Martin Kozlov Wins 2017 SHRPO Main Event for $754,083

(Photo: Twitter.com)

Holding the shortest stack with five players remaining in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship didn't stop Martin Kozlov from storming back and winning the title, as the Aussie collected his largest live poker payday to date at $754,083.

An 887-player field bought in for $5,250 at the Hollywood, Florida casino, boosting the $3 million guaranteed prize pool to $4,301,950. Four days of action included a 13-hour final table.

“Five handed I didn’t have many chips at all, and I was a bit tilted on break," Kozlov told Hard Rock reporters. "And then I came back and won every all in, and now I’ve won the tournament.”

The momentum began shifting in Kozlov's favor after Michael Aron was eliminated in fifth place. Kozlov min-raised with pocket queens and then jammed his remaining chip stack of six million all-in after Matt Berkey three-bet to 800,000 from the button.

Berkey called and watched his pocket jacks fall to the queens, leaving him with only 20 big blinds. It was a big enough stack to hold on for a third place finish after Yi Li was sent to the rail in fourth place. Berkey followed Li when Kozlov's A-Q morphed into a set when two ladies hit the board.

That left Kozlov and Dylan Drazen to battle it out heads up, with the winner set to earn $225,000 more than the runner-up. Kozlov held a commanding lead, but Drazen pulled even in chips when his pocket tens held against the Australian's suited A-4.

However, Kozlov claimed the SHRPO Championship when his pocket kings connected with a set on the flop. Drazen hit bottom pair and called Martin's bets on every street, including his all-in shove on the river.

"We were just trading pots back and forth," Kozlov said of the heads-up battle. "I doubled him up, and I got lucky and made three-of-a-kind.”

Final Table Results - 2017 SHRPO Main Event