Championship: Meet the Final Table

The final table is set for the 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship with nine players vying for the title, and we have a good mix of professional and recreational grinders. They have more than $17.5 million in combined career earnings, two WPT titles (Aaron Mermelstein), a handful of WSOP final tables, a WSOP bracelet (Martin Kozlov), and three WSOP Circuit rings (Joe Kuether).

They return today at noon to play down to a winner in front of the Poker Night in America cameras and live stream as part of The Big 4.


Seat 1: Dylan Drazen
Chip Count: 2,110,000

The Fort Lauderdale, FL resident has $176,682 in career earnings. Drazen scored the largest cash of his career with a ninth-place finish in the 2015 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ’N’ Roll Poker Open”, where he scored $46,573. Drazen will top that amount no matter where he finishes on Tuesday.


Seat 2: Luke Brereton
Chip Count: 2,020,000

Brererton has won $1,090,722 in his poker career dating back to 2010. He is originally from Manchester, England, and Brererton scored his largest single cash ($276,632) when he took fifth place in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker event at the 2016 World Series of Poker.


Seat 3: Michael Aron
Chip Count: 2,200,000

Aron is another local player at the final table, and he hails from Palm Beach Gardens, FL. His career poker earnings stand at $658,203, and Aron’s largest cash was an 80th-place finish at the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event that was good for $85,812.


Seat 4: Adam Levy
Chip Count: 2,675,000

Levy is one of the well-known poker professionals at the final table, and although he has moved around a lot during his poker career, his hometown is Coral Springs, FL. Among the accomplishments that have led to his career earnings of $2,620,927, are a deep run in to 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event (12th), and a World Poker Tour final-table appearance at the 2008 Festa al Lago main event (fifth).


Seat 5: Martin Kozlov
Chip Count: 2,320,000

Kozlov is from Melbourne, Australia, and in addition to his career live earnings of $1,926,894, he can claim over $3.5 million more in online earnings. Kozlov won a gold bracelet at the 2016 World Series of Poker, when he topped the field in the $10,000 no-limit hold’em six-handed championship.


Seat 6: Aaron Mermelstein
Chip Count: 6,150,000

The perennial chip leader in the tournament, Mermelstein is from Philadelphia, PA. Mermelstein holds career earnings worth $2,078,259. The largest accomplishment in his poker career came in the form of a World Poker Tour title that Mermelstein won at the 2015 Borgata Poker Open main event ($712,305), and he captured a second WPT title at the 2015 WPT Maryland Live! main event ($250,222).


Seat 7: Matt Berkey
Chip Count: 4,045,000

Berkey currently lives in Las Vegas, but he is originally from Leechburg, PA. His career live earnings stand at $3,418,927. Berkley earned $1.1 million of that total when he took fifth place at the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl in 2016. Berkley has also appeared at multiple World Series of Poker final tables.


Seat 8: Yi Chi Li
Chip Count: 4,555,000

Li is originally from China, but he now lives in Jacksonville, FL. His career earnings stand at $35,874, so he stands to double that number no matter where he finishes at the final table. Li’s largest previous cash was for $29,265 when he took 13th place in the 2017 Wynn Summer Classic Championship.


Seat 9: Joe Kuether
Chip Count: 565,000

Kuether will be the only play at the final table who will be multi-tabling at another table in The Big 4, because he is also in the final nine of the $1,100 event. The poker pro has $5,579,879 in career earnings, and he is from Elm Grove, WI. Kuether has appeared at two World Poker Tour final tables, and he has also won three gold rings at World Series of Poker Circuit events.