2018 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open 
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida
Event 8
$570 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em Multi-Flight Re-Entry     
Entries: 795
Prize Pool: $397,500  
November 22, 2018 

Dragos Iosub earned a career-best score in the early hours of Thursday morning at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. In a heads-up deal with Mathieu Selides, Iosub won $82,000 and bested a 795-entry field in the $570 no-limit hold’em.

Not only was it his biggest score of his career, but it had to be one of the most dominating performances he’s ever had. When they first ran ICM numbers and started negotiating a deal, he was so far ahead, Selides’ payout would only be $5,000 more than what he would normally get if he played it out and finished second.

He asked for more money, but Iosub gave a quick response that let everyone know how he felt he was playing.

“You can take the extra $5,000 or you can give it to me,” said Iosub.

The two played heads-up a little bit longer and Selides chipped up a little bit. They agreed on a final deal after a long negotiation and the poker pro from Romania officially took down the title.

“It’s very welcome,” said the 35-year-old after his victory. “I work so hard for getting here.”

Despite having about two-thirds of the chips in play with three players remaining, Iosub credited positive variance with the main reason for his huge stack.

“I get good cards and I feel like I was ahead all of the time when I raised,” he said.

Iosub played almost exclusively in Europe up until a couple years ago when he won a tournament in Italy. He won a $30,000 package to play at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Since then, he’s made the trek across the Atlantic Ocean to play in some of America’s more lucrative events.

Iosub made the trip to Florida because he won a package to play in the $3,500 WPT Main Event. He came a few days early and wound up with a career-best score just a few days before the main event started. He’s going to head into Friday riding high and with plenty of momentum.

The final table had quite an international flare to it, with more than half of the final table residing from outside the United States, including all three of the top finishers.

Ben Dobson, who won a WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 seven-card stud hi-lo event last summer, made the final table and finished seventh for $14,310.

Final Table Results:

1st: Dragos Iosub – $82,000*
2nd: Mathieu Selides – $63,866*
3rd: Dennis Cyr – $32,794
4th: Lawrence L’Hommedieu – $27,030
5th: Gavin O’Rourke – $21,863
6th: Richard Leger – $17,888
7th: Ben Dobson – $14,310
8th: David Rivera – $10,931
9th: Timothy Pettus – $7,553

*Indicates adjusted payouts to accommodate a deal

• Download: Full Event 8 Results (PDF)