2022 Seminole Hard Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 6
$1,100 Five-Card Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Entries:  102
Prize Pool:  $98,940
November 17-18, 2022

Back in August, during the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, Robert Lupo was at the final table of the $2,700 No-Limit Hold’em when the final four players agreed to a deal. Lupo was a close second in chips, so while his $146,039 prize in that event was only $5K less than winner Josh Adcock, Lupo missed out on the trophy.

“I’ve been upset about that,” said Lupo, “because I had chopped when [Adcock] had a slight chip lead, so he got the trophy. That’s why I wanted this trophy so much.”

At Friday’s final table in $1,100 Five-Card Pot-Limit Omaha, Lupo wasn’t interested in any deals unless he was chipleader and ended up as the victor with the trophy. His stubbornness paid off, and Lupo won the title, the trophy, and $24,148 in a heads-up deal with runner-up Charles Rosenblatt.

“This was my first event of the series,” said Lupo. “It’s a great way to start out, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.”

This was a five-card Omaha event, and while Lupo usually plays PLO, he’s only played the five-card variation a little bit online. But he might have developed a taste for it after this event.

“I’m not going to lie, five-card was pretty fun,” said Lupo. “I’m definitely going to try this again.”

This was a two-day event, and the field of 102 players made it down to the final eight on Day 1 before stopping for the night, and Lupo started Day 2 with 108 big blinds for the chip lead.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Lupo. “There were some good players, but it was a friendly atmosphere, and everyone was cool.”

When asked about Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, Lupo said, “I just love this place. The schedules are always really good, and it’s really well-run here. The people are really nice, and it’s the greatest casino I’ve seen.”

Lupo ended his post-game interview with a shoutout to the online poker training site Solve For Why, and founder Matt Berkey in particular.

“They’ve really helped me out a lot with my game,” said Lupo. And now he has the trophy to prove it.

Final Results:

* Indicates a heads-up deal.

$1,100 Five-Card Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  10,000/20,000
Players Remaining:  2 of 102

After a short while of heads-up play, the final two players agreed to a deal to split the remaining prizepool and end the tournament. These were the final chip counts:

Robert Lupo  –  1,105,000  (55 bb)
Charles Rosenblatt  –  935,000  (47 bb)

As chipleader, Lupo was declared the winner and received the trophy. These were the payouts they agreed to:

1st:  Robert Lupo  –  $24,148 + Trophy
2nd:  Charles Rosenblatt  –  $24,147

Congratulations to Robert Lupo! Stay tuned for a final table recap, and these are the rest of the payouts from this event:

3rd:  Ha Tran  –  $11,375
4th:  Seyed Hosseini  –  $7,520
5th:  Leif Force  –  $5,785
6th:  Aaron Kupin  –  $4,625
7th:  Zyad Qasem  –  $3,925
8th:  Steve Yagudaev  –  $3,425
9th:  Kevin Macdonald  –  $3,020
10th:  Khaled Al-Khatib  –  $3,020
11th:  Quinn Bruno  –  $2,720
12th:  Yuval Bronshtein  –  $2,720
13th:  Christopher Kostoulas  –  $2,500

$1,100 Five-Card Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  10,000/20,000
Players Remaining:  2 of 102

Robert Lupo raised from the button to 50,000, Ha Tran reraised from the small blind to 135,000, and Lupo thought for a while before he called.

The flop came , Tran moved all in for about 260,000, and Lupo quickly called.

Robert Lupo:    (set of fives)
Ha Tran:    (pair of aces, pair of jacks)

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Tran celebrated his rivered set of aces. But Lupo pointed out that the same card gave him a five-high straight. Lupo won the pot with his straight to eliminate Tran in third place.

Ha Tran  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($11,375)

Here are the approximate chip counts for the start of heads-up play, followed by the remaining payouts:

Robert Lupo  –  1,450,000  (73 bb)
Charles Rosenblatt  –  600,000  (30 bb)

1st:  $29,745 + Trophy
2nd:  $18,550

$1,100 Five-Card Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 19:  10,000/20,000
Players Remaining:  3 of 102

The players returned from break to begin Level 19, with increased blinds of 10,000-20,000. Here are the official chip counts from the break, followed by the remaining payouts:

Seat 1.  Robert Lupo  –  1,105,000  (55 bb)
Seat 2.  Ha Tran  –  540,000  (27 bb)
Seat 3.  Charles Rosenblatt  –  395,000  (20 bb)

1st:  $29,745 + Trophy
2nd:  $18,550
3rd:  $11,375

With three players remaining from a field of 102, the average chip stack is about 680,000 (34 big blinds). The next player to be eliminated will earn $11,375 for third place.

$1,100 Five-Card Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  8,000/16,000
Players Remaining:  3 of 102

After a flop of with 78,000 already in the pot, Charles Rosenblatt got it all in from the big blind for 105,000 against Ha Tran on the button.

Ha Tran:    (pair of aces, pair of jacks)
Charles Rosenblatt:    (jacks up, gutshot straight draw)

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Rosenblatt won the pot with a full house, jacks full of nines, to double up in chips.

Charles Rosenblatt  –  288,000  (18 bb)
Ha Tran  –  470,000  (29 bb)

A little while later, Seyed Hosseini got it all in preflop from the small blind for 33,000 against Robert Lupo (UTG/cutoff) and Charles Rosenblatt (big blind).

The flop came , Rosenblatt checked, Lupo bet 20,000 into the dry side pot, and Rosenblatt called.

The turn card was the , and both players check.

The river card paired the board with the , Rosenblatt checked, Lupo bet 70,000, and Rosenblatt folded. Lupo took the side pot.

Robert Lupo:    (full house, threes full of sixes)
Seyed Hosseini:    (two pair, aces and sixes)

Lupo turned over a full house to win the main pot and eliminate Hosseini in fourth place.

Robert Lupo  –  1,300,000  (81 bb)
Seyed Hosseini  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($7,520)

With three players remaining from a field of 102, the average chip stack is about 680,000 (43 big blinds). The next player to be eliminated will earn $11,375 for third place.

$1,100 Five-Card Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  8,000/16,000
Players Remaining:  4 of 102

Ha Tran limped from UTG/cutoff for 16,000, Charles Rosenblatt raised from the small blind to 43,000, and Robert Lupo reraised from the big blind to 145,000. Tran folded, and Rosenblatt called.

The flop came , Rosenblatt checked, Lupo bet 105,000, and Rosenblatt called.

The turn card was the , Rosenblatt checked, Lupo moved all in, and Rosenblatt thought for a moment or two before he folded. Lupo took the pot to reach more than 1.4 million in chips — about 70% of all the chips in play.

Robert Lupo  –  1,425,000  (89 bb)
Charles Rosenblatt  –  295,000  (18 bb)

Two hands later, after a flop of with 96,000 already in the pot, Ha Tran got it all in from the small blind for 125,000 against Robert Lupo on the button.

Robert Lupo:    (sevens up, gutshot straight draw)
Ha Tran:    (queens up)

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Tran won the pot with two pair, queens and nines, to double up in chips.

Ha Tran  –  346,000  (22 bb)
Robert Lupo  –  1,320,000  (83 bb)

With four players remaining from a field of 102, the average chip stack is about 510,000 (32 big blinds). The next player to be eliminated will earn $7,520 for fourth place.

$1,100 Five-Card Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  6,000/12,000
Players Remaining:  4 of 102

Leif Force got it all in preflop from the hijack for 54,000 against Charles Rosenblatt on the button.

Charles Rosenblatt:  
Leif Force:  

The board came , and Rosenblatt finished with the higher two pair, queens and jacks, to win the pot and eliminate Force in fifth place.

Charles Rosenblatt  –  600,000  (50 bb)
Leif Force  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($5,785)

These were the official chip counts a few minutes later:

Seat 1.  Robert Lupo  –  1,101,000  (92 bb)
Seat 2.  Ha Tran  –  211,000  (18 bb)
Seat 3.  Seyed Hosseini  –  188,000  (16 bb)
Seat 4.  Charles Rosenblatt  –  540,000  (45 bb)

With four players remaining from a field of 102, the average chip stack is about 510,000 (43 big blinds). The next player to be eliminated will earn $7,520 for fourth place.

$1,100 Five-Card Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  6,000/12,000
Players Remaining:  5 of 102

Charles Rosenblatt raised from the button to 33,000, Robert Lupo called from the small blind, and Ha Tran pot-raised it from the big blind to 132,000. Rosenblatt folded, and Lupo called.

The flop came , Lupo checked, Tran moved all in, and Lupo called all in for 347,000.

Ha Tran:    (pair of aces, pair of fours)
Robert Lupo:    (pair of nines, pair of eights, wrap draw)

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Lupo turned a nine-high straight to win the pot and double up in chips.

Robert Lupo  –  991,000  (83 bb)
Ha Tran  –  90,000  (8 bb)

Shortly after that, Ha Tran got it all in preflop for about 90,000 against Robert Lupo.

Robert Lupo:  
Ha Tran:  

The board came , and Tran flopped trip deuces and turned a full house to win the pot and double up in chips.

Ha Tran  –  205,000  (17 bb)
Robert Lupo  –  900,000  (75 bb)

With five players remaining from a field of 102, the average chip stack is about 408,000 (34 big blinds). The next player to be eliminated will earn $5,785 for fifth place.

$1,100 Five-Card Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 16:  5,000/10,000
Players Remaining:  5 of 102

Aaron Kupin completed the small blind to 10,000, Ha Tran raised from the big blind to 20,000, and Kupin called.

The flop came , Kupin checked, Tran bet the pot, and Kupin moved all in for about 110,000. Tran called.

Ha Tran:    (pocket kings, spade flush draw)
Aaron Kupin:    (two pair, aces and sixes)

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Tran turned his flush to win the pot and eliminate Kupin in sixth place.

Ha Tran  –  470,000  (47 bb)
Aaron Kupin  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($4,625)

With five players remaining from a field of 102, the average chip stack is about 408,000 (41 big blinds). The next player to be eliminated will earn $5,785 for fifth place.

$1,100 Five-Card Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 16:  5,000/10,000
Players Remaining:  6 of 102

After a flop of , Seyed Hosseini got it all in from the small blind for 76,000 against Ha Tran in the cutoff.

Ha Tran:    (nines up, king-high flush draw)
Seyed Hosseini:    (pair, ace-high flush draw, gutshot straight draw)

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Hosseini won the pot with his ace-high club straight to double up in chips.

Seyed Hosseini  –  215,000  (22 bb)
Ha Tran  –  475,000  (48 bb)

With six players remaining from a field of 102, the average chip stack is about 340,000 (34 big blinds). The next player to be eliminated will earn $4,625 for sixth place.