Aaron Mermelstein topped the field in the 2023 SHRPO high roller tournament to claim his second title in this event at Seminole Hard Rock. His first victory came back in 2019, and he now holds a total of three SHRPO trophies.

“It feels great, it 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 just after the win.

When he was asked about what keeps bringing him back to the SHRPO lineup events throughout the year he had this to say. “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.”

The final table played down quickly, but the heads-up match between Mermelstein and Marcos Exterkotter took a while to play out with both players holding a lot of chips to work with. “It was a little unusual, because the structure was so deep. There was hour-and-a-half levels for heads up, which is a little different than I’m normally used to, but it was fun. The final table went really fast so it was nice to be able to get a lot of hands in heads up. I love playing heads up so it was actually a lot of fun. He was a really nice guy, and I think he played really well. It was cool to get some hands in and play with deepstacks heads up,” said Mermelstein about the final match.

Mermelstein was going to celebrate the win after play ended, but it sounds like he will be on to the next one soon after that. “I’ll have a couple of drinks, and I might still fire the $10k later,” said Mermelstein with a laugh at the end of the interview.

Place	First Name	Last Name	Prize Amount
1	Aaron	Mermelstein	$614,645
2	Marcos	Exterkotter	$441,085
3	Brandon	Wittmeyer	$276,150
4	Isaac	Kempton	$189,055
5	Daniel	Rezaei	$125,330
6	Mike	Chiappetta	$93,465
7	David	Coleman	$76,470
8	Viktor	Ustimov	$65,850
9	Frank	Funaro	$63,725
10	Joey	Weissman	$61,600
11	Justin	Saliba	$59,475
12	Alex	Foxen	$57,350

$1,100 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 31:  40,000/80,000 with an 80,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 515

Scott Dehm limped in for 80,000 from under the gun, Rajasekar Govindan did the same in the small blind, and Darren Rabinowitz raised to 270,000 (leaving 5,000 behind) in the big blind. Both opponents called.

They checked to the turn of a board where Govindan bet 150,000. Rabinowitz called all in for 5,000, and Dehm folded.

Govindan: 
Rabinowitz: 

The river was the , locking up the triple for Rabinowitz. Shorly thereafter, Rabinowitz doubled up and is up to about 1,900,000.

Darren Rabinowitz  –  1,900,000  (24 bb)
Scott Dehm  –  1,700,000  (21 bb)
Rajasekar Govindan  –  1,200,000  (15 bb)

Recent Eliminations
6th:  Kevin Payton  –  $20,100

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 27:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 411

Chance Kornuth raised to 100,000 from the button, Nitis Udornpim three-bet to 400,000 from the big blind, and Kornuth called.

They checked to the turn of a board where Udornpim bet 450,000. Kornuth called.

The turn was the , Udornpim checked, and Kornuth went all in for effectively 1,550,000.

Udornpim thought for nearly four minutes before he called all in.

Kornuth tabled for jacks full of tens, besting Udornpim’s to eliminate Udornpim in fourth place.

Chance Kornuth  –  5,550,000  (111 bb)
Nitis Udornpim  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($62,000)

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is around 3,425,000 (68 big blinds), and the remaining players are guaranteed at least $92,790 each.

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 27:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 411

Chance Kornuth raised from the small blind to 50,000, Michael Wang reraised from the big blind to 175,000, and Kornuth reraised to 560,000. Wang five-bet all in for about 3,775,000, and Kornuth quickly folded.

Michael Wang  –  4,385,000  (88 bb)
Chance Kornuth  –  2,325,000  (47 bb)

The next hand, Kornuth raised from the button to 115,000, Wang reraised from the small blind to 400,000, and Nitis Udornpim moved all in from the big blind for 1,515,000.

Kornuth quickly folded, and Wang went into the tank for a very long time before he also folded. Udornpim took the pot.

Nitis Udornpim  –  2,080,000  (42 bb)
Michael Wang  –  3,985,000  (80 bb)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is around 2,570,000 (51 big blinds), and the remaining players are guaranteed at least $62,000 each.

$5,300 SHRPO Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 30:  100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 1,070

After the elimination of Jim Collopy in fifth place, the final four players took an unscheduled break to consider their options, and after much discussion, they agreed to a deal for the remainder of the prizepool.

These were their final chip counts:

1.  Farid Jattin  –  16,675,000  (83 bb)
2.  Omer Rotman  –  9,525,000  (48 bb)
3.  Kitty Kuo  –  8,800,000  (44 bb)
4.  Shannon Shorr  –  7,825,000  (39 bb)

As chipleader, Farid Jattin was declared the winner, earning the title and the trophy. Here are the payouts they agreed to:

1st:  Farid Jattin  –  $655,000 + SHRPO Guitar Tower Trophy
2nd:  Shannon Shorr  –  $545,000
3rd:  Omer Rotman  –  $490,762
4th:  Kitty Kuo  –  $480,763

Stay tuned for a recap from this event, which will be posted later tonight.

$1,100 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$500,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 31:  40,000/80,000 with an 80,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 515

Seat 1:  James Carroll  –  3,025,000  (38 bb)
Seat 2:  David Laufer  –  1,320,000  (17 bb)
Seat 3:  Rajasekar Govindan  –  2,150,000  (27 bb)
Seat 4:  Kevin Payton  –  1,675,000  (21 bb)
Seat 5:  Darren Rabinowitz  –  750,000  (9 bb)
Seat 6:  Scott Dehm  –  1,400,000  (18 bb)

1st:  $100,000 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $68,100
3rd:  $44,815
4th:  $31,445
5th:  $24,150
6th:  $20,100

7th:  Liam Hagens  –  $16,700
8th:  Richard Ganesh  –  $13,340
9th:  David “ODB” Baker  –  $10,000

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 27:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 411

Michael Wang raised to 110,000 from the cutoff, Leonard August three-bet all in for 185,000 in the small blind, and Wang called.

Wang: 
August: 

The board ran out , no help to August, ending his tournament in fifth place.

Michael Wang  –  3,300,000  (66 bb)
Leonard August  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($47,680)

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 27:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 411

Chance Kornuth raised from the cutoff, and Leonard August called in the big blind.

The flop was , and August check-called a continuation bet from Kornuth.

The turn was the , and both players checked.

The river was the , August checked, Kornuth bet 475,000, August check-raised all in for about 1,250,000, and Kornuth called all in for 1,065,000 with for a king-high flush, besting August’s for a queen-high straight

Chance Kornuth  –  2,630,000  (53 bb)
Leonard August  –  185,000  (4 bb)

$5,300 SHRPO Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 30:  100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 1,070

Jim Collopy moved all in from the small blind for 1,650,000, and Kitty Kuo folded the big blind. Collopy took the blinds and the ante.

Jim Collopy  –  2,050,000  (10 bb)

The next hand, Collopy moved all in from the button for 2,050,000, and this time Kuo called from the small blind with . Collopy turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Kuo won the pot with her king kicker to eliminate Collopy in fifth place.

Kitty Kuo  –  8,800,000  (44 bb)
Jim Collopy  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($223,925)

With four players remaining from a field of 1,070, the average chip stack is around 10,700,000 (54 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $295,595 each.

$2,700 Big 4 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 27:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 411

Seat 1:  Chance Kornuth  –  1,305,000  (26 bb)
Seat 2:  Michael Wang  –  2,905,000  (58 bb)
Seat 3:  Nitis Udornpim  –  1,690,000  (34 bb)
Seat 4:  Leonard August  –  1,640,000  (33 bb)
Seat 5:  Dan Sepiol  –  2,735,000  (55 bb)

1st:  $204,735 + SHRPO Trophy
2nd:  $142,335
3rd:  $92,790
4th:  $62,000
5th:  $47,680