SHRPO: Six-Figure Wins for Song, Dawley and Brennan

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Aug 14, 2019 4 min read

While the $5,250 Main Event and the $25,500 High Roller may have drawn most of the eyeballs at Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, a number of other notable events wrapped up to complete the series on Tuesday, including the other two of the "Big 4."

Jessica Dawley ($2,650 No-Limit Hold'em) and Keith Brennan ($1,100 No-Limit Hold'em) grabbed the other two Big 4 trophies for $204,610 and $104,305, respectively. They joined Shaun Deeb and Sean Winter as winners of the SHRPO's marquee events.

Meanwhile, Stephen Song secured his first guitar pick trophy by shipping the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em last chance event for $285,243. He made the trip to Florida at the last minute after making a strong run in the WSOP Global Casino Championship, bubbling the final table with a 10th-place finish. Song made it worthwhile as he chopped with James Romero heads up.

Dawley Beats Faraz Jaka

The only one of the Big 4 to miss its number, the $2,650 tournament offered single reentry and a $1 million guarantee. As it only drew 385 entries, players were treated to a reduced rake with about $2,600 from every entry effective going into the pool.

Faraz Jaka loomed as the chip leader with about 100 big blinds but Dawley had a solid stack herself, sitting third behind Raj Vohra.

However, Dawley would get the better of Vohra early on by flopping quad kings in a three-bet pot and getting some value on the river. She then won a very large flip with jacks against A♠Q♠ of Jake Daniels to reach the heights of Jaka's stack.

Jordan Cristos and Justin Zaki were among other notables busting out at the final table, with Vohra joining them courtesy of an awful beat by Dawley when she cracked aces with A♦J♥, making a straight. She and Jaka seemed to be in a race to the top of the counts and they indeed met heads up with about even stacks just under 100 big blinds.

The match took about four hours despite Dawley pulling into a big lead when she ran out trips on 9♦4♥3♦6♥6♣ with A♦6♦, calling down Jaka, who shoved river with A♣9♣.

Jaka would pull almost even to make her sweat, but she had him down under 20 big blinds when the final hand went down. Jaka would get it in good with pocket eights against A♣2♥ only to see an ace arrive right on the flop to doom him.

Dawley got her biggest cash and surpassed $1 million in tournament winnings.

Brennan Tops USA-Heavy Final Table

The smallest of the Big 4, the $1,100 event featured unlimited reentry and a $500,000 guarantee, which was met when 537 entries were logged.

The final table would begin with quite a polarized set up as Cangir Elcin and bracelet winner Jack Duong started out way in front with about 100 big blinds and 80 big blinds, respectively, while everyone else had 30 or less.

Brennan wouldn't play any of the noted pots in the early stages, hanging around as players such as Corey Hochman and Brock Wilson busted. Finally, he got in the act when he woke up with pocket tens in the big blind and a now short-stacked Duong shoved with fours on the button. Brennan sent Duong to the rail in fifth.

When it was three-handed, Brennan and Elcin played a huge flip in the blinds with Brennan holding pocket threes against A♦K♦. He managed to double up despite J♣10♥2♣10♠ hitting the felt and he then won another big pot to pull almost even with both players north of 100 big blinds. Brennan would win two more pots against Elcin to take command of most of the chips.

Though Elcin would ladder past John Michalak, he would have to settle for second when he lost a final flip to Brennan. The Irishman, the only non-American at the final table, locked up his first six-figure cash with the win.

Song Chops With Romero for More Than $250K Apiece

For those who did not busy themselves trying to win a Big 4 final table, the $10,000 unlimited reentry last chance event provided one last opportunity to rake in some dough before departing the venue.

The single-day tournament doubled up on its $500K guarantee as 117 entries provided a prize pool north of $1.1 million.

By Song's own account, he hit a big cooler with he was dealt aces over kings a little before the money, and then he got max value with a river shove when his kings stayed best against a player who flopped top pair of jacks.

That gave him plenty of ammo to work with in the money, and his hot run continued as he bubbled Rainer Kempe out of the final table, turning a straight against flopped top set. That gave Song a huge lead with more than double his nearest competitor.

At the final table, Song would score notable eliminations of Noah Schwartz and Matas Cimbolas to stay a strong favorite three-handed against Joseph Orsino and Romero. Song's momentum stopped though as he lost several preflop all ins at that point, the biggest a race with ace-jack against Romero's threes that put Romero right on his tail.

Finally, Song dispatched Orsino when the latter's shove of six big blinds with 10♦8♥ ran into Song's tens.

Not a single hand would be dealt heads up as Song opted to secure $285,243 with Romero banking $250,257 in a deal. It's the second-biggest cash for Song after his bracelet win this summer for over $340K.

_{Reflects heads-up deal}

_{Photos courtesy of Seminole Hard Rock}

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