2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
$350 Buy-In Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guarantee

April 8th, 2015

Total Entries: 120
Total Prize Pool: $24,000

Recap:

A poker superstar, wild play, a controversial hand and a comeback Canadian-style were the stories of the night in Event 4 as Sebastien Girard managed to find his way to the winner’s circle and the Event 4 title.

The ten players reached the final table with all eyes on Ari Engel. While not in a commanding chip position, Engel was definitely the player at the table nearly everyone feared considering he brought a poker resume of over five million dollars live and on-line for his career.

But the attention of the table quickly shifted to Yuan Shen. After Girard eliminated James Gremmo in 10th place and Jaeli Moron fell in 9th, Shen hit aces twice building his stack and eliminating Christopher Frey in 8th. Shen also won a massive pot leaving Medhi Belhassan with only 4,000 chips.

Then came the hand of the night. After Belhassan doubled up twice, he found himself all-in against Kenny Bhakta, Andre Crooks and Shen. Belhassan could only watch as his opponents all checked the flop and the turn. After checks from Bhakta and Crooks, Shen fired out a sizeable bet. Bhakta was furious and started laying into Shen and showed a K-10 with a king on the board. Unfortunately for Bhakta, Crooks had not acted. Crooks folded and Shen said “I hope nine-high is good”. He wasn’t lying as he showed . The table was stunned as Belhassan showed he’d made a pair and quadrupled up getting himself back in the tournament. The hand closed out a level and sent the players to a break. Bhakta’s time away was a little bit longer as he was given a one-round penalty but swore he was going to be the one to end Shen’s tournament.

After that, the table settled in for a few levels until Belhassan was ousted in 7th and Ari Engel was eliminated by Shen in 6th. Shen continued to open up his range and build his stack eliminating James Padula calling him with a king-high flush draw.

But four-handed play saw the tide turn. Girard caught running cards to make quad kings to double up and then Girard opened up his range as well. He then eliminated Andre Crooks in 4th with vs. Crooks . Girard then managed to take a massive pot from Shen and had come out of nowhere to take control of the table. Shen then lost another big hand to his rival Bhakta and Girard finished him off as he cracked Shen’s with sending him to the rail in 3rd place.

After the hand was over, Kenny Bhakta offered a deal to Girard to end the tournament which Girard accepted and Event 4 had crowned its champion.

“All the way through I had 15-20 big blinds most of the way but I got some stacks and was able to play more and more. I got lucky against him (Shen) and that was it. I took the deal because he (Bhakta) had about 300,000 chips and I had about 900,000. He could still win so I took the guaranteed win.”

Girard and his friends are on a “working” vacation here at Seminole Hard Rock and he couldn’t be enjoying it more. “It’s a big win. It’s a good win. It’s fun. I had a great tournament and thanks to everyone here.”

Congratulations to our Event 4 Champion – Sebastien Girard!

Results:
1st – Sebastien Girard (Labaine, Quebec, Canada) – $7,280
2nd – Kenny Bhakta – $5,200
3rd – Yuan Shen (Cary, NC) – $3,000
4th – Andre Crooks (Lake Worth, FL) – $$2,040
5th – James Padula (Pembrooke Pines, FL) – $1,620
6th – Ari Engel (Brooklyn, NY) – $1,260
7th – Medhi Belhassan (Tampa, FL) – $1,020
8th – Christopher Frey (Lake Jackson, TX) – $870
9th – Jaeli Moron (Tampa, FL) – $540
10th – James Gremmo (West Babylon, NY – $420