The overlay party of the 2014 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) Championship Event is down to its penultimate day as 62 players were narrowed to just 18 on Monday. Emerging from Day 3 as the chip leader was Martin Hanowski who, with 5.88 million chips, is one of just two players with over 5 million. The other is John Dolan, who began Day 3 as the chip leader and obviously fared very well, ending the day with 5.29 million chips.
Hanowski, from Germany, has just eleven cashes on his live tournament resume if you take out the two satellite cashes that TheHendonMob.com database counts. That considered, his $600,000+ in lifetime earnings is pretty impressive. Hanowski’s largest cash came last summer at the 2013 World Series of Poker, when he made the final table of the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event, placing fourth for $166,579.
Our chip leader was the man responsible for ending the Labor Day action in the Championship Event. Immediately upon returning from the dinner break at around 8:30pm, short stacked Michael Stembra moved all-in on the first hand he was dealt. Nobody did him the honor of calling and giving him a chance to double-up, so he gave it another shot on the next hand. This time, though, Martin Hanowski looked him up, dominating Stembra with A-T versus A-3. Stembra was able to catch a 3 on the flop to take the lead, but Hanowski spiked a Ten on the river to flip the table again, eliminating Stembra in 19th place, narrowing the field to two tables, and ending the night for the remaining players.
Tuesday should be a relatively short day, as the field will be given a haircut from 18 to just six. Then again, with the payout increases more significant now that the tournament is down to the nitty-gritty, decision making may take longer and players might be more careful, resulting in eliminations that are far more spread out than they have been on previous days. By the time Day 4 is over, the final table will be determined.
2014 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) Championship Event – Day 3 Chip Counts
1. Martin Hanowski – 5,880,000
2. John Dolan – 5,290,000
3. Brian Hawkins – 4,290,000
4. Shawn Cunix – 3,940,000
5. Blake Bohn – 3,495,000
6. Mike Leah – 3,290,000
7. Roman Valerstein – 2,960,000
8. Dan Colman – 2,665,000
9. Joe Kuether – 2,195,000
10. Lenny Duvdivani – 1,888,000
11. Curt Kohlberg – 1,540,000
12. Matthew Sedgeman – 1,535,000
13. Farhan Madhani – 1,535,000
14. Natasha Barbour – 1,310,000
15. Jacob Naquin – 1,285,000
16. Russell Thomas – 1,050,000
17. Ron Ostrow – 525,000
18. Uri Kadosh – 390,000
