2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
$1,100 No Limit Hold’em Survivor (Re-Entry)

April 16th, 2015

Total Entries:  60
Total Prize Pool:  $60,000

Recap:

While Day 1C of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship was playing in the rest of the ballroom, an interesting tournament was on the schedule for those with the day off while waiting for Day 2. The $1,100 buy-in tournament was a No Limit Hold’em event where the prize money was split evenly between the top 10% of the starting field.

An even 60 entrants put up their money setting up the 1-in-10 format to pay out $10,000 to six players. Jose Salazar was declared the champ due to his top stack while receiving the same payout as the rest of those who cashed.

Matt Affleck, Raymond Ruszkowski, Bruce Kramer, Scott Efron, and Arutyun Arutyunyan were among those taking advantage of the off-day event and it paid off for most of them.

The tournament played down quickly and was soon on the big, $10,000 money bubble seven hours into the action. With the brisk pace and big payout jump, they decided to negotiated a save for the 7th place finisher to close out the tournament.

The stacks were compared and Tampa resident Jose Salazar was the lucky winner of the bonus trophy and framed 16×20 print from IMPDI.

Results:

1st: Jose Salazar (Tampa, FL) – $10,000
2nd: Arutyun Arutyunyan (Glendale, CA) – $10,000
3rd: Raymond Ruszkowski (Miami, FL) – $10,000
4th: Larry Hirschfield (Boca Raton, FL) – $10,000
5th: Bruce Kramer (Westminster, CA) – $10,000
6th: Scott Efron (Boca Raton, FL) – $10,000

2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
$2,200 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
$200,000 Guarantee

April 14 – 15th, 2015

Total Entries: 125
Total Prize Pool: $250,000

Recap:
Event 11 was one of the bigger buy-in tournaments on the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown schedule and it drew an impressive number of top players in town for the Championship. The freeze-out format kept the numbers lower while 125 players put up their cash. In the end it was 2014 WSOP Main Event Champion Ryan Riess adding another title and the $63,7775 top prize.

The tournament had a $2,200 price tag for a 6-Max tournament and the short-handed action was somewhat tempered since they were unable to re-enter after a bust-out

Of those 125 players, only 13 survived until the end of Day 2 with Rayan Chamas holding a nice lead over the others. Those 13 players had combined career tournament earnings over $31 million, two WSOP Main Event Champions, four WSOP-C rings, and three WPT titles represented by Antony Zinno.

The field slowing moved down until they reached the final table when Jonathan Duhamel was eliminated in 7th. That set up a long battle between the remaining players until Zo Karim, Glen, Cressman, and Konstantinos Pantaridis fell to the wayside.

Three-handed play stretched event longer during which we saw the chip lead change, Anthony Zinno get very short, and finally a deal made among the remaining players. Riess held a big chip lead and earned the $63,775 first place prize while Zinno took home $43,175 followed by Rayan Chamas’ $28,225.

It was a little surprising to see Riess make a deal but it came down to the tough competition. He first complimented WPT Player of the Year leader Anthony Zinno on his tough play throughout the tournament before mentioning Chamas.

“I had Rayan [Chamas] from Canada on my direct left, and he made it incredibly tough.”

Riess said that the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood is one of his favorite stops of the year, and he usually comes here twice a year — this event and SHRPO in August. His girlfriend, Tabitha Trask, says it’s one of her favorite stops too. She loves the pool, and she praised the security — she feels safer walking around this casino than any of the others she’s been to.

This was Ryan’s second title, the first being his WSOP Main Event victory in 2013.

Final table results:
1st: Ryan Riess (Port Austin, MI) – $63,775
2nd: Anthony Zinno (Boston, MA) – $43,175
3rd: Rayan Chamas (Roxboro, QC) – $28,225
4th: Konstantinos Pantaridis (Belle Isle, FL) – $22,550
5th: Glen Cressman (Boca Raton, FL) – $16,925
6th: Zo Karim (Orlando, FL) – $13,025

2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
$1,100 No Limit Hold’em Turbo (Freeze-out)

April 15th, 2015

Total Entries:  107
Total Prize Pool:  $107,000

Recap:
A final table loaded with talent, a lightning fast structure and a earlier flight that day from Mexico couldn’t stop Robert Kuhn as he barrelled to the Event 12 Championship.

Throughout this tournament with fifteen minute levels, it was hard to keep track of all the action with players exiting the field everywhere you looked all evening. So many top stars had decided to take a shot at this event as a lead-in to the Main Event and it was inevitable that some great names were going to find their way to the end. The presence of Aaron Massey, Darryll Fish, Ory Hen and Jarod Ludemann loomed large but Robert Kuhn had one thing to counteract them: chips. Kuhn was a force with two tables left and by the time he reached the final table, Kuhn had nearly 30% of the chips in play and was ready to face down with some of poker’s best.

Kuhn, Aaron Massey and Jarod Ludemann did most of the heavy lifting terminating players in quick fashion. Massey took out Max Romano and Ory Hen, Kuhn cleared out James Oliver and Darryll Fish and Ludemann knocked out Tony Marini and then set himself up to compete for the championship by sending Massey to the rail in fourth place.

The eliminations did not slow down until the final three were left standing. Matthew Schnell battled ferociously but Kuhn and Ludemann would have none of it. Kuhn whittled down Schnell’s stack and then finished him off to get the field down to the final two players.

And as fast as the tournament ran, it ended even more quickly. After the two remaining players asked for a quick break before heads-up play, they returned to the table agreeing to a chop. Kuhn held a slight chip edge and with that claimed the Event 12 title.

Kuhn felt very fortunate to get to this final table and take it down. “I got it in extremely badly three different times and then got aces in two really clutch spots. I came into the final table with about 30% of the chips and when the dynamic is like that I’m just going to raise quite a bit. I kinda expected the field to be softer than it was. I saw a bunch of these tables and recognized a lot of these guys. There were no easy spots. The key spot on the final table was when my ace-jack held up against Darryll Fish. It was good to take him out.”

Tired from just having flown in from Mexico that day and winning the tournament this evening, Kuhn was feeling happy for quite a few reasons. “I feel good – now I don’t have to go to the bank! Now I can probably shell off $3,500 a couple more times than I intended to (for the Main Event). This is nice and fun plus friends being here is exciting. We literally came here straight from the airport from Playa Del Carmen.”

Kuhn was very complimentary of the staff and likes what he’s seen far of Seminole Hard Rock. “The dealers were really good. The tournament director did a great job keeping his composure especially running around like he did and I love this casino. First time I’ve been here and it’s really nice.” Kuhn will be spending some more time and money here as he gets ready for a run at the Main Event title starting on Thursday.

Congratulations to our Event 12 Champion – Robert Kuhn!

Results:
1st – Robert Kuhn (Barnsville, OH)  – $28,738
2nd – Jarod Ludemann (Wells, MN) – $27,258
3rd – Matthew Schnell – (McKinleyville, CA) – $13,375
4th – Aaron Massey (Elmwood Park, IL) – $9,095
5th – Darryll Fish (Cape Coral, FL) – $7,223
6th – Ory Hen (Cooper City, FL) – $5,618
7th – James Oliver (Boca Raton, FL) – $4,548
8th – Riley Fuller (Boca Raton, FL) – $3,478
9th – Max Romano (Montreal, Ontario, Canada)- $2,408
10th – Tony Marini (Trumbull, CT) – $1,873

2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
$2,200 Eight Game Mix (Single Re-Entry)

April 13-14th, 2015

Total Entries:  15
Total Prize Pool:  $30,000

Recap:

Event 10 did not draw a huge field to the tables but it was extremely talented with multiple WSOP and WPT titles represented. There were 15 players involved but in the end it was Jason Mercier running roughshod over the field late to claim the $18,000 top prize to the title.

Cory Zeidman was back to defend his title from this event at the 2014 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown but the WSOP bracelet winner fell short of the final table. Jonathan Duhamel, 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion, made his first appearance in the ballroom since February but also failed to contend for the title. Anthony Zinno was one of the first to enter the tournament but the presumptive WPT Player of the Year was the first sent out of the tournament.

Play ended on Day 1 with just six players remaining and two of them set to split the prize pool. Mercier had a comfortable lead at the start of Day 2 and never looked back. Fellow WSOP bracelet winner Brian Hastings was an early knockout and Mercier found himself facing Ben Yogel and Marcello Costa on the money bubble.

Mercier turned up the pressure and eventually forced his opponents into submission. Costa and Yogel worked out a deal to chop 2nd place evenly between them leaving the first place $18,000 all to Mercier alone.

It was an impressive run across all eight variants of the game and Mercier proved once again he is among the best poker players in the world. He picked up his cash along with the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown trophy and custom, framed print from IMPDI.

Results:

1st:  Jason Mercier (Hollywood, FL) – $18,000
2nd:  Ben Yogel (Boca Raton, FL) – $12,000

2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
$570 No Limit Hold’em Double Black Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guarantee

April 13th, 2015

Total Entries:  169
Total Prize Pool:  $50,700

Recap:

After an hour-long heads-up match against Will Failla, Ido Ashkenazi said, “This is it. This is going to be the last hand.” And he was right.

Failla looked down at his cards and moved all in with . Ashkenazi checked his cards and called with . The board came , and Ashkenazi won the pot with a set to win the final bounty of the tournament — and the trophy.

The key pot for Failla came with 11 players remaining, when he got it all in with a set of sixes against Natasha Barbour’s set of threes after a flop of . That pot propelled Failla into the chip lead, and that momentum carried Failla deep. When the tournament was over, Failla said that once the final table began, he only hit four or five flops — and that includes an hour of quick heads-up play where they were seeing lots of hands.

As for Ashkenazi, he built his stack more gradually, collecting bounties on short-stacks Marcus Stein (who finished seventh) and Eric Ward (sixth) while slowly increasing his stack to take the chip lead away from Failla.

When they got heads up, Ashkenazi had a solid lead of 1,090,000 to 600,000, but it was all Ashkenazi from there.

Ashkenazi slowly but steadily increased his chip lead by taking pot after pot from Failla. During the hour of heads-up play, there were only three all-in situations — but each time Ashkenazi had at least a 9-to-1 chip lead, so even those two times that Failla doubled, it barely cut into Ashkenazi’s lead.

Ashkenazi is a locksmith from New York, but he is moving down to South Florida in two weeks with plans to become a professional tournament poker player. Now Ashkenazi has a Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown trophy and title to begin the next stage of his poker career.

Event 9 attracted 169 entries to create a prizepool of $50,700, plus a $200 bounty on each player. The final two tables (18 players) finished in the money.

Final Table Results:

1st:  Ido Ashkenazi  –  $15,716
2nd:  Will Failla  –  $9,126
3rd:  Nissim Vaknin  –  $5,831
4th:  John Merchant  –  $4,107
5th:  Blair Miller  –  $3,169
6th:  Eric Ward  –  $2,408
7th:  Marcus Stein  –  $1,876
8th:  Arkadiy Tsinis  –  $1,394
9th:  Natasha Barbour  –  $989

2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
$100,000 Guarantee

April 12th-13th, 2015

Total Entries: 85
Total Prize Pool: $85,000

Recap:

Kazu Oshima got all the Day 2 eliminations except the one he wanted the most as Pete Malkoun stormed back from a large chip deficit to win a three hour heads-up battle and the Event 8 title.

Event 8 reached the final table last late in Day 1 with top pros Brett Bader going out in 9th and Brian Hastings bubbling the tournament in 10th. After play resumed on Monday, it was a table filled with hilarious table talk led by Oktay Altinbas and Travell Thomas with some Alon Yahudi mixed in for fun. But the real story was the devastation of the table by Kazu Oshima and an amazing comeback by Pete Malkoun on his way to the Event 8 title.

Kazu Oshima was a wrecking machine on Day 2 as proceeded to eliminate every player on the table leading into heads-up play. His first victim was Lawrence Paden in 8th followed by Joseph Elia in 7th. John Brody fought all the way playing short-stacked but fell in 6th. Travell Thomas was his next victim in 5th after Oshima hit a flush to end his night and then Oshima continued to build his stack and open up a solid lead having the rest of the table covered.

The hand of the final table was Oshima’s elimination of Alon Yahudi. Yahudi holding flopped the nut straight on a board but Oshima also had a straight draw with which then turned into a king-high flush crushing Yahudi’s hopes of winning the tournament.

Oktay Altinbas brought his lucky dragon with him on Day 2 which managed to drag him into third as he had been nursing a short stack since the tournament was down to two tables. But he finally ran out of luck as the Oshima steamroller finished him off and heads-up play was under way between him and Pete Malkoun.

Oshima had a near 4-1 chip lead but Malkoun was not detered.  With the players still stacked very deep, Malkoun kept the pressure on and had closed the gap significantly by the time the players hit a dinner break.  Upon their return, Malkoun won a huge hand extracting 150,000 chips without a showdown and took the chip lead.  Malkoun continued the pressure and Oshima could not find the answer eventually leading to his elimination.

On the final hand, Malkoun’s held up against Oshima’s as Malkoun hit an ace on the turn and captured the title after a little over three hours of heads-up play.

After the tournament, Malkoun gave what he thought were the keys to his victory.  “I think I was being more patient than he was.  He was raising every button and I wasn’t defending every one of them like he was.  I think he was calling light a little more than I was.  I was trying to be patient not calling out of position.  On the big hand where I was all-in, I had ace-ten and hit two pair and was pretty sure it was the best hand and it was the key swing.”

Despite being so far behind and watching Oshima eliminate player after player, he commented on if he felt like he could still win the tournament.  “Of course. It was a really good structure and I was happy people were dropping.  I really wanted to make it to heads-up and he cleared the way for me.  I ran pretty good heads-up and held up at the end.”

Malkoun was very humble and gracious in speaking of taking the title. “I feel pretty good.  Haven’t won a live one before so I’m very happy.”

He also had some terrific words for the staff.  “It’s great here.  They set us up with two very fast dealers for the heads-up.  The staff and you guys were great and everyone here are really nice people.”

Congratulations to our Event 8 Champion – Pete Malkoun!

Results:
1st – Pete Malkoun (Brookhaven, PA) – $29,750
2nd – Kazu Oshima (Temecula, CA) – $17,000
3rd – Oktay Altinbas (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) – $11,050
4th – Alon Yahudi (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) – $7,650
5th – Travell Thomas (Buffalo, NY) – $5,950
6th – John Brody (Davie, FL) – $4,675
7th – Joseph Elia (Buffalo, NY) – $3,825
8th – Lawrence Paden (Chester Springs, PA) – $2,975
9th – Brett Bader (Jerricho, NY) – $2,215

2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
$570 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guarantee

April 9th-13th, 2015

Total Entries: 2,474
Total Prize Pool: $1,237,000

Recap:

Event 5 had a guaranteed prizepool of $1 million, and it was scheduled to cover four days — three starting days (six flights total), and a fourth day to play to a winner.

But the field attracted 2,474 entries to exceed the guarantee, creating a prizepool worth more than $1.2 million, and by the end of that fourth day, there were still 14 players remaining.

So those 14 players returned on Monday, and they played down to eight players before agreeing to a chip-chop that made chipleader Leonard Benitez the trophy winner.

The big story from the night before was Kyle Sorel, who had the chip lead — sometimes a monstrous chip lead — from the final four tables to the final table. At one point, Sorel had twice as many chips as anyone else, and more than four times the average stack.

While Sorel eventually lost the chip lead at the final table (and finished fourth), he was still among the big stacks and never in much danger, even as the average stack dropped to 15 big blinds.

As for Benitez, he was actually the short stack with 10 players remaining, and then doubled up twice in three hands, with holding up against , and then his flopping a jack against Sorel’s . Benitez never looked back from that point, and had the chip lead at the end of Level 33, when they agreed to an eight-way chop, shortly after the elimination of Benjamin Zamani in ninth place.

Congratulations to Leonard Benitez!

Final Table Results:

1st:  Leonard Benitez  –  $113,357
2nd:  Richard Zipes  –  $112,080
3rd:  Sam Panzica  –  $109,326
4th:  Kyle Sorel  –  $91,266
5th:  Michael Tufaro  –  $87,765
6th:  Rafael Reis  –  $87,421
7th:  Manfred Rosenow  –  $59,805
8th:  Bradley Hinson  –  $51,499
9th:  Benjamin Zamani  –  $21,648

2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
$250 Big Stack Semi-Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Freeze-out)
$20,000 Guarantee

April 12th, 2015

Total Entries: 153
Total Prize Pool: $32,130

After 24 whirlwind levels in this turbo tournament, the players decided to wrap things up and walk out happy.  Happiest of all was Eliyahu “Eli” Levy who stood tall as the chip leader and picks up the Event 7 title with everyone officially splitting the remaining prize money.

Only two eliminations took place on the final table with Trevor Doughty knocked out in 9th and a very short-stacked James Constantino going down in 8th before Levy and the rest of players made the deal. Matt Ehrlich, John Utley, Daniel Genachte, Daniel Letts, Frank Argano and Brian Phillis were also part of the seven-way chop.

Levy, the owner of the Surf Style Outfitters, felt like he was playing but had luck on his side throughout the tournament.  He hit a key hand where he made a straight against pocket kings with two tables left building his stack setting him up the rest of the way.  But Levy felt like it would have been a matter of time anyway.  “I’m in a lot of final tables in South Florida and they know it.  It’s only a matter of time before I take all the chips.  They didn’t do it because they like me but they know my judgement is very good.”

One of the reasons he’s thrilled about the win is that he gets to show the trophy to his kids and grandchildren.  “Every time I show them the pictures, they get the ambition to become good professional poker players.  They want to beat Grandpa.”

Levy always has a great time here at Seminole Hard Rock and incredibly complimentary of the staff and facility. “I love the staff and the dealers – absolutely.  All of them are very nice.  I always take a room here at the beginning and stay to the end.”

As happy as Levy was with the win, he was playing with a heavy heart.   He was informed during the event that a good friend of his, Jacob Musley, passed away and Levy wanted to make sure he honored him today. Levy did just that by playing with a free spirit and a passion for the game like very few here at Seminole Hard Rock.

Congratulations to Eliyahu Levy – our Event 7 Champion!

1st – Eliyahu “Eli” Levy (Miami, FL) – $3,945
2nd – Matt Ehrilch – (Garden City, NY) – $3,945
3rd – John Utley (Mogranfield, KY) – $3,945
4th – Daniel Genachte (Deerfield Beach, FL) – $3,945
5th – Daniel Lewis (Orlando, FL) – $3,945
6th – Frank Argano (Miami Beach, FL) – $3,945
7th – Brian Phillis (Tampa, FL) – $3,945
8th – James Constantino (Las Vegas, NV) – $932
9th – Trevor Doughty (Seguin, TX) – $643

2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
$350 Seniors (50+) No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$20,000 Guarantee

April 9th, 2015

Total Entries:  60
Total Prize Pool:  $20,000

Recap:

Marsha Wolak of Pompano Beach, Florida, won Event 4 ($350 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em) in a seemingly impossible way — by losing the final hand of heads-up play. (More on that in a bit.)

The tournament started at noon, and attracted 60 players who were battling all day for the guaranteed prizepool of $20,000. The event was originally scheduled to play out over two days, but when they reached the final table, the players decided to continue playing all the way down to a winner — even as talk of a chop was nipped in the bud by chipleader John Merchant.

Merchant had the chip lead when the final table began, and held it all the way down to three-handed play, when he was facing Wolak and Phyliss Jefferson. Neither women should have been underestimated, however, as Jefferson won this event four years ago, and Wolak is fresh off a victory in another Seniors Event a couple months ago.

Merchant’s chip lead faded quickly once three-handed play began. With the board showing on the turn, Jefferson moved all in, and Merchant called with for two pair with a ten-high flush draw. But Jefferson turned over for a queen-high flush draw, and only had to fade a full house to double up. The river card was the , and Jefferson doubled.

Merchant’s tournament only got worse from there, as he lost a preflop all in with against Jefferson’s , and then lost the last of his chips with against Wolak’s . Ace-queen was not kind to Merchant, and he was eliminated in third place.

When heads-up play began with blinds at 4K-8K, Wolak had 430,000 to Jefferson’s 170,000. But Jefferson steadily built up her stack to take a slight chip lead, and then they got it all in after a flop of . Jefferson had flopped two pair with , while Wolak had for a flush draw. The turn was the , the river was the , and Wolak rivered a club flush to win the pot and double up — knocking Jefferson down to just two big blinds.

It seemed that the tournament was over, but over the course of the next 12 hands, Jefferson won four all-in situations and several other hands to completely even things up at 300,000 each.

Their chip stacks remained close for the next 20 minutes or so, until they got it all in after a flop of . This time, Jefferson’s was behind Wolak’s (pair of jacks), and Wolak’s hand held up to win the pot. Once again, Jefferson was nearly felted, this time left with just 10,000 — a single big blind.

They played one more hand, with Jefferson’s against Wolak’s . The board came — Wolak flopped two pair, but Jefferson rivered a straight to double up to two big blinds.

That’s when Wolak — having flashbacks of Jefferson’s previous comeback — raised a white flag and made a peace offering in the form of a deal. She offered Jefferson an extra $100 to take second place, and Jefferson said, “Make it $200, so I can take care of the dealers.” Wolak agreed, and their heads-up deal ended the tournament.

And that’s how Marsha Wolak won a tournament while losing the final hand of heads-up play.

Congratulations to Marsha Wolak!

Results:

1st:  Marsha Wolak  –  $7,200
2nd:  Phyliss Jefferson  –  $4,600
3rd:  John Merchant  –  $2,700
4th:  Morris Heider  –  $1,900
5th:  Richard Riviello  –  $1,500
6th:  Harry Eisenberg  –  $1,200
7th:  Grady Yeager  –  $900

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