The Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event is one of the few “major” live poker tournaments on the calendar not to be associated with a larger tour like the World Poker Tour, PokerStars Championship, or World Series of Poker. Yesterday was a busy day for the SHRPO, as the 266 players who made it through Day 1 were whittled to just 30 by the end of Day 2, crossing the money bubble in the process (“crossing”?). Aaron Mermelstein leads with 2.706 million chips, the only player above the 2 million chip mark.
Mermelstein’s biggest hand of the day and the one that really gave him his upwards momentum, came during Level 19 with 45 players remaining. Pre-flop, he raised to 27,000, only to see Ashton Griffin three-bet to 70,000. After the rest of the table folded, Mermelstein called to bring on a flop of 2-9-T. The action went check-check and a King was dealt on the turn. Mermelstein checked again, Griffin bet 115,000 chips, but then Mermelstein check-raised to 265,000, a bet which Griffin called. With a 6 on the river, Mermelstein bet 400,000 chips, more than what Griffin had left in his stack. Griffin made the call for his remaining 290,000 chips and turned over pocket tens for a flopped set. Mermelstein, though, had 8-7 suited for a rivered straight. Griffin was out of the tournament in 45th place, while Mermelstein grew his chip stack to 1.8 million.
Aaron Mermelstein has just over $2 million in lifetime live tournament earnings, according to TheHendonMob.com. Most of his cashes are in the four to mid-five figure range, though his largest is $712,305, which he achieved by winning a $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em event at the 2015 Borgata Winter Poker Open. He has a couple recent cashes in major events, including a 426th place finish in the World Series of Poker Main Event and a 39th place finish in the World Poker Tour Choctaw Main Event.
One interesting player left with chips is Joe Kuether, who made the final table of the $1,100 event at the SHRPO. Normally, that is just cool, seeing someone make deep runs in two events, but in this case, it could pose a problem for him (a good one). The final table of the $1,100 event has not been run yet – it will take place on Tuesday. So, if he makes it far enough in the SHRPO Main Event, Kuether might end up getting some exercise running back and forth between tournaments.
The plan for Monday is to play down to the nine-handed final table. Everyone beginning Monday’s action is already guaranteed at least $19,531, with the last player to be eliminated Monday afternoon or evening receiving $61,303.
2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event – Day 2 Chip Leaders
1. Aaron Mermelstein – 2,706,000
2. Adam Levy – 1,960,000
3. Yi Chi Li – 1,816,000
4. Matt Berkey – 1,795,000
5. Samuel Bernabeu – 1,285,000
6. Odie Dardon – 1,154,000
7. David Sands – 1,044,000
8. Glenn Becker – 1,029,000
9. Michael Aron – 1,000,000
10. Diana Shirey – 923,000
