2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida
Event 18
$150 No-Limit Hold’em 
Entries: 565
Prize Pool: $67,800
April 16-18, 2018

James Scott dreamed about winning the $150 no-limit hold’em event, literally.

Shortly after the clock struck midnight and the calendar switched to Thursday, Scott made a deal with Manuel Jo and took credit for the win in the $150 no-limit hold’em. Scott earned $15,574 and defeated a field of 565 entries for his first live tournament win.

“It was great because I had a dream today,” said Scott. “I took a nap and I had a dream that I was heads-up and playing for the money. So, it’s unbelievable. It was very exciting.”

Scott came into the final table near the bottom of the chip counts. He took his time and waited for his spots to come up while several other players hit the rail.

It all fit into his strategy to fulfill a modest goal.

“My strategy was to come in fourth because I was so short stacked,” said Scott. “Then, I got that double up and then I got that triple up with the three jacks. So, that was fantastic.”

That was the turning point for Scott. He scored a triple up when he shoved the button with ace-jack, got called by Alfredo Fernandez in the small blind and Jo shoved over the top in the big blind. Fernandez folded and Scott was able to suck out with against Jo’s pocket queens.

That moved Scott from the short stack three-handed into the chip lead. He never relinquished his lead after that. After Jo eliminated Fernandez, the two agreed on an almost dead even chop, which left Scott with the trophy as the chip leader.

Scott is a local player from Fort Lauderdale. He lives a busy life as a business owner, a husband, a father and a grandfather.

He owns a jewelry store in North Miami, which was opened by his grandfather in 1949 and has been in business ever since. With so much on his plate, poker isn’t even close to the top of his priorities, but he makes time to play when some of the major series are in town.

“I try to play once a month,” said Scott. “Then, when they have the series, I play for two weeks straight.”

Scott’s win nearly puts a bow on the entire 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, with only the $3,500 WPT main event still running.

The top 36 players earned a payday and here are the results:

1st: James Scott – $14,574*
2nd: Manuel Jo – $14,573*
3rd: Alfredo Fernandez – $7,119
4th: Christopher Zito – $4,916
5th: Claudio Piedrabuena – $3,627
6th: Antonio Colon – $2,882
7th: George Navarro – $2,204
8th: Joaquin Sosa – $1,593
9th: Bob Tanner – $1,153
10th: Angelo Castaldi – $881
11th: Homero Molina – $881
12th: Daniel Saffer – $881
13th: Ariel Rosello Quintana – $712
14th: Jarrett Vaughn – $712
15th: Jay Klitzner – $712
16th: Larry Klur – $610
17th: Mitsuru Sano – $610
18th: Paul Nguyen – $610
19th: Eric Rivkin – $509
20th: Raymond Nalbandian – $509
21st: David Wyatt – $509
22nd: Elnatan Aminov – $509
23rd: David Jacobs – $509
24th: Thomas Kornechuk – $509
25th: Richard Contell – $509
26th: Julien Durity – $509
27th: Trent Smith – $509
28th: Carlos Torres Vazquez – $441
29th: Nashaat Antonius – $441
30th: Alexis Moreda – $441
31st: Justin Molis – $441
32nd: Brett Taylor – $441
33rd: Julio Rodriguez – $441
34th: Iftikhar Memon – $441
35th: Jermain Phang – $441
36th: Darrell Carril – $441

*Indicates adjusted payouts to reflects the deal