The Poker Masters started out strong this week with Poker Masters Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em. The event ultimately went to Shannon Shorr, but along the way he had to outlast players like Erik Seidel, Darren Elias, and Ali Imsirovic in order to make it to the final table.
Day 1 saw 82 entries for a $820,000 prize pool. With 12 player's paid, there was $205,000 earmarked for first place. Shorr came to the game with a lot of motivation. After a year and a half of playing online he feels like he ironed out a few kinks in his game.
"Since the pandemic came, I’ve been playing a bunch online," Shorr said in his post-game interview. "That was very big for improving my game and getting much more fundamentally sound. [...] For years, I just kind of showed up and played live poker. I played online some, but to make it like a lifestyle and have it constantly on my mind and constantly be working is huge for giving me confidence."
With a first place finish under his belt, and the bankroll boost that comes with that, he is keen to see what the rest of the series has in store for him.
“I’ll definitely play the [$10k events] and then I’ll consider the bigger ones," he said. "Depending on where I am in the points standings and stuff like that."
Day 2 saw the final table reconvene with Brock Wilson and David Peters topping out the chip counts.
In the rest of the PokerGO studio at the Aria, another table Day 1 of Event #2 was underway, which saw Daniel Negreanu make it to the final six with a short stack.
Day 2 action
Day 2 saw the final table whittled down to the final winner. It ultimately led to a heads-up confrontation between Shorr and Peters, two old friends.
"David’s been a career-long friend of mine," Shorr explained. "We’ve traveled everywhere and always joked about getting heads up. But this is the first time it’s ever happened. [...] The crazy thing is we got heads up, chopped, and then we were playing for a little bit more money but then we had to get all-in in time to play [Event #2]."
The final hand saw the pair almost even in chips. They had already agreed to a chop, and time was becoming a factor as late reg ticked closer and closer to ending in the other event.
When Shorr found the A♣5♣ and shoved. Peters, slightly covered, called him off with A♠9♦️.
The board ran out T♣3♣T❤️9♣Q❤️ giving Shorr the flush, and the pair rushed out to get set up in the other event.
Peters won $147,600 for his second-place finish.
2021 Poker Masters Event #1: $10,000 No Limit Hold'em
| Position | Player Name | Prize |
| 1st | Shannon Shorr | $205,000 |
| 2nd | David Peters | $147,600 |
| 3rd | Dylan DeStefano | $98,400 |
| 4th | Brock Wilson | $82,000 |
| 5th | Jonathan Jaffe | $65,600 |
| 6th | John Riordan | $49,200 |
| 7th | Ben Yu | $41,000 |
| 8th | Sean Perry | $32,800 |
Featured image source: PokerGO
