“I’m basically speechless,” said Michael Newman after winning his ninth career trophy here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. “I can’t even believe it.”

From a field of 468 entries, Day 2 of Event #9 ($400 Deep Stack Pot-Limit Omaha) began on Tuesday with 60 players remaining, and when they reached the nine-handed final table, Newman was the short stack with just 13 big blinds.

“I’m really not a PLO specialist,” said Newman, who nonetheless was able to bounce back from that short stack to win the title, his ninth trophy, and $25,178.

The only other player to win nine major trophies here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood is Raminder Singh, who accomplished the feat last November during the Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open.

When asked about Singh, Newman said, “It’s great to be tied with someone who’s a really good player.”

Here are the nine trophy events that Newman has won here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, in chronological order:

2016 SHRPO:  $570 No-Limit Hold’em  –  $17,589
2016 RRPO:  $360 Pot-Limit Omaha  –  $7,740
2017 LHPO:  $570 Six-Max Pot-Limit Omaha  –  $7,473
2017 RRPO:  $3,500 RRPO Championship  –  $374,240
2019 LHPO:  $360 Ultimate Re-Entry  –  $183,525
2021 SHRPO:  $400 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em  –  $7,573
2022 RRPO:  $400 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em  –  $7,136
2022 RRPO:  $300 Black Chip Bounty  –  $6,437
2023 Showdown:  $400 Pot-Limit Omaha  –  $25,178

As you can see, that list includes some spectacular victories, including outlasting a field of 4,508 entries to win $183,525 in 2019, and winning the 2017 Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open Championship for $374,240.

“My whole life I’ve just been so competitive at everything I’ve done,” said Newman.

That competitive spirit means Newman is now on the hunt for trophy #10 and sole possession of the career record.

---

Results:

Place	First Name	Last Name	Prize Amount
1	Michael	Newman	$25,178*
2	Matthew	Bretzfield	$25,177*
3	Donald	Maloney	$13,760
4	Spencer	Broberg	$9,500
5	Eitan	Elbaz-Dahan	$7,265
6	Arri	Stone	$6,055
7	Christopher	McNally	$5,045
8	Chris	Csik	$4,050
9	Tyler	Bentz	$3,055
10	Sheila	O'Connor	$3,055
11	Alexander	Ziskin	$2,525
12	Alexander	Jagodik	$2,525
13	Ivan	Suarez	$1,995
14	Nicholas	Kost	$1,995
15	Eric	Kolodny	$1,995
16	Andrei	Mitsiuk	$1,685
17	Michael	Guzzardi	$1,685
18	Scott	Hecker	$1,685
19	Juan	Montoya Bernal	$1,420
20	Marc	Sacheli	$1,420
21	Daniel	Pearlman	$1,420
22	Steven	Langert	$1,190
23	David	Moreno	$1,190
24	Dzmitry	Malets	$1,190
25	Andre	Plaza	$1,050
26	Hyndi	Khomutetsky	$1,050
27	James	Chapman	$1,050
28	Joseph	Kessman	$925
29	Paul	Fisher	$925
30	Morton	Davis II	$925
31	Eric	Polirer	$925
32	Matthew	Munsen	$925
33	Jason	Fitzpatrick	$925
34	Stephen	Allen	$925
35	Jordan	Miller	$925
36	Aleksey	Filatov	$925
37	Darryll	Fish	$800
38	Jerimiah	Booher	$800
39	Andrea	Mastrogiovanni	$800
40	Joseph	Jordan	$800
41	Perla	Ojeda	$800
42	Samantha	Perryman	$800
43	David	Reno	$800
44	Aaron	Pinson	$800
45	Grant	Lunkenheimer	$800
46	LaDarryl	Alexis	$675
47	Greg	Levine	$675
48	Dmitry	Savelyev	$675
49	Richard	Daniels	$675
50	David	Elkaiam	$675
51	Gabriel	Pardo	$675
52	Maksim	Pisarenko	$675
53	Shanmukha	Meruga	$675
54	Frank	Brannan	$675
55	Tony	Armand	$605
56	Michael	Fuote	$605
57	Matthew	Wolfson	$605
58	Diane	Lepera	$605
59	Dmitriy	Strunin	$605
60	Brian	Tock	$605

* The final two players agreed to a heads-up deal.

$400 Deep Stack Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 29:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 468

After some heads-up play and some discussion, Michael Newman and Matthew Bretzfield agreed to end the tournament with a chop to split the remaining prizepool.

Michael Newman  –  5,825,000  (58 bb)
Matthew Bretzfield  –  3,550,000  (36 bb)

As chipleader, Newman was awarded the title and the trophy. Here are the final table payouts:

1st:  Michael Newman  –  $25,178* + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  Matthew Bretzfield  –  $25,177*
3rd:  Donald Maloney  –  $13,760
4th:  Spencer Broberg  –  $9,500
5th:  Eitan Elbaz-Dahan  –  $7,265
6th:  Arri Stone  –  $6,055
7th:  Christopher McNally  –  $5,045
8th:  Chris Csik  –  $4,050
9th:  Tyler Bentz  –  $3,055

* Indicates the results of a heads-up deal.

$400 Deep Stack Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 28:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 468

Donald Maloney (big blind) got his short stack all in preflop against Matthew Bretzfield (button) and Michael Newman (small blind).

Newman and Bretzfield checked all the way down on a board of , and all three players turned over their cards.

Matthew Bretzfield:    (set of jacks)
Michael Newman:    (seven-high straight)
Donald Maloney:    (ten high)

Newman won the pot with his seven-high straight to eliminate Maloney in third place.

Donald Maloney  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($13,760)

Here are the approximate chip counts for the start of heads-up play:

Matthew Bretzfield  –  5,000,000  (67 bb)
Michael Newman  –  4,300,000  (57 bb)

1st:  $30,055 + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  $20,300

$400 Deep Stack Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 28:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 468

With a dead button on the hand, Spencer Broberg limped in from the cutoff. Donald Maloney did the same from the small blind, and Matt Bretzfield raised to 300,000 from the big blind. Only Broberg called.

The flop was , Bretzfield bet effectively 200,000 and Broberg called all in.

Broberg: 
Bretzfield: 

Bretzfield was ahead and held through the turn and river to eliminate Broberg in fourth place.

Matt Bretzfield  –  4,265,000  (57 bb)
Spencer Broberg  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($9,500)

$400 Deep Stack Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 28:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 468

With a dead small blind on this hand, Matt Bretzfield raised to 225,000 from UTG/hijack. Spencer Broberg called on the button, and Donald Maloney called in the big blind.

The flop was , Maloney checked, Bretzfield bet the pot of 750,000, Broberg raised all in for about 2,000,000, Maloney folded, and Bretzfield called all in for 1,445,000.

Bretzfield: 
Broberg: 

Bretzfield had flopped trip queens with a Broadway draw, while Broberg had flopped tens full of queens (with a moot open-ender).

The turn was the , giving Bretzfield quad queens to lock up the hand and the double.

Matt Bretzfield  –  3,640,000  (49 bb)
Spencer Broberg  –  550,000  (7 bb)

$400 Deep Stack Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 28:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 468

Michael Newman raised to 150,000 from the button, Spencer Broberg called in the small blind, and Eitan Elbaz-Dahan three-bet to 600,000 from the big blind. Newman reraised, Broberg folded, and Elbaz-Dahan called all in for another 110,000.

Newman: 
Elbaz-Dahan: 

The flop came , giving both a pair of kings. Elbaz-Dahan, however, picked up a flush draw and a straight draw with it.

The turn was the , giving Newman kings and sixes to take the lead.

The river was the , keeping Newman’s kings and sixes best to eliminate Elbaz-Dahan in fifth place.

Michael Newman  –  3,400,000  (45 bb)
Eitan Elbaz-Dahan  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($7,265)

$400 Deep Stack Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 28:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 468

Michael Newman raised from the cutoff to 130,000, Eitan Elbaz-Dahan called from the small blind, and Arri Stone called from the big blind.

The flop came , Elbaz-Dahan bet 450,000, Stone called, and Newman moved all in for 700,000. Elbaz-Dahan and Stone both called, and any further betting would create a side pot.

The turn card was the , Elbaz-Dahan moved all in for a little more than 400,000, and Stone called all in for a little less than 400,000.

All three players turned over their cards, and here they are in descending order of chip counts:

Eitan Elbaz-Dahan:    (set of jacks)
Arri Stone:    (set of fives)
Michael Newman:    (ace-high flush w/ Royal Flush draw)

The river card was the , and Newman won the main pot with his ace-high flush to triple up in chips. Elbaz-Dahan won the side pot to eliminate Stone in sixth place.

Michael Newman  –  2,565,000  (34 bb)
Eitan Elbaz-Dahan  –  800,000  (11 bb)
Arri Stone  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($6,055)

With five players remaining from a field of 468, the average chip stack is around 1,875,000 (25 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $7,265 each.

$400 Deep Stack Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 27:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 468

Christopher McNally raised from the hijack to 210,000, Arri Stone reraised from the cutoff to about 700,000, and McNally called all in for about 360,000.

Arri Stone:  
Christopher McNally:  

The board came , and McNally flopped a gutshot straight draw and turned an open-ender, but improved no further. Stone won the pot with his pocket kings to eliminate McNally in seventh place.

Arri Stone  –  1,200,000  (20 bb)
Christopher McNally  –  Eliminated in 7th Place  ($5,045)

With six players remaining from a field of 468, the average chip stack is around 1,565,000 (26 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $6,055 each.

$400 Deep Stack Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 27:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 468

Seat 1.  Eitan Elbaz-Dahan  –  1,470,000  (25 bb)
Seat 2.  Christopher McNally  –  840,000  (14 bb)
Seat 3.  Arri Stone  –  1,265,000  (21 bb)
Seat 4.  Donald Maloney  –  1,335,000  (22 bb)
Seat 5.  Matt Bretzfield  –  1,225,000  (20 bb)
Seat 7.  Michael Newman  –  685,000  (11 bb)
Seat 8.  Spencer Broberg  –  2,545,000  (42 bb)

1st:  $30,055 + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  $20,300
3rd:  $13,760
4th:  $9,500
5th:  $7,265
6th:  $6,055
7th:  $5,045

$400 Deep Stack Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Payouts
Level 26:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  7 of 468