2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood
Event #6
$350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty 
Total Entries: 140
Prize Pool: $28,000 + $14,000 in Bounty prizepool
April 4, 2016

After 12 hours of no limit hold’em, Carlos Loving takes down the $350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty event, earning the fifth trophy of the series.

Loving topped a field of 140 players to take home $8,120 along with $100 for each bounty he earned along the way. The Tampa native battled Daren Stabinski heads-up for about an hour before taking down the title.

“It feels great to win,” said Loving. “It’s always awesome. I’m very competitive so I want to win every time I play.”

Loving is now a professional poker player, but made the transition to poker after having an extensive engineering background and a successful career as computer engineer. Loving’s engineering experience made the transition to poker easier.

“When I first started playing, I like it and realized that I was pretty good at it,” said Loving. “So I started studying it and when I got into the math of the game, it was pretty easy for me. I started using that in my game and my engineering background helped a lot.”

As the tournament got later, Loving’s stack began to grow and he was the chip leader at the outset of the final table. There was a discussion about giving everyone their bounties back at the final table, but Loving dismissed that notion right away and wanted to continue playing for the bounties.

“Saying no to that was because I was the chip leader,” he said. “I knew that there were short stacks and I knew that if I knocked them out, I gained $100. I knew that it was an advantage for me to put pressure on them, so there was no reason for me to let them take back their $100.”

Even though he was the dissenting voice against a bounty deal at the final table, Loving didn’t pick up many bounties along the way.

Almost all of the money he won was from the first place finish.

“I didn’t accumulate a bounty until I knocked out one person when we were down to 11,” he recalled.

That knockout solidified his chip lead at the final table and he never was short once that last table began. The action was fast for most of the final table and the eliminations quickly piled up, but once Loving was heads-up with Stabinski, things slowed down.

“We were 60 big blinds deep,” said Loving. “So I didn’t want to make any mistakes and try to get it all in preflop with any mediocre hand. I wanted to play postflop a lot. That’s why we were seeing a lot flops and playing small ball poker. It worked out for me.”

Here is a look at the results:

1st: Carlos Loving: $8,120
2nd: Daren Stabinski – $4,760
3rd: Joel Duarte – $2,800
4th: Howard Talesnick – $2,240
5th: Donte Larsen – $1,680
6th: Eric Riley – $1,400
7th: Seth Gilson – $1,120
8th: Shawn Nguyen – $840
9th: Francisco Milanes – $630
10th: Johanssy Joseph – $560
11th: Cesar Fuentes – $560
12th: Wendy Freedman – $560
13th: Ariel Rosello Quintana – $490
14th: Nissin Vaknin – $490
15th: Edward Mroczkowski – $490
16th: Ido Ashkenazi – $420
17th: Joseph Duchman – $420
18th: Robert Marcocchio – $420

Event 6 Final Results

$350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty
Level 22: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 140
Average Stack: 700,000

There is about 150,000 in the pot on the turn with the board reading and Daren Stabinski bets 85,000 out of the big blind.

Loving takes a minute in the tank and then calls. The river is the and Stabinski moves all in for about 340,000. Loving snap-calls.

Stabinski looks visibly unhappy about the call and shows . Loving tables , good for the king-high flush and he wins the pot and tournament.

Loving earns $8,120 for the win, along with the trophy and Stabinski takes home $4,760 for his runner-up finish.

Carlos Loving – Winner of $350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty ($8,120)
Daren Stabinski – Eliminated in 2nd ($4,760)

$350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty
Level 22: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 140
Average Stack: 700,000

Carlos Loving raises to 25,000 on the button and Daren Stabinski calls out of the big blind. The flop is and both players check.

The turn is the and Stabinski checks again. Loving bets 23,000 and Stabinski calls. The river is the and Stabinski leads out for 70,000.

Loving takes a few moments and calls. Stabinski tables , having missed his flush draw and playing the board. Loving drags the pot with his .

Carlos Loving – 795,000
Daren Stabinski – 605,000

$350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty
Level 21: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 140
Average Stack: 700,000

On a flop of , Carlos Loving bets 20,000 out of the big blind and Daren Stabinski calls on the button.

The turn is the and Loving bets 55,000. Stabinski calls again and the river is the . Loving bets 200,00 and Stabinski goes into the tank for a couple minutes.

“What a stupid river,” said Stabinski.

Stabinski eventually tosses his hand into the muck and Loving drags the pot to take a small chip advatage.

Carlos Loving – 800,000
Daren Stabinski – 600,000

$350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty
Level 21: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 140
Average Stack: 700,000

On a flop of , Carlos Loving checks and Daren Stabinski bets. Loving check-raises to 60,000 and Stabinski calls.

The turn is the and Loving bets 85,000. Stabinski calls and the river is the . Both players check.

Loving announces king-high and Stabinski shows . Loving flashes a three as well before mucking his hand. Stabinski drags the pot and the two are even in chips.

Daren Stabinski – 700,000
Carlos Loving – 700,000

$350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty
Level 21: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 140
Average Stack: 700,000

Daren Stabinski raises on the button and Carlos Loving defends his big blind.

The flop is and Loving checks. Stabinski bets 25,000 and Loving calls. The turn is the and Loving checks again. Stabinski bets again, this time 35,000 and Loving calls.

The river is the and Loving checks for a third time. Stabinski bets 90,000 and Loving doesn’t waste much time in calling.

“You win,” said Stabinski.

Loving shows , good for a pair of tens and Stabinski mucks his hand.

Loving takes the pot and opens up a bit of a chip lead over Stabinski.

Carlos Loving – 810,000
Daren Stabinski – 590,000

$350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty
Level 20: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 140
Average Stack: 700,000

Carlos Loving is heads-up with Daren Stabinski for the title and $8,120. Here is a look at the chip counts at the start of heads-up play. The runner-up takes home $4,760.

Carlos Loving – 720,000
Daren Stabinski – 680,000

$350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty
Level 20: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 140
Average Stack: 700,000

Joel Duarte moves all in on the button for about 130,000 and Carlos Loving calls out of the small blind.

Duarte shows and is in the lead against Loving’s .

The flop is and Duarte keeps the lead. The falls on the turn and Duarte lets out a sigh of frustration as Loving takes the lead and Duarte is left with three outs to the river.

The river is the and Loving drags the pot to eliminate Duarte in third for $2,800.

Loving now goes heads-up with Daren Stabinski with almost identical chip stacks and play for the title and $8,120.

Carlos Loving – 720,000
Joel Duarte – Eliminated

$350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty
Level 20: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 140
Average Stack: 466,000

Howard Talesnick raises to 20,000 from under-the-gun and Carlos Loving three-bets to 45,000 from the big blind.

Talesnick calls and they are heads-up to a flop of . Loving checks and Talesnick moves all in for 115,000. Loving calls.

Loving shows and is in the lead against Talesnick’s . The turn is the , giving Talesnick two more outs, but the river is the and Talesnick is eliminated in fourth.

Talesnick earns $2,240 and Loving moves over the 500,000 chip mark.

Carlos Loving – 560,000
Howard Talesnick – Eliminated

$350 No Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty
Level 20: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 140
Average Stack: 350,000

There is about 60,000 chips in the pot on the turn with the board reading and Daren Stabinski bets 35,000 from under-the-gun.

Joel Duarte raises to 85,000 on the button and Stabinski takes a moment before calling. The river is the and both players check.

Stabinski shows , giving him a flush and Duarte mucks his hand. Stabinski drags the pot and has almost half of the chips in play.

Daren Stabinski – 650,000
Joel Duarte – 155,000