$1,100/$500K: Meet the Final Table

Event 21 was the last Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Big 4 tournament to form its final table and the $1.100 buy-in tournament might be the first to crown its champion. The tournament reached nine players at 3 am and the final table return on Tuesday at 1 pm to take the stage on the Poker Night in America live-stream.

Cangir Elcin leads the return with plenty of tough players behind including Jack Duong, Corey Hochman, and SHR Tampa champ Mario De La Puente.

Here’s a look at the final table lineup.


Seat 1: Jack Duong
Chip Count – 2,395,000

Jack Duong is from South Plainfield, New Jersey, and he is 30 years old. Duong has career live tournament earnings of $2,040,900.

The largest score of his poker career came when Duong won a gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker back in 2015. Duong topped a field of 2,178 entries to win $333,351 in a $1,500 no-limit hold’em bounty event that year.


Seat 2: Cangir Elcin
Chip Count – 3,040,000

Cangir Elcin will be the chip leader at the start of play at the final table after a strong run during the play-down stretch late last night.

The 53-year-old is originally from Turkey, and he now lives in Miami, Florida. His career tournament earnings currently stand at $99,707, and he should add to that total considerably at the final table.


Seat 3: David Castranova
Chip Count – 835,000

Seminole Hard Rock regular and cash game pro David Castranova is from right here in Hollywood, Florida. The 42-year-old is married to his wife Amanda, and they have a daughter named Alexandra.

Castranova holds career tournament earnings of $118,422, and a good portion of those winnings have come right here at the Seminole Hard Rock. Castranova also described his occupation as a short-term, high-risk, strategic investment analyst.


Seat 4: Keith Brennan
Chip Count – 865,000

Keith Brennan is from Ashbourne, Ireland, and the 33-year-old poker pro was formerly a bartender. He takes $263,814 in career earning into the final table. His largest previous score was for $36,648, and it came at the Unibet Open in Dublin back in 2018.


Seat 5: Gary Leibovitz
Chip Count – 910,000 (30 bb)

Gary Leibovitz is a 54-year-old realtor from Chicago, Illinois. He listed a third-place finish at the WSOP Circuit Hammond Main Event as his biggest poker accomplishment, and indeed it is since it accounts for $80,796 of his career earnings worth $150,230.


Seat 6: Corey Hochman
Chip Count – 670,000

Corey Hochman is an ophthalmologist from Phoenix, Arizona. The 44-year-old is no stranger to tournament poker with three top-10 finishes on the World Poker Tour. Hochman holds career earnings of $1,397,062.

His girlfriend Jeannette Mendez took 20th place in the $2,650 event here at SHRPO. Hochman said he always tries to make the poker play that Stan Jablonski would make, and he also wanted to give a shout out to Drew Wilmoy.


Seat 7: John Michalak
Chip Count – 865,000

John Michalak is married with one child, and the 54-year-old real estate owner resides in Cleveland, Ohio. His career earnings stand at $276,063.

The former concert club owner and promoter has written a book about the music business. Michalak can also claim three Heartland Poker Tour final table appearances, two MSPT final tables, and a WSOP Main Event cash in his poker achievements.


Seat 8: Mario De La Puente
Chip Count – 795,000

Mario De La Puente is another local player at the final table who hails from just down the road in Miami, Florida. The 28-year-old card dealer already calls making this final table his greatest poker achievement, and he can add a nice amount to his career earnings of $180,409 later today when cards get back into the air.


Seat 9: Brock Wilson
Chip Count – 365,000

Brock Wilson is a 25-year-old poker pro from Ardsley, New York who has also worked in finance. Wilson will be the short stack at the start of play at the final table. His career earnings are $650,056, with the largest chunk of change coming from a WSOP Circuit win at Foxwoods that earned him $65,250 back in 2018.