2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood
Event #1
$350 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (Re-Entry)
Total Entries: 2,692
Prize Pool: $807,600
March 31 – April 4, 2016

It took most of an extra day to find a champion in the opening event of the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. Event 1 drew 2,692 entrants over six starting flights and it was local favorite Vitor Coelho taking home the title along with the $140,476 top prize.

The tournament easily surpassed its $500,000 guaranteed prize pool and eventually settled at $807,600 when registration closed for the final starting flight. Of the 2,962 entrants who bought it, 517 of players survived to move on to Day 2.

Day 2 saw the field quickly play down to the money bubble after a few hours. Only 250 would earn a piece of the money and action slowed down when they could see their chance to cash.

Once they were in the money, action picked up speed once again with the chip lead swapping between several players including Lou Stadler, Jon Borenstein, and Luke Brereton. But it was Coelho who had the lead at the end of Day 2 when they shut down to return for an extra day of play.

The final table resumed on Monday with Borenstein close on Coelho’s heels. The rest of the table needed to make something happen to move into contention but we saw the four quick eliminations of Dani Dayan, Bernard Muhire, Brent Philbin, and Chris Scionti in the first hour.

Lou Stadler and Marcus Stein followed close behind and Borenstein’s elimination set up a long heads up battle. Coelho and defending champ James Salmon swapped leads several times over the three hour match until Coelho came from behind to take the title.

It was a great way to open the big series and congrats to everyone who cashed, the great final table members, and Vitor Coelho for picking up the second biggest cash of his career.

Final table results:

1st: Vitor Coelho (Wesley Chapel, FL) $140,476
2nd: James Salmon (Plantation, FL) $91,097
3rd: Jon Borenstein (Teaneck, NJ) $59,657
4th: Marcus Stein (Pembroke Pines, FL) $50,717
5th: Lou Stadler (Miami, FL) $42,076
6th: Chris Scionti (Montgomery, IL) $33,515
7th: Brent Philbin (Cape Coral, FL) $25,036
8th: Bernard Muhire (Stockbridge, GA) $16,960
9th: Dani Dayan (Sunrise, FL) $12,114

Event 1 Final Results

$350 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (Re-Entry)
Level 41: 800,000/1,600,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 2,692
Average Stack: 26,920,000 (22 big blinds)

No one expected the Event 1 heads up match to go three hours, but that’s exactly what happened. Jon Borenstein was knocked out at 5:30 and they hit the final hand at 8:30.

Vitor Coelho’s loss of the lead didn’t last long and the two players were dead even when Coelho shoved from the button. James Salmon took his time and eventually called with .

Salmon was ahead against but Coelho added a lot of outs on the flop. He hit the turn to leave Salmon with five river outs. None of them came on the river and the stacks needed to be checked.

After the accounting was done by the dealer and tournament staff confirmed the numbers, Coelho had the bigger stack over Salmon by a single chip. That put the tournament in the books with Vitor Coelho sending James Salmon out in second place. One spot short of defending his opening tournament title from last year’s Showdown series.

$350 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (Re-Entry)
Level 41: 800,000/1,600,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 2,692
Average Stack: 26,920,000 (22 big blinds)

Vitor Coelho announced all-in from the button and James Salmon sat back to think it through. He had less than 18 million behind and shrug/called with . Salmon’s cards were live against Coelho’s and added a gutshot draw on the flop.

He called out his tournament-saving outs, missed the turn, but hit the river for the straight. It took Coelho a second to realize he didn’t lock up the title, instead he shipped the big double over to Salmon.

James Salmon – 36,600,000 (23 bb)
Vitor Coelho – 17,200,000 (11 bb)

$350 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (Re-Entry)
Return to Level 41: 800,000/1,600,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 2,692
Average Stack: 26,920,000 (22 big blinds)

Event 1 reached the end of the levels loaded into the system. They decided to take a quick 5-minute break and will return with some big blinds.

James Salmon – 17,800,000 (11 bb)
Vitor Coelho – 36,000,000 (23 bb)

$350 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (Re-Entry)
Level 40: 600,000/1,200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 2,692
Average Stack: 26,920,000 (22 big blinds)

It finally took two big starting hands to get things moving. James Salmon min-raised his button and immediately called when Vitor Coelho moved all-in.

Salmon’s was ahead for the title against and stayed that way on the flop. The turn was a blank and Coelho called for an ace.

Instead the dealer gave him the river to save his tournament and give him a slight lead.

James Salmon – 26,000,000 (22 bb)
Vitor Coelho – 28,000,000 (23 bb)

$350 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (Re-Entry)
Level 39: 500,000/1,000,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 2,692
Average Stack: 26,920,000 (27 big blinds)

It can happen when the big blind in a heads up match is 1 million, James Salmon has built himself another big chip lead without a significant hand.

Limped pots have 1.7 million in the middle before the flop comes out and Salmon has most of the pots in the last 30 minutes.

James Salmon – 38,000,000 (38 bb)
Vitor Coelho – 16,000,000 (16 bb)

$350 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (Re-Entry)
Level 39: 500,000/1,000,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 2,692
Average Stack: 26,920,000 (27 big blinds)

There’s been little movement between the two stacks, but we are seeing some intense stare downs. They’ll have to get moving with only 54 big blinds combined.

$350 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (Re-Entry)
Returning to Level 39: 500,000/1,000,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 2,692
Average Stack: 26,920,000 (27 big blinds)

James Salmon and Vitor Coelho are taking a quick 15-minute break and in a virtual dead heat.

James Salmon – 26,500,000 (27 bb)
Vitor Coelho – 27,300,000 (27 bb)

$350 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (Re-Entry)
Level 38: 400,000/800,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 2,692
Average Stack: 26,920,000 (45 big blinds)

Things have been trending Vitor Coelho’s way since his double up early in the heads up match and he pulled a big pot to put him in the lead.

They were mixed up in a 6 million chip pot with the board reading and Salmon put out a 3 million bet. Coelho quickly raised to 7 million to get a fold from Salmon.

Seat 5: James Salmon – 24,000,000 (40 bb)
Seat 6: Vitor Coelho – 30,000,000 (50 bb)

$350 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack (Re-Entry)
Level 38: 400,000/800,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 2,692
Average Stack: 26,920,000 (45 big blinds)

It looked like a pretty tame pot but turned into a big one for Vitor Coelho. James Salmon bet out 2 million with the board reading and Coelho called then checked before the hit the river.

Salmon announced all-in and Coelho instantly called. He snapped over to get a muck double from Salmon.

James Salmon – 34,500,000 (58 bb)
Vitor Coelho – 19,500,000 (33 bb)