Chris Brewer Secures His Largest Live MTT Score

Chris Brewer locked in the largest live poker tournament score of his career this weekend. The man who represented Oregon University’s long-distance running team ran away with $420,670. The prize money from this latest victory pushes Brewer’s career earnings to $1,966,841.

Brewer was one of only 24 entrants in the Event #29: $50,000 Super High Roller at the 2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open. He emerged victorious, after a heads-up chop with Sean Winter, after a 12-hour grind.

Only the top four finishers secures a slice of the prize pool because of the limited number of entrants. Elio Fox, a player who is no stranger to massive prizes, bubbled the tournament in fifth. Brewer sent Fox to the showers when his jacks remained best against ace-eight.

Brewer Snaps Off Triple Barrel Bluff

Sean Perry ran a triple barrel bluff into Brewer, and was left running on fumes. The hand pushed Brewer into the chip lead, and Perry busted on the very next hand.

PokerGO’s Cary Katz crashed out in third, and had to make do with a $209,520 consolation prize. Katz’ exit left Brewer heads-up against Sean Winter, the man who busted Katz.

No one-on-one action took place because the heads-up duo struck an ICM deal. Brewer held a 1,690,000 to 1,310,000 chip lead over Winter, and claimed a $420,670 score, with Winter taking home $394,130.

Place	Player	Prize	PokerGO Tour Points
1	Chris Brewer	$420,670*	252
2	Sean Winter	$394,130*	236
3	Cary Katz	$209,520	126
4	Sean Perry	$139,680	84

*reflects a heads-up deal

Brewer finds himself sixth in the Oregon all-time money listing after this latest impressive result. He used to play high-stakes live cash games, but found them exhausting. Tournament poker allows him to pick and choose when he wants to play. He is choosing correctly right now, judging by his continual impressive results.

Ruan Continues Ridiculous Run

Zhuang Ruan is not a name many poker players or fans are experts on, but the 20-year-old from Pennsylvania is quickly becoming a household name. Ruan won a $1,100 event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January 2019 for $20,260, his first live score. Ruan followed that up with a third-place finish in a $2,200 Pot-Limit Omaha event in April 2019 for $15,120.

Fastforward to June 2021 where Ruan won the $5,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Tampa side event for $66,837. Now Ruan has a gargantuan $562,600 prize on his resume after winning a $50,000 Super High Roller at the 2021 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.

Twenty-nine players bought into this event, and six made it through to Day 2. However, only five of those finalists received prize money, making for an anxious wait before play resumed.

David Peters burst the money bubble after his 8c-8s lost to Dan Smith’s Ts-4s courtesy of a 2h-Jh-6s-Js-5s board. Sean Perry followed Peters to the sidelines, albeit via the cashier’s desk. Perry lost a flip with pocket sevens against Smith’s king-jack.

Ruan Comes From Behind to Win

Ruan was the second-shortest stack when the money bubble burst, but mounted an impressive comeback. First, he busted Giuseppe Iadisernia before continuing chipping up.

The youngster’s Ah-8d beat Katz’s Ac-Jc to send Katz to the showers in third, and Ruan to the top of the chip counts.

His lead was short-lived, however, as Smith dominated the one-on-one battle. Ruan kept his cool, clawed his way back into contention, before taking down the tournament.

The final hand saw Smith limp with Ac-Qd, and Ruan check his big blind with Jd-8h. Ruan led for 125,000 on the Js-Jc-2s flop, and Smith called. Smith called a 250,000 bet from Ruan on the Qc turn. The Kh river saw Ruan jam all-in for 2,240,000, and Smith call off his 585,000 stack. Game over for Smith, and an impressive victory for Ruan.

Place	Player	Prize	PokerGO Tour Points
1	Zhuang Ruan	$562,600	338
2	Dan Smith	$351,625	211
3	Cary Katz	$225,040	135
4	Giuseppe Iadisernia	$154,715	93
5	Sean Perry	$112,520	68

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

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