Brek Schutten Wins Largest SHRPS Prize In History

The WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown is always popular with players. The latest edition, however, was ridiculously popular. A record-breaking crowd of 2,482 players paid the $3,500, and one man outlasted them all: Brek Schutten.

Schutten had less than $400,000 in live poker tournament winnings before this event. A significant chunk of those winnings stemmed from his third-place finish in the 2019 WSOPC Hammond Main Event, which awarded him $135,214. Schutten is now a millionaire after banking $1,261,095 and the title of WPT champion.

The bumper crowd of 2,482 players whittled down to the final table of six in April. Those six finalists headed to Las Vegas on May 18 to conclude the tournament. Schutten sat down second in chips with 78 big blinds, two less than leader Sonny Franco.

It took 41 hands for the first finalists to dust off their stack. Blinds were 250,000/500,000/500,000a, and Schutten opened to 1,100,000 from under the gun. Ken Aldridge three-bet all-in from late position for 2,500,000, and Schutten called. Aldridge turned over Kd-9d, Schutten 5c-5s, and the board ran Jh-8s-5h-3h-Tc.

Albert Calderon crashed out three hands later after a clash with Schutten. Calderon open-shoved for 6,400,000 with Ac-9h only for Schutten to come over the top and jam for 31,600,000 with the dominating Ad-Kh. The champion elect’s ace-king won after the five community cards fell Kd-Jc-3d-5s-5h.

Schutten Leads The Final Four

The final four became three on the 58th hand of the final table’s action. Steven Snyder min-raised to 1,0000,000 with Qc-Qh. Franco moved all-in for 5,600,000 with Ac-9c, and Snyder called. Franco was drawing dead on the turn of the Qd-3d-2d-8c-5c board. Fourth place prize money weighed in at an impressive $438,500.

Schutten and Snyder held 91 million chips between then, with Viet Vo nursing an 8,300,000 short stack. It was only a matter of time before Vo busted; it happened on the 73rd hand of the night.

Vo ripped it in from the small blind for 4,500,000, and Schutten looked him up from the big blind. Vo flipped over a legitimate hand in 7h-7c and was flipping against the Tc-8c of his opponent. The flip against Vo on the Ts-6h-3s flop. The 9h turn and 5d river sent this tournament heads-up.

Snyder had plenty of work to do heads-up because his 37,500,000 trailed the 61,800,000 of the chip leader. Snyder could not claw his way back into contention, but his opponent could not shake him off either. That was until the 108th hand of the night, the 35th of one-on-one action.

Schutten raised to 2,500,000, and Snyder called. Snyder checked the Td-5d-5c flop, Schutten bet 2,000,000 and called Snyder’s check-raise to 4,800,000. The 7h turn saw Snyder lead for 5,200,000 and Schutten jam for 61,800,000. Snyder tanked for more than a minute before calling with Ad-2d. Schutten revealed 8c-5h for trip fives. The 2c river busted Snyder in second place, a finish worth $899,295, and crowned Schutten as the champion.

The champ received $1,261,095, a Hublot Bang Steel Watch, and a set of Baccarat Crystal.

WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Brek Schutten	$1,261,095
2	Steven Snyder	$899,295
3	Viet Vo	$593,140
4	Sonny Fanco	$438,500
5	Albert Calderon	$326,750
6	Ken Aldridge	$261,700

Another WPT festival takes place on June 18, the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Tampa. The Main Event takes place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa and costs $3,500 to buy into.

It is the first time the World Poker Tour has visited this venue for a WPT Main Tour event. You can bet your bottom dollar the WPT will go out of its way to make the festival a massive success. It will achieve that goal if it is even half as successful as this season’s Hollywood equivalent.

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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