2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open: Brandon Eisen Wins $771,444

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - For the fourth consecutive year, the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) concluded with the crowning of The Big 4 champions at the new Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

Unique to Seminole Hard Rock, The Big 4 is a collection of four tournament finales that feature staggered structures, timed so the events play out alongside one another. This year’s events boasted combined prize pool guarantees of $6.5 million. With 2,099 overall entries in Big 4 events, total cash payouts exceeded the guarantees, topping out at more than $9.2 million.

The quartet of winners earned more than $1.9 million, with Brandon Eisen winning the SHRPO Championship and claiming $771,444. This year’s SHRPO Championship drew in 914 total entries, boasting a total prize pool of more than $4.4 million and marking a slight increase in year-over-year attendance.

Eisen is a 29-year-old professional poker player born in Oahu, Ha. and now resides in Las Vegas, Nev. Tuesday night’s win marked his largest tournament cash to date and nearly doubled his career earnings to more than $1.5 million.

“I always heard about the SHRPO tournament, but I just never made it out,” Eisen told video host Maria Ho following the win. “This summer I started playing tournaments instead of mixing cash [games] and tournaments. It’s been nice to just focus on tournaments and that’s why I ended up coming out here.”

Away from poker, Eisen likes to practice martial arts and plans to go back to school to study Computer Science.

SHRPO Championship Final Table Results:

1st: Brandon Eisen (Las Vegas, Nev.) $771,444

2nd: Jeremy Ausmus (Las Vegas, Nev.) $540,459

3rd: Stoyan Obreshkov (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) $349,889

4th: Ryan D’Angelo (Asheville, N.C.) $258,615

5th: Adam Adler (Miami, Fla.) $195,491

6th: Ido Ashkenazi (Davie, Fla.) $156,215

7th: Jared Griener (Huntington Beach, Calif.) $129,308

8th: Joseph Cheong (Las Vegas, Nev.) $102,843

9th: Marcos Exterkotter (Porto Alegre, Brazil) $77,132

In addition to Eisen, Alex Foxen (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) defended his title in the $2,650 NLH Single Re-Entry and took home $208,452.

The other Big 4 winners include:

• Marc MacDonnell (Dublin, Ireland), winning the $1,100 NLH Re-Entry for $119,465
• Jake Schindler (Philadelphia, Penn.), winning the $25,500 High Roller for $800,758

The play down of all four events was streamed online by Poker Night in America, as well as filmed for later airing on CBS Sports Network.

SHRPO preliminary events featured a Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) tournament, The Jeff Conine Celebrity Poker Classic. The event drew 382 entries, well exceeding last year’s entries, making this the largest turnout in its seven-year history. More than $146,000 was raised for the charity benefitting the Conine Clubhouse, a home-away-from-home where families of children under care at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital can stay for free as long as necessary.

Other signature event winners from the 2018 SHRPO include:

• Matt Edge, winning the $570 NLH Re-Entry Series Opener for $196,150
• Elio Fox, winning the $50,000 Super High Roller for $500,000

Poker actions returns to Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. with Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO) on Nov. 14 – Nov. 28, 2018. Future tournament information and poker hotel rates are available at SHRPO.com.