Showdown

Slater Scoops Quad Stack Goes Bigger

Once the 2025 Poker Showdown wraps up, we will return to our regular schedule of tournaments in the Poker Room, and we will have a nice bonus on April 15.

The Tuesday Night Slater Scoops Quad Stack, hosted by our good friend Andy Slater, will increase its regular guarantee and offer at least $50,000 in prize money. We are also adding a $5,300 seat to the 2025 SHRPO Championship for first place.

With a $250 buy-in and huge starting stacks, that is a ton of value available on April 15.

We hope to see you here!

  • $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
  • $5,300 SHRPO Championship seat added to 1st place
  • Players begin with 40,000 in chips
  • Levels last 20 minutes
  • Late registration until start of Level 11 (9:30pm)
  • Structure Sheet

2025 Poker Showdown in Review

WPT Poker Showdown Championship final table

The 2025 Seminole Hard Rock Showdown was a massive series with 74 trophy events over three weeks and tons of great stories. But first the numbers –

Events:  74
Entries:  21,162
Guarantees:  $10,170,000
Prize Pools:  $20,008,190

A successful series by any measure. It was only the fifth time in our history that we drew more than 20,000 entries and the sixth time we awarded at least $20,000,000 in prize money.

The series wrapped, kind of, when the WPT Poker Showdown Championship reached its six-handed TV final table. The Championship drew 1,755 entries for a prize pool worth $5,616,000. The last six players will now travel to Vegas to play the final table in front of the WPT cameras on May 29.

We kicked off the series with a big $1,000,000 opener, and Michael Newman banked the win and the trophy along with $103,274. This was his 12th career major SHRP win, but it was only the start of a shake-up of our all-time wins list.

Yuval Bronshtein won the $600 10-Game event for his 12th trophy to pull within one of leader Raminder Singh. Then, Singh went ahead and won his 14th. Bronshtein won the $600 Big O for his 13th, and Singh kept the pace by winning a $400 Deep Stack for his 15th. Closing out the series on the last night, Bronshtein added one more for his third in three weeks.

They kept us on our toes.

Not letting them all get away, Phil Hui added his 11th, so here’s a look at the updated all-time major SHRP win list:

Raminder Singh  –  15 wins
Yuval Bronshtein  –  14 wins
Michael Newman  –  12 wins
David Shmuel  –  11 wins
Phil Hui  –  11 wins
Matt Bretzfield  –  10 wins

Bronshtein became the sixth player in our history to win three in the same series plus five other players, including Singh, recorded two Showdown wins this year. Another record with Eric Polirer, Frederic Moss, Johnny Bromberg, and Jay Kerbel joining the two-win fun.

Eric Polirer

Polirer won the $600 Big O and $400 H.O.R.S.E. plus two other final tables in the first two weeks to top our $10,000 Mixed Game Leaderboard. He held off a late charge by Bronshtein and took home $3,000 in cash plus a $1,100 Showdown ticket and the pretty guitar trophy.

Other notable wins include Cherish Andrews dominating a tough final table to win the $25K High Roller, Jonathan Jaffe winning the $10K Heads-Up Event, 2024 WPT Poker Showdown Champion Josh Reichard making a huge comeback to take the $10,000 Deep Stack title, 2021 Showdown champ Brek Schutten winning the $5,000 Deep Stack trophy on the last night of the series, and Jay Kerbel went back-to-back winning two trophies in as many nights.

There were so many great wins that it is impossible to summarize them all, so we’ll let the list do it for us. Below are links to all 74 events on the Showdown schedule, along with the winners and their tally.

We couldn’t put on these huge series without our players. Thank you to everyone who traveled to participate and our fantastic local support. Thank you as always; we hope to see you at the next one!

Poker Showdown Championship
Event 1 ($400 NLH): Michael Newman – $103,274
Event 2 ($600 PLO8): Ryan Hoenig – $14,520
Event 3 ($600 6-Max NLH): Jorge Martinez – $12,300
Event 4 ($300 NLH): Eldo Rodriguez – $4,040
Event 5 ($600 Seniors): Kevin MacDonald – $20,720
Event 6 ($600 Big O): Eric Polirer – $14,210
Event 7 ($300 NLH/PLO): Manny Tarich – $7,025
Event 8 ($600 O8): Daniel Pearlman – $13,195
Event 9 ($1K Bounty): Dylan Kahn – $21,740
Event 10 ($300 Bounty): Hector Pacheco – $4,367
Event 11 ($600 10-Game): Yuval Bronshtein – $10,940
Event 12 ($1K PLO): Ruslan Lukash – $22,735
Event 13 ($400 NLH): Julio Delgado – $19,167
Event 14 ($600 TD): Frederic Moss – $9,630
Event 15 ($1K Platinum): Dessiree Bennett – $49,199
Event 16 ($400 PLO): Alex Ziskin – $15,166
Event 17 ($300 Bounty): Shravan Kulshrestha – $5,865
Event 18 ($200 NLH): Andreas Athanasopoulos – $26,459
Event 19 ($400 HORSE): Eric Polirer – $8,960
Event 20 ($300 Bounty): Raminder Singh – $4,499
Event 21 ($400 Mixed PLO): Bill Heimiller – $10,210
Event 22 ($600 6-Max): John Malvasio – $16,751
Event 23 ($400 Seniors): Jeffrey Homer – $8,697
Event 24 ($600 Big O): Yuval Bronshtein – $15,100
Event 25 ($300 Bounty): Asham Amir – $6,421
Event 26 ($600 NLH): Femi Fashakin – $156,565
Event 27 ($600 TORSE): Josh Heinzl – $10,670
Event 28 ($1K 6-Max): Chris Da-Silva – $27,825
Event 29 ($400 PLO): Idan Magor – $7,498
Event 30 ($600 O8): Frederic Moss – $12,050
Event 31 ($300 Bounty): Jasmin Omanovic – $5,355
Event 32 ($600 Badugi): Dominick Sarle – $9,625
Event 33 ($400 PLO): Rafael Rodriguez Arango – $8,530
Event 34 ($400 NLH): Johnny Bromberg – $28,282
Event 35 ($600 Dealer’s Choice): Joshua Rhodes – $11,225
Event 36 ($1K Triple Stack): Fred Paradis – $131,300
Event 37 ($600 PLO): Isaac Malca Cohen – $17,130
Event 38 ($400 Seniors): Gyorgy Fazekas – $10,085
Event 39 ($1K 10-Game): Joseph Olivieri – $18,665
Event 40 ($10K HU): Jonathan Jaffe – $100,000
Event 41 ($600 Bounty): Thomas Bilello – $12,496
Event 42 ($600 Bounty PLO): Ernest Chevrette – $13,440
Event 43 ($1K Turbo): Scott Baumstein – $24,145
Event 44 ($600 6-Max): Tyler Whitehead – $14,995
Event 45 ($1K O8): Hal Klein – $19,650
Event 46 ($10K NLH): Anatoly Nikitin – $188,000
Event 47 ($400 PLO): Tanupat Punjarojanakul – $7,375
Event 48 ($400 NLH): Raminder Singh – $7,576
Event 49 ($2K NLH): Jake Cody – $93,900
Event 50 ($1K HORSE): Kris Lord – $19,380
Event 51 ($5K PLO): Frederic Normand – $43,434
Event 52 (Charity Event): Roberto Desogos – $3,850
Event 53 ($1K NLH): Maxime Chilaud – $49,430
Event 54 ($600 OE): Phil Hui – $11,945
Event 55 ($10K 6-Max): Thomas Boivin – $271,600
Event 56 ($300 Bounty): Johnny Bromberg – $7,255
Event 57 (Larry Frank Memorial): Matthew Zarcadoolas
Event 59 ($600 PLO8): Jay Kerbel – $9,177
Event 60 ($300 NLH): Michael Bohmerwald – $6,690
Event 61 ($600 Big O): Jay Kerbel – $14,235
Event 62 ($200 NLH): Tal Chacage – $6,580
Event 63 ($400 NLH): Walter Bravo – $26,490
Event 64 ($10K NLH): Josh Reichard – $288,400
Event 65 ($1K Mixed PLO): Andrea Mastrogiovanni – $19,290
Event 66 ($1K Turbo): Jason Daly – $32,580
Event 67 (Savage Average): Ben Boston – $14,865
Event 68 ($600 Triple Stud): Ricard Quintero – $9,508
Event 69 (High Roller): Cherish Andrews – $408,265
Event 70 ($1K Bounty): Eric Panayiotou – $20,700
Event 71 ($400 NLH): Carlos Loving – $8,565
Event 72 ($5K NLH): Brek Schutten – $185,400
Event 73 ($1K 6-Max PLO): Yuval Bronshtein – $28,930
Event 74 ($300 Bounty): Rafael Lima – $6,530

Championship: TV Final Table Lineup

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
Prize Pool:  $5,616,000  |  Payouts  |  Results
Level 31:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 1,755

The 2025 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship is down to its last six players, and the official WPT final table is set. They will pause in the action, fly across the country, and play in front of cameras on the Hyper X ESports Arena stage at the Luxor in Las Vegas on May 29.

Art Peacock leads the Championship with Daniel Marcus, Jeffery Fritz, Jared Hemingway, Mihai Niste, and Mitchell Hynam rounding out the table.

They each locked up a $164,000 payday with $776,000 awaiting the winner and adding their name to the Mike Sexton Champions Cup.

Seat 1: Art Peacock – 27,150,000 (109 bb)
Seat 2: Jeffery Fritz – 16,150,000 (65 bb)
Seat 3: Mitchell Hynam – 2,000,000 (8 bb)
Seat 4: Jared Hemingway – 11,150,000 (45 bb)
Seat 5: Daniel Marcus – 22,150,000 (89 bb)
Seat 6: Mihai Niste – 8,650,000 (35 bb)

1st: $776,000*
2nd: $515,000
3rd: $380,000
4th: $285,000
5th: $215,000
6th: $164,000

Rafael Lima Wins His 3rd SHRP Major Series Trophy in 2025 Showdown Event 74 Chop for $6,530

2025 Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 74
$300 Quad Stack Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)
Entries:  234
Prize Pool:  $35,100
Bounty Prize Pool:  $23,400
April 8, 2025

2025 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Event 74 Champion Rafael Lima

The 2025 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown closed out with Event 74, a $300 Quad Stack Black Chip Bounty No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry). A field of 234 entries generated a prize pool of $35,100, with an additional $23,400 set aside for bounties.

A heads-up chop took place and Rafael Lima was the chip leader at the time, making him the official Event 74 winner for $6,530.

This marked Lima’s third SHRP major series trophy victory, having previously won a $600 PLO Bounty event during the 2023 SHRPO, and a  $1,700 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty at the 2021 Showdown.

PlaceFirst NameLast NamePrize Amount
1RafaelLima$6,530*
2MichaelAlcantara$6,529*
3RichardDubini$3,598
4SamuelKim$2,188
5JacobKauffman$1,800
6CarloRodriguez$1,485
7RodrigoAldorino$1,225
8RyanCaviness$1,020
9JulioDelgado Reyes$825
10BryceLavine$705
11YoussefBargach$705
12YossiBen Kessous$705
13EngelberthVarela Moreno$605
14RichardFernandez$605
15GastonCatzman$605
16AlexanderTorres$510
17StevenChristopher$510
18KevinMcGillicuddy$510
19RyanMcSwiggin$415
20NicholasVelentzas$415
21EfthimiosPiperakis$415
22$355
23ChristopherArcidiacono$355
24JuanMubarak$355
25CharlesVacanti$355
26JosephPetrolino$355
27PatrickFinan$355
28YedcyGarzon Diaz$355
29GaryKosakowski$355
30TommyMarks$355

*denotes heads-up chop

Brek Schutten Wins Event 72 of the 2025 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Outright for $185,400

2025 Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 72
$5,000 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  164
Prize Pool:  $770,800
April 8, 2025

2025 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Event 72 Champion Brek Schutten

Event 72 of the 2025 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown was a $5,000 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry). A field of 164 entries generated a prize pool of $770,800, more than tripling the guarantee.

Emerging victorious was 2021 WPT Showdown Champion Brek Schutten, winning outright for $185,400.

PlaceFirst NameLast NamePrize Amount
1BrekSchutten$185,400
2RobertBurlacu$124,000
3SpencerChamplin$92,000
4DanielSepiol$69,000
5AdamAdler$52,000
6FredLi$39,500
7IgorMerda$30,500
8ThomasReynolds$23,700
9KevinRabichow$18,600
10TimothyCapretta$18,600
11RussHead$13,600
12BrandonWilson$13,600
13VitalijsZavorotnijs$11,300
14PoseidonHo$11,300
15DeanLyall$11,300
16DavidUvaydov$9,400
17DavidMcGowan$9,400
18EraclesPanayoitou$9,400
19GrantWang$9,400
20PeterCross$9,400
21PerryZhao$9,400

Event 72: Brek Schutten Wins! ($185,400); Robert Burlacu Finishes Runner-Up ($124,000)

$5,000 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $770,800  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 27:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 164

Brek Schutten raised to 125,000 from the button and Robert Burlacu called in the big blind.

The flop was KcJhTd, Burlacu checked, and Schutten continued for 80,000. Burlacu check-raised to 320,000, Schutten reraised all in with a covering stack, and Burlacu took about five seconds before he called all in for roughly 1,060,000 with Kd8s for a pair of kings. Schutten tabled Jc2h for a pair of jacks.

The turn was the Jd, vaulting Schutten into the lead with trip jacks.

The river was the 6d, safe for Schutten to win Event 72 outright for $185,400. Burlacu finished runner-up for $124,000.

A recap of Event 72 will be posted later tonight.

1st:  Brek Schutten  –  $185,400 + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  Robert Burlacu  –  $124,000
3rd:  Spencer Champlin  –  $92,000
4th:  Dan Sepiol  –  $69,000
5th:  Adam Adler  –  $52,000
6th:  Fred Li  –  $39,500
7th:  Igor Merda  –  $30,500
8th:  Thomas Reynolds  –  $23,700
9th:  Kevin Rabichow  –  $18,600

10th:  Tim Capretta  –  $18,600
11th:  Russ Head  –  $13,600
12th:  Brandon Wilson  –  $13,600
13th:  Vitalijs Zavorotnijs  –  $11,300
14th:  Poseidon Ho  –  $11,300
15th:  Dean Lyall  –  $11,300
16th:  David Uvaydov  –  $9,400
17th:  David McGowan  –  $9,400
18th:  Eric Panayiotou  –  $9,400
19th:  Grant Wang  –  $9,400
20th:  Peter Cross  –  $9,400
21st:  Perry Zhao  –  $9,400

Event 72: Spencer Champlin – 3rd Place ($92,000)

$5,000 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $770,800  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 27:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 164

Spencer Champlin raised all in for about 800,000 in the small blind and Brek Schutten called in the big blind with AcQc.

Champlin showed Ad9c and needed to improve to survive.

The board came 7c3d3dKd5h, no help to Champlin, ending his tournament in third place.

Brek Schutten  –  1,880,000  (31 bb)
Robert Burlacu  –  1,400,000  (23 bb)
Spencer Champlin  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($92,000)

1st:  $185,400 + Showdown Trophy
2nd:  $124,000

Event 72: Dan Sepiol – 4th Place ($69,000)

$5,000 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $770,800  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 27:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 164

Dan Sepiol raised all in for 630,000 from the button and Robert Burlacu reraised all in over the top from the small blind with Ah9c.

Sepiol showed JdTd and needed to improve to survive.

The board ran out QcJc9s2c6c, giving Sepiol a flopped pair of jacks, but Burlacu rivered a club flush to eliminate Sepiol in fourth place.

Robert Burlacu  –  1,760,000  (29 bb)
Dan Sepiol  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($69,000)

Yuval Bronshtein Wins His 14th SHRP Major Series Trophy With 2025 Showdown Event 73 Outright Win for $28,930

2025 Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 73
$1,100 Deep Stack Six-Max PLO (Re-Entry)
Entries:  101
Prize Pool:  $97,970
April 8, 2025

2025 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Event 73 Champion Yuval Bronshtein

Event 73 of the 2025 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown was a $1,100 Deep Stack Six-Max Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry), drawing 101 entries for a prize pool of $97,970.

For the third time this series, taking it down was Yuval Bronshtein, winning outright for $28,930 and his 14th SHRP major series trophy win.

Here are Bronshtein’s 14 SHRP major series victories:

1.  2021 LHPO:  $400 Omaha 8  ($7,535)
2.  2021 SHRPO:  $400 Omaha 8  ($6,673)
3.  2021 SHRPO:  $400 Pot-Limit Omaha  ($10,423)
4.  2022 LHPO:  $400 Omaha 8/Stud 8  ($9,020)
5.  2022 LHPO:  $600 H.O.R.S.E.  ($11,760)
6.  2022 Showdown:  $600 Eight-Max Pot-Limit Omaha  ($20,630)
7.  2022 Showdown:  $1,100 H.O.R.S.E. Championship  ($21,645)
8.  2023 LHPO:  $600 Big O  ($13,405)
9.  2023 RRPO:  $600 H.O.R.S.E.  ($14,405)
10.  2024 LHPO:  $1,100 5-Card PLO  ($21,216)
11.  2025 LHPO: $1,100 Mixed PLO  ($24,588)
12.  2025 Showdown:  $600 10-Game Mix  ($10,940)
13.  2025 Showdown:  $600 Big O  ($15,100)
14.  2025 Showdown:  $1,100 Six-Max PLO  ($28,930)

PlaceFirst NameLast NamePrize Amount
1YuvalBronshtein$28,930
2DanielSwartz$18,700
3LaDarrenBanks$12,400
4JeffreyShayani$8,500
5LongNguyen$6,040
6ChristopherBissinger$4,450
7TravellThomas$3,400
8GlenCressman$3,400
9StevenLevy$2,700
10KlydeForte$2,700
11JordanGlazer$2,250
12MarcusStein$2,250
13DJMacKinnon$2,250

Event 72: Dan Sepiol Doubles Thru Robert Burlacu

$5,000 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $770,800  |  Structure  |  Payouts
Level 26:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 164

Robert Burlacu raised to 110,000 from the cutoff, Dan Sepiol three-bet all in for 415,000 in the big blind, and Burlacu called.

Burlacu:  KcQh
Sepiol:  AdKd

The board ran out Ks3h3c6h5d, safe for Sepiol to double up.

Dan Sepiol  –  905,000  (18 bb)
Robert Burlacu  –  500,000  (10 bb)

With four players remaining from the field of 164 entries, the average stack is about 820,000 (16 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $69,000.