$250 Deep Stack Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 28: 30,000/60,000/10,000 Ante
After the elimination of Joe Yselonia, the final five players decided that it was time to call a halt the festivities and agreed to a five-way deal. After the chips were counted, Raminder Singh had the biggest stack of the group and was crowned the Event 3 Champion winning $6,716.
Per the chip counts, Nemy Alegado finishes in 2nd place followed by Tim Frazin in 3rd and Jon Ounjian finishes in 4th all winning $6,233. Philip Consolo winds up in 5th taking home $6,002.
Congratulations to our Event 3 Champion – Raminder Singh!
Raminder Singh ($6,716)Nemy Alegado – 2nd Place ($6,233)Tim Frazin – 3rd Place ($6,233)Jon Ounjian – 4th Place ($6,233)Philip Consolo – 5th Place ($6,002)
The second new tournament today has a four-digit buy-in with some nice money due in the end. Event 4 is a $1,100 No Limit Hold’em tournament scheduled to play deep enough to need two days to complete.
Players begin with 12,000 stacks and play 30-minute levels until registration closes after Level 10. At that point they move to 40-minute levels to grind out until they bag up after Level 15.
$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 10: 500/1,000/100 Ante
Despite the near 50 big blind average stack, there’s been a steady stream of exits since the last break leaving less than 300 players remaining as Level 10 rolls through.
The tables are breaking fast while we’re catching up with those sent out the door and the bigger stacks in the room.
We had one player stop by who was waiting for the 6pm flight this evening. John Reese captured the Event 2 title last evening in the biggest non-Hold’em game thrown here in recent memory, today he stopped by to pick up his custom-framed winner’s photo courtesy of Seminole Hard Rock Poker, Eric Harkins, and IMPDI.
Every main tournament winner will take home one of these beauties for some nice added value.
2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $250 Limit Omaha/8 (Re-Entry)
July 31, 2015
Total Entries: 101 Total Prize Pool: $21,210
Event 2 Champion John Reese
Recap: In a event where one player was looking for his 12th career mixed game title and another was trying to join his daughter in the winners circle, two players ended up being the spoilers dominating the final table with John Reese standing tall at the end.
The final table started off fast as Phillippe Gourreau was quickly eliminated in 10th followed by Chico Pho in 9th. Pho was knocked out on a rivered straight by Jeff Bunims who had stormed to the chip lead taking command of the table. And his lead grew even larger as he eliminated Robert Campbell in 8th with a pair of 2’s ending Campbell’s quest for fourth Seminole Hard Rock championship and an incredible 12th mixed title.
In the meantime, the news hit the table that Loni Harwood had won the WSOP National Championship which was very special to one player in particular. Her father, Joel Harwood, was at the final table and let out a scream of celebration when he saw the news getting the attention of the room and the congratulations from his table mates. Her win set up an incredibly rare possibility of a father/daughter duo winning major events on the same day if Joel could pull through.
But Jeff Bunims was having none of it. Bunims continued to play a wide open game and he and Alban Torres split a four-way pot which ended up sending Geoff Mikukla to the rail in 7th and then took out Ryan Leto in 6th. Bunims was now in a commanding position to put away the tournament but fate and John Reese had different ideas. A huge three-way pot saw Reese hit broadway against Bunims king-high straight scooping the pot and also sending Christian Ivens out in 5th place. Joel Harwood has also managed to chip up in the meantime and was in the mix for title as well. And with the elimination of Alban Torres in 4th, the final three were ready to battle it out.
John Reese hit a nut flush and scooped against Harwood setting up Harwood’s elimination shortly afterward in similar fashion ending Harwood’s quest to join his daughter in the winner’s circle but still ending up with a superb third place finish.
After the elimination of Harwood, Reese and Bunims had enough and decided to chop the remaining prize money leaving John Reese as the first champion of this year’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.
Reese looked back on his game plan and how the final table played out. “Coming into a new table I didn’t know half the players at the table and I was a short stack at that point. So I just sat back and waited until I caught a hand and was just fortunate it started to roll at the end at the right time. It’s been a long time since I’ve played serious Omaha but going back twenty-five years ago I put myself through two years of college playing in Tampa at the Seminole in $40 Omaha tournaments so I’ve played a lot of Omaha and it was just nice to come in here and catch cards.”
And given his unique perspective on life and what he’s been through to have a moment like this victory was incredibly special to him. “Without getting emotional for what I’ve been through in the last seven years this was by far the biggest tournament that I’ve won. I’ve had serious health problems – three heart attacks and a sudden cardiac arrest and actually was dead for four and a half minutes two years ago. I’m happy to be here.”
Reese was also very generous in his praise for the Seminole Hard Rock-Hollywood team. “Look, it’s a class act. I’ve played a lot of poker and I love Hollywood. They do a great job here. I live in Ft. Myers and I come here and it’s mostly because of the people. They treat you right here. Everyone’s friendly and they take care of their customers.”
Congratulations to our Event 2 Champion – John Reese!
Results: 1st: John Reese (Ft. Myers, FL) – $5,076 2nd: Jeff Bunims (Loxahatchee, FL) – $5,075 3rd: Joel Harwood (Hallandale Beach, FL) – $2,687 4th: Alban Torres (Miami, FL) – $1,992 5th: Christian Ivens (Miami Beach, FL) – $1,493 6th: Ryan Leto (Tampa, FL) – $1,194 7th: Geoff Mikulka (St. Petersburg, FL) – $995 8th: Robert Campbell (Miami, FL) – $795 9th: Chico Pho (Memphis, TN) – $598 10th: Phillippe Goureau (Bal Harbour, FL) – $435
2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship $5,000,000 Guarantee
April 16 – 22nd, 2015
Total Entries: 1,476 Total Prize Pool: $5,000,000
Recap: The 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship kicked off on April 16 with a $5,000,000 prize pool and a week later we saw one player walk away with $1,000,000. After three starting flights and six total days of action, Griffin Paul was the last player standing to capture the title along with the seven-digit payday.
The showcase Championship event of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown series had a $3,500 buy-in and drew 1,476 total entrants. They made it through more than 12 hours on the first day for a chance to play on Day 2 and make it into the money.
There was a wide range of poker professionals, champions, and Seminole Hard Rock Poker regulars in action for the big event. Four WSOP Main Event Champions took their shot at the title but none were able to make it deep in the tournament. Ryan Riess (2013), Jonathan Duhamel (2010), Jamie Gold (2006), and Carlos Mortensen (2001) were the world champions in attendance and they played alongside some of our local grinders including Ory Hen, Nigel Murray, Angel Vu, and Gregory Marcus.
The last 150 players in the tournament earned a piece of the $5 million prize pool and it was local professional Darryll “DFish” Fish eliminated in 151st spot to put the rest in the money. Some of the top names to cash in the tournament were Jason Mercier, Faraz Jaka, Brian Hastings, Jared Jaffee, Darren Elias, and Esther Taylor-Brady. Vince Van Patten was another player everyone was watching as the WPT commentator picked up his first career cash in a WPT event.
Day 4 saw the return of 18 players vying for the title including top pros Mohsin Chanaria, Dan Heimiller, Cornel Cimpan, and David Peters. South Florida poker fans were cheering for local Eli Levy who began the day with the lead, but he was unable to sustain his momentum and was eliminated short of the final table. The pace was quick and it did not take long for Joe Ebanks, Griffin Paul, Brian Green, Shawn Nguyen, Andre Crooks, and Ryan Rivers to book their seat at the nationally televised WPT final table in Hard Rock Live.
Six-handed play lasted for two hours before play heated up. Rivers was the first player sent off the final table when he lost to Ebanks and Green followed at the hands of Paul. Two local favorites were the next to exit and silence the enthusiastic crowd. Nguyen had the biggest group of supports and their cheers could probably be heard across the property when he doubled early. He lasted another hour but was also eliminated by Paul in 4th place.
Crooks had his share of fans and family in the stands and it took a bad beat to send him out. He was ahead with pocket Kings against Ebanks’ pocket Nines but a Nine on the flop ended his day. His knockout set up a heads up battle between Ebanks and Paul for the title.
Ebanks began heads up play with a 2-to-1 advantage but Paul quickly doubled to take away the advantage. He never gave up the lead and it took just 23 more hands for him to become our latest champion along with $1,000,000 for the effort. Ebanks played great throughout the tournament and picked up the well-earned $615,000 prize for his runner-up finish.
This was easily Paul’s biggest poker success. He only had seven career tournament cashes, including a $25,000 payout at this summer’s WSOP series, but this one tops them all.
“It’s like a dream, I’m speechless.” Paul said. “It was a really tough table. I fought some amazing players and here I am.”
“I stayed here last night for the first time. It’s an amazing property.” Paul commented when asked about his experience this week. “Really nice. Beautiful. The staff here is great.”
That concludes the 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, thank you to all the players for making this a great series and congratulations to Griffin Paul on his Championship title.
Final table results: 1st: Griffin Paul (Northridge, CA) – $1,000,000 2nd: Joe Ebanks (Kent, OH) – $615,000 3rd: Andre Crooks (Lake Worth, FL) – $383,000 4th: Shawn Nguyen (West Palm Beach, FL) – $323,500 5th: Brian Green (Decatur, TX) – $269,000 6th: Ryan Rivers (Niagara Falls, ON) – $217,500
2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $250 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $30,000 Guarantee
April 21st, 2015
Total Entries: 184 Total Prize Pool: $38,640
Event 20 Champion Alex Boytan
Recap:
The players on the final table in Event 20 seemed determined to make sure that they were the last table to play in the ballroom for this year’s Poker Showdown and they did not disappoint. A final table filled with twists, turns, table chatter and a man with nine lives took this table to the 3:30 AM mark with Alex Boytan finally making a deal with Howie Hershkovich and winning the title.
Following the eliminations of Jose Navarete in 9th, Allan Bieler in 8th and Gregory Marcus in 7th, the action slowed considerably for the final six players.
But then in rapid-fire fashion just minutes apart, Kenny Bhakta was out in 6th followed by Tony Burns in 5th. Then the knockdown-dragout conflict that seemed like it had no end was on.
Alex Boytan, Gil Morgenstern, Howie Hershkovich and Dave Albertson got to know each other very well over the next two hours. Despite the fact that the blinds were threatening to put all the players in jeopardy, they could not come an agreement and continued to trade chips. Boytan eventually got most of the chips in play but couldn’t clear the table.
Albertson kept stunning the table as he was continally winning all-in after all-in whether ahead or behind. All the while, Albertson kept up some testy table chatter with Boytan telling him he would not knock him out and he was going to come back and win the tournament.
At 3 AM, Boytan managed to finish off Morgenstern in 4th place as he hit a queen-high flush off a flop leaving Morgenstern’s pair of sevens in the rear view mirror and the players played on three-handed. Amazingly, after Albertson was down to just 35,000 chips he kept coming from behind and winning all-ins shrinking Boytan’s stack. But it was not meant to be as Hershkovich finally stopped Albertson’s streak coming from behind himself with against Albertson’s .
Boytan now found himself in a position where only a couple of blinds separated him and Hershrovich. Hershkovich offered a deal to split the money evenly forgoing the title and after some convincing, Boytan accepted and the championship trophy was his.
Congratulations to our Event 20 Champion – Alex Boytan!
1st – Alex Boytan – $9,468 2nd – Howie Hershkovich – $9,467 3rd – Dave Albertson – $4,444 4th – Gil Morgenstern – $3,130 5th – Tony Burns – $2,415 6th – Kenny Bhakta – $1,835 7th – Gregory Marcus- $1,430 8th – Allan Bieler$1,063 9th – Jose Navarrete – $753
2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $50,000 Guarantee
April 19 – 21st, 2015
Total Entries: 652 Total Prize Pool: $78,240
Event 17 Champion Emil Soffer
Recap:
There was no question when the dust settled in Event 17 who deserved to win this title as Emil Soffer played outstanding poker on Day 2 to capture the trophy.
The story early on was Ross Lebo. Lebo had been on cruise control most of the way to the final table. At one point, he held over 2.6 million chips with three tables remaining and was on cruise control to the final table. But along the way Josias Santos and Soffer started doing some damage of their own. But in the major confrontations they had with two tables left, Soffer had mostly gotten the best of Santos.
Two fast eliminations with eleven players remaining got Event 17 to the final table with Brandon Pinkerton going out first. And just when Lebo had slipped to 1.1 million, he came from behind on two consecutive hands eliminating Ravi Shanmugam in 8th and Michael Corbett in 7th. But Lebo could not keep the momentum going. Jamie Gomez started to assert himself and took most of Lebo’s chips before finally ending his night in 5th. Then things got a little strange.
Louis Leo IV had survived a couple of all-ins leaving Sean Yu as the short stack and Gomez had taken the lead away from Soffer. Despite Yu’s position, he insisted during a chop discussion that he should be declared the champion. His bold attempt to convince the other players to end the touranemnt didn’t work out and play continued.
Gomez and Soffer hooked up in a key hand which turned out to the be the difference in the tournament with Soffer barely getting the best of it after a great call putting him back in the lead. After a few more hands, the players agreed to discuss a chop after the end of the next hand. Ironically, the hand ended up putting Yu and Soffer against each other. Yu had decided to press as hard as possible to double up and put himself all-in on the turn. Had Soffer lost the hand, his chip lead would have been in jeopardy. But Soffer picked off Yu’s semi-bluff and sent him out in 5th place.
After the conclusion of the hand, the remaining four players agreed to the chop leaving Soffer the winner following the key hands he’d won against Gomez and Yu.
“I took some chances with 4-5 suited, 7-8 suited and got the cards and it paid off. I thought he (Yu) was bluffing and I had the high pair with the low kicker. It was not an all-in for me so nothing hurt – go for it. It’s a great feeling to win – very nice. I love coming here!”
Congratulations to our Event 17 Champion – Emil Soffer!
Results: 1st – Emil Soffer (Miami, FL) – $15,394 2nd – Jamie Gomez (Miami Gardens, FL) – $11,468 3rd – Josias Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) – $10,208 4th – Louis Leo IV (Coral Springs, FL) – $9,056 5th – Sean Yu (Los Angeles, CA) – $3,951 6th – Ross Lebo (Lehigh Acres, FL) – $3,169 7th – Michael Corbett (Fort Lauderdale, FL) – $2,425 8th – Ravi Shanmugam (San Jose, CA) -$1,721 9th – Brandon Pinkerton (Jupiter, FL) – $1,252
2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $570 Big Stack Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max (Single Re-Entry) $30,000 Guarantee
April 20th, 2015
Total Entries: 90 Total Prize Pool: $45,000
Charles Sinn, Event 18 Champion
Recap:
Event 18 gave Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown players one last chance to play some non-Hold’em before the series wound down. The $570 buy-in tournament was a short-handed, Pot Limit Omaha event with a nice $30,000 guaranteed prize pool. They easily surpassed that amount after 90 entrants created a $45,000 prize pool. When it was all done, Charles Sinn was the last player standing for the title and $12,128.
The 6-max format combined with the high-gamble nature of PLO and single re-entry kept the tournament moving at a quick pace. They were soon at the final table with six players left for a chance at the title. Darius Studdard had the best historical numbers compared to the rest, a $300k runner-up finish in a 6-max WSOP event last summer, but he was knocked out in 5th place.
Charles Sinn was the big chip leader throughout all final table play and was responsible for all but one elimination. The final heads up battle with Joel Harwood did not last long. Sinn had Harwood all-in with the best of it and stayed that way through the river. Harwood picked up $8,217 for his 2nd place finish while Sinn grabbed the $12,128 first place prize, slick trophy, and the custom framed winner’s photo from IMPDI.
Final table results:
1st: Charles Sinn (Delray Beach, FL) – $12,128 2nd: Joel Harwood (Hallendale, FL) – $8,217 3rd: Dmitriy Vernitskiy – $5,369 4th: Jeffery Palarino (Pittsburgh, PA) – $4,293 5th: Darius Studdard (Medford, NY) – $3,222 6th: Ricardo Nakamura (Londrina, BR) – $2,480
2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $1,650 Eight-Max No Limit Hold’Em (Re-Entry) $100,000 Guarantee
April 19 – 20th, 2015
Total Entries: 110 Total Prize Pool: $165,000
Event 16 Champion Rachel Kranz
Recap:
A world champion, a November Niner and one of the most consistent players at Seminole Hard Rock took to the felt chasing the Event 16 title but in the end Rachel Kranz pulled off the amazing upset and took down Event 16 and the $44,683 first prize.
11 players returned on Day 2 including Jamie Gold, Chino Rheem and Daren Stabinski plus chip leader Robert Black.
Fairly quickly, the short-stacked Jamie Gold fell in 10th place and was soon followed by Ray Qartomy in 9th. The field continued to whittle down rapidly as Long Nguyen went out in 8th, Eracles Panayitou left in 7th, and Black finished 6th. At that point, the remaining five players were battling for most of the evening before Daniel DiZenzo finally went out in 4th leaving Rheem, Stabinsky and Kranz to play for the title.
Because the players were so deep, it took hours before Stabinski finally met his fate in 3rd. Stabinski just could not find an answer for Kranz finally going out when he went all-in with on a 7-9-10 board. Kranz had an answer holding pocket tens and sent Stabinski to the payout window in third setting up a showdown with Rheem.
With a large crowd including Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi watching the action, Rheem began with a ton of confidence but outchiped 4:1. With what seemed like non-stop conversation going on, Rheem finally doubled up. On a board, the chips ended up in the middle and Chino flipped up and Kranz had . After the board ran out , Rheem now had a 2:1 edge.
But Kranz struck back. Rheem went all-in having hit a top pair on a six-board but Kranz turned over pocket jacks and retook the lead.
Not long after, the woman who had seemed to have all the answers pulled out some magic one more time. After a flop, Kranz and Rheem had their chips in the middle. Rheem was looking good with for top two pair but Kranz was holding for the set and after the cards ran out , Kranz had pulled out the victory.
Kranz was very congratulatory to Chino and was thrilled with victory yelling out “It just set in – I won $44,000!” Not only that but she had outlasted one of poker’s greats to do it.
Congratulations to our Event 16 Champion – Rachel Kranz!
Results: 1st – Rachel Kranz (New York, NY) – $44,683 2nd – Chino Rheem (Los Angeles, CA) – $26,400 3rd – Daren Stabinski (Weston, FL) – $19,365 4th – Sean Giesbrecht (Richmond, BC, Canada) – $13,860 5th – Daniel DiZenzo (Sussex, NJ) – $10,478 6th – Robert Black (Dallas, TX) – $8,003 7th – Eracles Panayitou (Tom’s River, NJ) – $6,435 8th – Long Nguyen (Houston, TX) – $5,198
2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $350 Buy-In Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) $30,000 Guaranteed
April 20th, 2015
Total Entries: 125 Total Prize Pool: $37,500
Event 15 Champion Wing Ng
Recap: A poker reporter turned player and a former Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood event champion couldn’t stand in the way of Wing Ng’s championship quest as he claimed the Event 15 title in decisive fashion.
The final table saw Kristy Arnett, who recently came out from the behind the camera to play poker full-time, reach this final table. Also there was Jordan Chizick who won Event 20 at least year’s Poker Showdown and was looking for a repeat performance. Unfortunately, Arnett took a tough beat early on and was eliminated in 9th. After the eliminations of Matthew Irish in 8th and Robert Bastoire in 7th, Robert Tannenbaum took another rough exit as Mark Alcivar cracked his kings with eights hitting a set on the turn and ousting him in 6th place.
After Thomas Sheets was knocked out in 5th, the four players took some time out to see if they could make a deal and end the tournament. But after Mohammed Jaafar couldn’t agree on the money, play continued on.
At first, it was looking like the classic story of the player not taking the deal falling out. Jordan Chizick and Jaafar locked up in a wild hand with Chizick holding vs Jaafar’s . Chizick flopped two pair but two hearts were on the board and Jaafar turned the nut flush. But Chizick hit a full house on the river and doubled up.
But Chizick was eliminated shortly afterward in 4th place by Wing Ng putting Ng in the chip lead leaving Jaafar and Alcivar hoping to chase him down. After Ng continued to build his stack, Jaafar and Alcivar ended up in the decisive hand of the tournament as on a flop the chips ended up in the middle. Alcivar flipped over for top pair and a flush draw and Jaafar showed for a lower flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. The card that Jaafar needed showed up as the turn brough the giving him the straight. The came off on the river and eliminated Alcivar leaving Ng and Jaafar heads-up for the title.
At that point with Ng holding a significant chip advantage, the two made a deal giving Ng his first career championship.
Ng gave his final thoughts about the win. “It’s awesome. It’s my first trophy – so exciting! I was just patient and played in position. It means a lot to me. I hope I can win more trophies in the future in big tournaments. This hotel is really good, the food is good, everything is good!”
Congratulations to our Event 15 Champion – Wing Ng!
Results: 1st – Wing Ng (Chino Hills, CA) – $10,999 2nd – Mohammed Jaafar (Miami, FL) – $9,000 3rd – Mark Alcivar (Pembroke Pines, FL) – $4,688 4th – Jordan Chizik (Sunrise, FL) – $3,188 5th – Thomas Sheets (Norfolk, VA) – $2,531 6th – Robert Tannenbaum (Delray, FL) – $1,969 7th – Robert Bastoire (Cecilia, KY) – $1,594 8th – Matthew Irish (Farmington, ME) – $1,219 9th – Kristy Arnett (Las Vegas, NV) – $844
against Albertson’s 
.
on a 7-9-10 board. Kranz had an answer holding pocket tens and sent Stabinski to the payout window in third setting up a showdown with Rheem.
board, the chips ended up in the middle and Chino flipped up 
and Kranz had 
. After the board ran out 
, Rheem now had a 2:1 edge.
flop, Kranz and Rheem had their chips in the middle. Rheem was looking good with 
for top two pair but Kranz was holding 
for the set and after the cards ran out 
, Kranz had pulled out the victory.
. Chizick flopped two pair but two hearts were on the board and Jaafar turned the nut flush. But Chizick hit a full house on the river and doubled up.
for top pair and a flush draw and Jaafar showed 
giving him the straight. The