Jason Koon, Marvin Rettenmaier Highlight SHRPO “Big 4” Winners
The 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open was 28 total events but on Tuesday the focus was on the “Big 4” as four final tables, packed with some of the best tournament players in the world, played down to four different winners including Jason Koon and Marvin Rettenmaier.
Jason Koon Wins Main Event for Largest Career Cash
Jason Koon beat Seth Davies heads-up to win the $5,250 main event and the $1,000,000 first place prize.
“I feel fantastic. I mean, it’s a great result, it’s a lot of money, and I got to play heads-up with my buddy. It’s a special moment,” said Koon. The million dollar score is the first seven-figure of Koon’s career and is his second straight first place finish following his win in a $25,000 Bellagio High Roller in July.
The main event had 847 entrants which put the event 153 players short of making the $5,000,000 guarantee. The final table also included Tim Burt, Joe Serock, Ryan Fair and Zo Karim.
Final Table Payouts
- Jason Koon – $1,000,000
- Seth Davies – $575,000
- Tim Burt – $310,000
- Roman Valerstein – $220,000
- Tom Midena – $180,000
- Joe Serock – $150,000
- Paul Balzano – $125,000
- Ryan Fair – $100,000
- Zo Karim – $75,000
Marvin Rettenmaier Tops Star-Studded High Roller Final Table
Marvin Rettenmaier topped the 105 entries in the $25,500 High Roller event to win $787,497. He beat out Daniel Colman for the title, the $787,497 first place prize money and his first tournament win since September 2013.
Colman started heads-up play with a 4-3 lead over Rettenmaier but over the three hours of heads-up play the pair traded the lead back and forth. The final hand saw all the money go in pre-flop with Colman holding 
and dominating Rettenmaier’s 
. The [k4]
flop however changed everything and the turn and river failed to give Colman a full house, eliminating him in second place and giving Rettenmaier the title.
“I ran very well on the final table. Three-handed I get queens to jacks and aces to kings,’ Rettenmaier said afterwards. The event had 105 entries for a total prize pool of $2,625,000.
As is the case with most high roller events, the final table was filled with some of the best players in the world. Along with Rettenmaier and Colman, Nick Petrangelo, Daniel Strelitz, Barry Hutter, Rainer Kempe and Andjelko Andrejevic also found final table success.
High Roller Final Table Payouts
- Marvin Rettenmaier – $787,497
- Daniel Colman – $485,625
- Ray Qartomy – $291,375
- Nick Petrangelo – $190,313
- Daniel Strelitz – $147,000
- Barry Hutter – $120,750
- Rainer Kempe – $102,375
- Andjelko Andrejevic – $89,250
- Francisco Picasso – $78,750
Ivey Leaguer Bradley Snider Wins $2,650 No Limit Hold’em Event
Bradley Snider is a 21-year-old Princeton student who hasn’t had much time to play poker over the last few years as he’s been focused on his education. He made up for lost time on Tuesday taking down the $2,650 No Limit Hold’em event for $246,400.
Not only is that the largest cash of his career, it’s his only career cash. Snider only began playing the game recently and learned a lot of from a now very familiar source.
“Me and my brother started watching poker on Twitch,” said Snider. “And that’s what really got us into it. I wanted to play more and learn the game and study.”
Snider beat out a final table that included Irish pro Dermot Blain, Koray Aldemir, Dan Heimiller and November Niner Jerry Wong but he’s not ready to declare himself a pro just yet.
‘I think poker will continue to just be a serious hobby for me,” he said. “I really enjoy playing casually and thinking about the game. And this will let me play a lot more poker in the future.’
Final Table Payouts
- Bradley Snider – $246,400
- Dermot Blain – $147,800
- Nicholas Immekus – $88,400
- Koray Aldemir – $73,900
- Jeffrey Chang – $61,600
- Alex Wilson – $49,300
- Dan Heimiller – $37,000
- James Gilbert – $30,800
- Jerry Wong – $25,575
Ruslan Dykshteyn Beats Phillip Hui for $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Win
It might have had the smallest buy-in of the Big 4 but that didn’t matter to Florida local Rusland Dykshteyn. He beat out Phillip Hui after the two agreed to a nearly even chop for the first live win of his career.
Dykshteyn is originally from New York City but moved to Florida after a rude introduction to the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open a few years ago.
“I have a little home field advantage. I moved out here three years ago from New York,” said Dykshteyn. “I came here to play the $5,000 event three years ago. Put seven bullets into it but didn’t make Day 2. I had a couple of friends here and just decided to change my scenery.”
Aaron Massey and Daniel Buzgon also made the final table, earning $22,700 and $15,500 respectively.
Final Table Payouts
- Ruslan Dykshteyn – $151,100
- Phillip Hui – $87,600
- Marsha Wolak – $52,900
- Jordan Joeckel – $45,300
- Guy Smith – $37,800
- Adam Krach – $30,200
- Aaron Massey – $22,700
- George Boyadjian – $18,900
- Daniel Buzgon – $15,500
