Jattin, Mermelstein, Sepiol & Carroll Claim 2023 SHRPO “Big Four” Titles

The 2023 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) kicked off back on July 26 and culminated on Tuesday with the conclusion of a quartet of poker tournaments dubbed “The Big Four.”

In between, there were some notable winners including Justin Liberto, who we previously covered here, as well as Shaun Deeb, who we recapped here. Other winners included Lawrence Berg (Event #21: $1,100 HORSE for $21,110), Nick Palma (Event #22: $600 Deep Stack Six-Max NLH for $16,446), and Stanley Lee (Event #31: $1,100 Purple Chip Bounty Turbo NLH for $17,740).

It was also a good series for Anthony Zinno, who laid claim to two titles. First, he topped a field of 119 runners to win Event #27: $1,100 8-Handed PLO for $25,714, and a couple of days later bested a 92-entry field to win Event #38: $1,100 Deep Stack Mixed PLO for $18,274.

Here’s a look at the results for “The Big Four.”

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Championship Ends in 4-Way Deal; Farid Jattin the Champ

The premier tournament of the series was the $5,300 buy-in, $3 million GTD SHRPO Championship, which drew 1,070 entries and blew past its guarantee by offering up a $5,189,500 prize pool.

The final table was a stacked affair with plenty of poker superstars, and four of them wound up striking a deal that ultimately saw Farid Jattin, who was the chip lead, claim the title and $655,000 in prize money.

“I think the moment I stopped defining my life by poker results, the results started coming by nature,” Jattin told SHRPO reporters. “I’m playing for my family now — for my wife, for my brother, for my parents. I’m very thankful for poker, but eventually, you’ve got to disconnect.”

He added: “This is an amazing venue. I think besides Vegas, it’s the capital of poker nowadays in the States. It’s very professional, with a very good atmosphere. And they blow the guarantees out of the water.”

2023 SHRPO Championship Final Table Results

_{*Denotes four-way deal.}

Others to cash the tournament were Ryan Riess (10th – $87,960), Asher Conniff (15th – $53,710), Natasha Mercier (16th – $43,800), Darren Elias (17th – $43,800), Justin Liberto (20th – $36,120), and Sheddy Siddiqui (24th – $29,840).

Mermelstein Nabs High Roller Title

The two-day Event #47: $25,500 Big 4 High Roller had 86 entrants, which squeaked by the $2 million guarantee by generating a $2,124,200 prize pool that was paid out to the top dozen finishers. Ultimately, World Poker Tour (WPT) champ Aaron Mermelstein finished as the last player standing to claim the title and $614,645 first-place prize.

“It feels great, it’s always good to beat the $25k, and it’s special because I’ve won it before and it’s all the best players out here. It feels amazing, so I’m glad I could close it out,” said Mermelstein, who won the tournament back in 2019.

“I love the venue, I mean the Hard Rock is one of the best places to play. It’s a clean environment, the hotel is amazing, the tournaments are really good, and I run good here so that adds to it.”

$25,500 High Roller Final Table Results

Others to cash the tournament but fall just short of the final table were Joey Weissman (10th – $61,600), Justin Saliba (11th – $59,475), and Alex Foxen (12th – $57,350).

Sepiol Holds Off Kornuth to Win $2,700 Big 4 NLH

Event #43: $2,700 Big 4 No-Limit Hold’em had 411 entrants compete for a portion of a $1,006,950 prize pool. The final table played host to some big names in the poker world, including the red-hot Bin Weng, but in the end, it was grinder Dan Sepiol emerging victorious to claim the title and $204,735 top prize.

Sepiol began heads-up play down 4:1 in chips against well-known poker pro Chance Kornuth, and while it took a while – it was the last tournament of the day to finish – Sepiol completed the comeback.

“It feels great, the final table was full of really good players, and I ran really, really hot,” said Sepiol, a MSPT champ who lives in Las Vegas. “I just played my game and my strategy, and tried to not get too ahead of myself so I could make every decision when it came up.”

He added: “I’m used to playing cards and going on swings, and you just can’t let it affect your emotions. I won three or four all-ins against Chance so that obviously helped.”

$2,700 Big 4 NLH Final Table Results

James Carroll Wins Event #46: $1,100 Deep Stack NLH

The two-day Event #46: $1,100 Big 4 Deep Stack NLH had 515 runners, which offered up a $515,000 prize pool. Coming out on top of that tournament, thanks in no small part to an uncanny run of cards, was WPT champ James Carroll.

“It was one of the strangest days of poker I’ve ever had. I think in the four hours of play I had pocket aces or pocket kings 16 times, no exaggeration,” Carroll told SHRPO reporters. “I got dealt a lot of big hands today so it would have been tough for me to not win.”

He added: “It’s just nice, because the series as a whole was bad for me. I almost played the $25k instead, but I decided to try this one at the last second, and then just sort of ran up a stack. Yeah, for sure, I wasn’t at peak confidence and decided to play smaller and it worked out.”

$1,100 Deep Stack NLH Final Table Results

List of 2023 SHRPO Winners

All told, the 54-tournament series catered to a combined 17,645 entrants and awarded $18,028,605 in prize money. Here’s how things broke down.

Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.