis$1,245
 6Mihaly Lukacs$1,025
 7Gary Hays$875
 8Kareem Bernardo$750
 9Youcef Zalagh$630

*Denotes final table deal
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Altman Chops High Roller

Another big highlight to close out the series was Event #44: $25,500 No Limit Hold'em - High Roller, which attracted the likes of Mike McDonald, Jason Mercier, Joe McKeehen, Erik Seidel, Jeremy Ausmus, Brock Wilson and many of the other best players in the game.

In the end, it was 2019 WPT Player of the Year Brian Altman who won the event for $692,661 and his seventh SHRP trophy after a three-way ICM deal with fellow crushers Jerry Wong and Chance Kornuth, who respectively pocketed $570,283 and $522,283.

Brian Altman
Brian Altman

While the three-time World Poker Tour champion with $6.5 million in live earnings is no stranger to tournament success, the victory marks the Massachusetts pro's first-ever cash in a buy-in over $15,000.

“It feels great,” Altman told SHRP after the win. “This is my first cash at this price point, so it’s nice to finally have success on the high roller level.”

Event #44: $25,500 No Limit Hold'em - High Roller Final Results

 PLACEPLAYERPRIZE (IN USD)
 1Brian Altman$692,661
 2Jerry Wong$570,283
 3Chance Kornuth$522,571
 4Jorge Gomez$203,875
 5Joe McKeehen$158,130
 6Stephen Song$130,600
 7Kevin Rabichow$115,115
 8Barry Hutter$101,900
 9Brock Wilson$90,020

Rigby Brings Dirty Diaper to South Florida

Many poker players and commentators were baffled when a Pittsburgh native named Nicholas Rigby made it deep in the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event while managing to play three-deuce at every given opportunity.

Rigby made a name for himself with his aggressive play with the raggedy hand, which is known as "The Diaper" in his hometown, or "The Dirty Diaper" if it's unsuited.

While his style is no doubt unorthodox, the Pennsylvanian player proved he can play by winning Event #46: $1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Showdown Turbo Championship to take home the trophy and $44,355.

The score gives Rigby his second-largest tournament cash on Hendon Mob, roughly a third of the $136,100 he won with his 52nd-place finish in the WSOP Main Event.

Nicholas Rigby
Nicholas Rigby

Rigby's winner's photo shows him graciously smiling behind an unsuited three-deuce, though SHRP's live reporting updates show that the actual winning hand was K5.

Event #46: $1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Showdown Turbo Championship Final Results

 PLACEPLAYERPRIZE (IN USD)
 1Nicholas Rigby$44,355
 2Rob Brown$28,595
 3Jason Hickey$17,400
 4Roland Israelashvili$10,600
 5Veerab Zakarian$8,190
 6Larry Hirschfield$6,785
 7Dapo Ajayi$5,865
 8Shankar Pillai$5,135
 9Brent Hart$4,470

Other highlights from the series include Michael Nye getting through a massive field of 4,259 players in Event #15: $600 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack to win $328,683 and Eugene Kotlyarevskiy taking down Event #40: $1,700 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack to win $54,155.

A full list of winners at the 2022 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown is available in the table below.

Winners at WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown

 TOURNAMENTENTRIESPRIZE POOLWINNERPRIZE (IN USD)
 Event #1: $400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em3,6871,216,710James Collins$130,682
 Event #2: $400 Limit Omaha 811638,860Michael Bozeman$11,330
 Event #3: $400 H.O.R.S.E.7424,790John Simcox$6,543
 Event #4: $400 Pot Limit Omaha10836,180John Binns$10,720
 Event #5: $400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em320107,200Zoltan Czinkota$12,255
 Event #6: $1,100 Deep Stack NLH160155,200Nick Palma$41,050
 Event #7: $200 Big Stack No-Limit Hold’em1,462233,920Vendel Johnson$26,497
 Event #8: $400 Black Chip Bounty No-Limit Hold’em19445,950Maurice Hawkins$7,895
 Event #9: $400 Big O10936,515Anatoli Zyrin$10,950
 Event #10: $400 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em15150,585Nohad "Nu" Teliani$9,986
 Event #11: $400 Omaha 8/Stud 88127,135Gary Kosakowski$8,645
 Event #12: $400 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out)16555,275Enreko Fracassi$14,490
 Event #13: $400 Six-Max Pot Limit Omaha16153,935Nancy Birnbaum$11,830
 Event #14: $200 Quad Stack Double Green Chip Bounty47841,580Richard Coppola$5,943
 Event #15: $600 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack4,2592,214,680Michael Nye$328,683
 Event #16: $600 Omaha 8 or Better8745,675John Binns$14,540
 Event #17: $600 HORSE8444,100David Shmuel$13,890
 Event #18: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better10354,075Jeff Madsen$16,335
 Event #19: $400 No Limit Hold'em362131,270Aaron Ang$14,686
 Event #20: $1,100 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em229107,630Matthew Lambrecht$24,065
 Event #21: $400 Pot Limit Omaha - Mixed12642,210Matt Bretzfield$11,475
 Event #22: $400 No Limit Hold'em26889,780James Calderaro$20,265
 Event #23: $600 No Limit Hold'em20065,000Gabriel Ramos$1,174
 Event #24: $600 Pot Limit Omaha12642,210Yuval Bronshtein$20,630
 Event #25: $150 No Limit Hold'em35842,960Andre Bryan$6,379
 Event #26: $1,100 Omaha 8 or Better - Showdown Championship6764,990Leonard August$18,000
 Event #27: $600 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack338177,450Scott Carragher$37,630
 Event #28: $600 Pot Limit Omaha - Deep Stack14045,500Steven Steinmetz$10,245
 Event #29: $400 No Limit Hold'em17959,965Georges Boyadjian$12,327
 Event #30: $ 1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack475460,750Valerie Novak$91,835
 Event #31: $50,000 No Limit Hold'em - Super High Roller391,891,500Andrew Lichtenberger$638,223
 Event #32: $200 No Limit Hold'em - Quad Stack - $50 Bounty39830,000Jennifer Aguilar$5,095
 Event #33: $1,100 HORSE - Showdown Championship6260,140Yuval Bronshtein$21,645
 Event #34: $2,200 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack345690,000Andrew Jeckeln$126,541
 Event #35: $150 No Limit Hold'em - Big Stack21525,800Raminder Singh$5,008
 Event #36: $3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event2,0106,432,000N/A$1,000,300
 Event #37: $250 No Limit Hold'em - Ladies9119,100Lisa Adams Levy$4,015
 Event #38: $600 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack Turbo7137,630Michael Bagdasarov$10,343
 Event #39: $400 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack391130,985Francois Gagne$20,753
 Event #40: $1,700 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack227227,000Eugene Kotlyarevskiy$54,155
 Event #41: $1,100 Pot Limit Omaha - Showdown Deep Stack 8-Max Championship8986,330Frank Lagodich$26,575
 Event #42: $1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Showdown Deep Stack Seniors Championship108104,760Judith Bielan$19,285
 Event #43: $600 No Limit Hold'em - Big Stack333174,825Prithvi Rudrappa$31,873
 Event #44: $25,500 No Limit Hold'em - High Roller1323,260,400Brian Altman$692,661
 Event #45: $150 No Limit Hold'em - Big Stack27032,400Oscar Sierralta$7,270
 Event #46: $1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Showdown Turbo Championship170170,000Nicholas Rigby$44,355
 Event #47: $1,100 Pot Limit Omaha - Five Card - Deep Stack6260,140Kirk Steele$21,620
 Event #48: $400 No Limit Hold'em - Big Stack17056,950Igor Evseev$12,142
 Event #49: $5,000 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack - 8-Max2321,102,000Brandon Lulov$246,125
 Event #50: $200 No Limit Hold'em - Quad Stack - $50 Bounty37741,570Gene Hughes$6,034

Click here for a WPT SHRP Showdown final table preview!

Photos courtesy SHRP and WPT

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