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.
“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
| PLACE | PLAYER | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
| 1 | Raminder Singh | $5,008* | |
| 2 | Karen Duffy | $4,158* | |
| 3 | Tomislav Krizanic | $3,116* | |
| 4 | Dan Kashvin | $2,468* | |
| 5 | Attila Kocsis | $1,245 | |
| 6 | Mihaly Lukacs | $1,025 | |
| 7 | Gary Hays | $875 | |
| 8 | Kareem Bernardo | $750 | |
| 9 | Youcef Zalagh | $630 |
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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.
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
| PLACE | PLAYER | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
| 1 | Brian Altman | $692,661 | |
| 2 | Jerry Wong | $570,283 | |
| 3 | Chance Kornuth | $522,571 | |
| 4 | Jorge Gomez | $203,875 | |
| 5 | Joe McKeehen | $158,130 | |
| 6 | Stephen Song | $130,600 | |
| 7 | Kevin Rabichow | $115,115 | |
| 8 | Barry Hutter | $101,900 | |
| 9 | Brock 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.
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 k♠️
Event #46: $1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Showdown Turbo Championship Final Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
| 1 | Nicholas Rigby | $44,355 | |
| 2 | Rob Brown | $28,595 | |
| 3 | Jason Hickey | $17,400 | |
| 4 | Roland Israelashvili | $10,600 | |
| 5 | Veerab Zakarian | $8,190 | |
| 6 | Larry Hirschfield | $6,785 | |
| 7 | Dapo Ajayi | $5,865 | |
| 8 | Shankar Pillai | $5,135 | |
| 9 | Brent 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
| TOURNAMENT | ENTRIES | PRIZE POOL | WINNER | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
| Event #1: $400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em | 3,687 | 1,216,710 | James Collins | $130,682 | |
| Event #2: $400 Limit Omaha 8 | 116 | 38,860 | Michael Bozeman | $11,330 | |
| Event #3: $400 H.O.R.S.E. | 74 | 24,790 | John Simcox | $6,543 | |
| Event #4: $400 Pot Limit Omaha | 108 | 36,180 | John Binns | $10,720 | |
| Event #5: $400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em | 320 | 107,200 | Zoltan Czinkota | $12,255 | |
| Event #6: $1,100 Deep Stack NLH | 160 | 155,200 | Nick Palma | $41,050 | |
| Event #7: $200 Big Stack No-Limit Hold’em | 1,462 | 233,920 | Vendel Johnson | $26,497 | |
| Event #8: $400 Black Chip Bounty No-Limit Hold’em | 194 | 45,950 | Maurice Hawkins | $7,895 | |
| Event #9: $400 Big O | 109 | 36,515 | Anatoli Zyrin | $10,950 | |
| Event #10: $400 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em | 151 | 50,585 | Nohad "Nu" Teliani | $9,986 | |
| Event #11: $400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 | 81 | 27,135 | Gary Kosakowski | $8,645 | |
| Event #12: $400 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold’em (Freeze-Out) | 165 | 55,275 | Enreko Fracassi | $14,490 | |
| Event #13: $400 Six-Max Pot Limit Omaha | 161 | 53,935 | Nancy Birnbaum | $11,830 | |
| Event #14: $200 Quad Stack Double Green Chip Bounty | 478 | 41,580 | Richard Coppola | $5,943 | |
| Event #15: $600 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack | 4,259 | 2,214,680 | Michael Nye | $328,683 | |
| Event #16: $600 Omaha 8 or Better | 87 | 45,675 | John Binns | $14,540 | |
| Event #17: $600 HORSE | 84 | 44,100 | David Shmuel | $13,890 | |
| Event #18: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better | 103 | 54,075 | Jeff Madsen | $16,335 | |
| Event #19: $400 No Limit Hold'em | 362 | 131,270 | Aaron Ang | $14,686 | |
| Event #20: $1,100 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold'em | 229 | 107,630 | Matthew Lambrecht | $24,065 | |
| Event #21: $400 Pot Limit Omaha - Mixed | 126 | 42,210 | Matt Bretzfield | $11,475 | |
| Event #22: $400 No Limit Hold'em | 268 | 89,780 | James Calderaro | $20,265 | |
| Event #23: $600 No Limit Hold'em | 200 | 65,000 | Gabriel Ramos | $1,174 | |
| Event #24: $600 Pot Limit Omaha | 126 | 42,210 | Yuval Bronshtein | $20,630 | |
| Event #25: $150 No Limit Hold'em | 358 | 42,960 | Andre Bryan | $6,379 | |
| Event #26: $1,100 Omaha 8 or Better - Showdown Championship | 67 | 64,990 | Leonard August | $18,000 | |
| Event #27: $600 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack | 338 | 177,450 | Scott Carragher | $37,630 | |
| Event #28: $600 Pot Limit Omaha - Deep Stack | 140 | 45,500 | Steven Steinmetz | $10,245 | |
| Event #29: $400 No Limit Hold'em | 179 | 59,965 | Georges Boyadjian | $12,327 | |
| Event #30: $ 1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack | 475 | 460,750 | Valerie Novak | $91,835 | |
| Event #31: $50,000 No Limit Hold'em - Super High Roller | 39 | 1,891,500 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $638,223 | |
| Event #32: $200 No Limit Hold'em - Quad Stack - $50 Bounty | 398 | 30,000 | Jennifer Aguilar | $5,095 | |
| Event #33: $1,100 HORSE - Showdown Championship | 62 | 60,140 | Yuval Bronshtein | $21,645 | |
| Event #34: $2,200 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack | 345 | 690,000 | Andrew Jeckeln | $126,541 | |
| Event #35: $150 No Limit Hold'em - Big Stack | 215 | 25,800 | Raminder Singh | $5,008 | |
| Event #36: $3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event | 2,010 | 6,432,000 | N/A | $1,000,300 | |
| Event #37: $250 No Limit Hold'em - Ladies | 91 | 19,100 | Lisa Adams Levy | $4,015 | |
| Event #38: $600 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack Turbo | 71 | 37,630 | Michael Bagdasarov | $10,343 | |
| Event #39: $400 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack | 391 | 130,985 | Francois Gagne | $20,753 | |
| Event #40: $1,700 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack | 227 | 227,000 | Eugene Kotlyarevskiy | $54,155 | |
| Event #41: $1,100 Pot Limit Omaha - Showdown Deep Stack 8-Max Championship | 89 | 86,330 | Frank Lagodich | $26,575 | |
| Event #42: $1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Showdown Deep Stack Seniors Championship | 108 | 104,760 | Judith Bielan | $19,285 | |
| Event #43: $600 No Limit Hold'em - Big Stack | 333 | 174,825 | Prithvi Rudrappa | $31,873 | |
| Event #44: $25,500 No Limit Hold'em - High Roller | 132 | 3,260,400 | Brian Altman | $692,661 | |
| Event #45: $150 No Limit Hold'em - Big Stack | 270 | 32,400 | Oscar Sierralta | $7,270 | |
| Event #46: $1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Showdown Turbo Championship | 170 | 170,000 | Nicholas Rigby | $44,355 | |
| Event #47: $1,100 Pot Limit Omaha - Five Card - Deep Stack | 62 | 60,140 | Kirk Steele | $21,620 | |
| Event #48: $400 No Limit Hold'em - Big Stack | 170 | 56,950 | Igor Evseev | $12,142 | |
| Event #49: $5,000 No Limit Hold'em - Deep Stack - 8-Max | 232 | 1,102,000 | Brandon Lulov | $246,125 | |
| Event #50: $200 No Limit Hold'em - Quad Stack - $50 Bounty | 377 | 41,570 | Gene Hughes | $6,034 |
