The 2023 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open ran from November 15 through November 29 with 49 trophy events and a busy Grand Ballroom from start to finish.
Events: 49
Entries: 18,323
Guarantees: $7,360,000
Prize Pools: $14,250,170
By the numbers, this was the biggest RRPO series in our history in terms of both entries and prize pools, and it was also the fifth-biggest attendance for any series in our history.
2023 Showdown – 22,035 entries
2022 Showdown – 20,359 entries
2022 SHRPO – 20,045 entries
2021 SHRPO – 19,881 entries
2023 RRPO – 18,323 entries
This series also posted some big overall numbers for our big series. Since the 2011 Poker Showdown, we have hosted 48 major festivals, hit $250,000,000 in guarantees, and surpassed 500,000 entries. Come to Lucky Hearts Poker Open in January when we just might cross over $500,000,000 in prize money.
Series: 48
Entries: 515,464
Guarantees: $250,023,500
Prize Pools: $484,905,676
The series headliner was the 2023 WPT RRPO Championship, which drew 1,447 entries to create a prize pool worth $4,630,400. The last 181 players earned a share and Istvan Briski took the top spot of $647,300 after winning in front of the WPT live-stream cameras.
Three locals made the final table with Darryll Fish, Fred Goldberg, and Sandy Sanchez among the last six. This was Sanchez’s third cash of the series and all came at final tables: third in the $600 H.O.R.S.E., fourth in the $600 Eight-Game Mix, and third in the Championship.
The series started with a $400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em tournament featuring a $2,000,000 guarantee and eight starting flights. The tournament drew 7,532 entries, and Richard Saunders took the top prize of $192,398 plus the RRPO trophy.
Matt Bretzfield (smiling above) had himself a series, not content to book just one title, but he earned three RRPO trophies; he won the $1,100 PLO, the $400 Bounty PLO, and the $600 Eight-Game Mix. Bretzfield tied a long-standing record as only the third person in our history to win three titles in the same series and the first to do it since 2012.
2012 Showdown – Julio Fernandez
2012 RRPO – Atanael Thomas
2023 RRPO – Matt Bretzfield
Bretzfield wasn’t the only one who made moves up our all-time list. David Shmuel captured his ninth title, Yuval Bronshtein grabbed his eighth, and Shmuel finished two spots short of his tenth on the last night of the series.
Raminder Singh sits alone at the top, but it’s getting crowded behind him. All-time major Hollywood titles:
Raminder Singh – 10 wins
Yuval Bronshtein – 9 wins
David Shmuel – 9 wins
Michael Newman – 9 wins
John Holley – 8 wins
Matt Bretzfield – 8 wins
Brian Altman – 7 wins
David Prociak – 7 wins
Gabriel Ramos – 7 wins
Other notable wins include A.J. Kelsall with his fourth trophy, David Brookshire winning two this series, and Adam Hendrix capturing the one-day $5K event when he max late registered after busting the $25K High Roller in sixth place.
All told we had 49 RRPO trophies find a new home over the two weeks of the series, and you can find links to all of the results below.
We cannot overstate our appreciation for the players who come out to support every one of our series. Thank you, and thank you again.
We look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones during the upcoming 2024 Lucky Hearts Poker Open in January!
2024 Lucky Hearts Poker Open schedule
2023 RRPO Schedule and results
WPT RRPO Championship: Istvan Briski – $647,300
Event 1 ($400 NLH): Richard Saunders – $192,398
Event 2 ($600 Seniors): Amir Baron – $26,035
Event 3 ($600 Big O): Fred Stones – $17,475
Event 4 ($200 Bounty): Scott Sommer – $4,925
Event 5 ($600 8-Game): A.J. Kelsall – $13,380
Event 6 ($1,100 PLO): Matt Bretzfield – $21,583
Event 7 ($200 Big Stack): Yang Lu – $8,890
Event 8 ($400 PLO): Steven Haynes – $9,275
Event 9 ($600 O8): Jose Paz – $11,131
Event 10 ($600 Bounty): Andre Bryan – $12,066
Event 11 ($600 PLO): Andrea Mastrogiovanni – $11,452
Event 12 ($600 PLO8): David Brookshire – $8,602
Event 13 ($600 Turbo): Zachary Fischer – $10,560
Event 14 ($400 NLH): Austin Thieleman – $44,440
Event 15 ($600 6-Max PLO): Steven Langert – $17,495
Event 16 ($1,100 NLH): Armando Romero – $78,000
Event 17 ($400 Turbo): Omer Rotman – $10,355
Event 18 ($400 Triple Stud): Allen Kessler – $6,796
Event 19 ($200 Big Stack): Jen-Yue Chiang – $34,911
Event 20 ($400 Bounty): Martynas Brazdzionis – $8,035
Event 21 ($400 6-Max): Michael Wetcher – $10,128
Event 22 ($400 2-7): David Shmuel – $7,165
Event 23 ($400 Turbo): Ferenc Deak – $31,705
Event 24 ($400 Turbo): David Sathue – $8,810
Event 25 ($600 HORSE): Yuval Bronshtein – $14,405
Event 26 ($400 Bounty PLO): Matt Bretzfield – $8,073
Event 27 ($200 Bounty): Peter Shapiro – $6,810
Event 28 ($200 Holiday): Jason Rocha – $11,476
Event 30 ($600 8-Game): Matt Bretzfield – $8,481
Event 31 ($600 Bounty): Richard Price – $8,520
Event 32 ($600 Mixed PLO): David Brookshire – $12,051
Event 33 ($300 NLH): Josh Zur – $6,536
Event 34 ($600 Turbo): Brett Bassock – $9,790
Event 35 ($400 NLH): Jay Chaudhary – $18,339
Event 36 ($600 PLO8): Grant Hart – $9,530
Event 37 ($10,000 PLO High Roller): Danny Shiff – $108,180
Event 38 ($1,700 Bounty): Eddy Mroczkowski – $25,469
Event 39 ($600 NLH): Nathan Thrush – $48,961
Event 40 ($1,100 Turbo): Christian Harder – $16,380
Event 41 ($1,100 NLH): Anthony Piacquadio – $30,200
Event 42 ($25K High Roller): Aleksejs Ponakovs – $682,238
Event 43 ($600 O8): Hal Klein – $9,583
Event 44 ($2,200 PLO): Elliott Kampen – $36,005
Event 45 ($200 NLH): Alejandro Arana – $6,596
Event 46 ($400 Seniors): Peter Fellows – $14,350
Event 47 ($5K NLH): Adam Hendrix – $192,150
Event 48 ($1,100 PLO): Pawel Andrzejewski – $28,305
Event 49 ($300 Bounty): Chris Lewis – $9,695
, keeping Chamas’ queen best to win the 2023 WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open for $647,300. Chamas finished runner-up for $600,000.
, leading Chamas’ 
, giving Chamas queens and fours on the river to double through Briski and survive.
board where Briski bet 5,500,000. Chamas called.
to double into a sizable chip lead.
, safe for Briski to double into the chip lead.
and both checked.
for queens and eights, Goldberg mucked, and Chamas won the pot.