$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale Level 25: 25,000/50,000 with a 5,000 ante Players Remaining: 5 of 342
Adrian Mateos raised to 100,000 from under-the-gun and William Benson called from middle position. Aditya Praseyto called on the button and Richard Leger defended his big blind.
They were four-handed to a flop of and Leger led out into the field for 125,000. Only Prasetyo called and the turn was the .
Leger bet 250,000 and Prasetyo called again. The river was the and Leger checked. Prasetyo checked bhind. Leger showed , giving him two pair and Prasetyo mucked his hand.
Leger dragged the pot and takes back the chip lead.
$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale Level 24: 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante Players Remaining: 5 of 342
Bryan Piccioli moved all in from under-the-gun for 610,000 and Richard Leger called from middle position. Aditya Prasetyo called as well from the small blind and Chino Rheem tanked for a few moments in the big blind before folding.
Piccioli was all in and Prasetyo was heads-up with Leger if they decided to create a side pot.
The flop was and both players checked. The turn was the and Prasetyo checked. Leger bet 600,000 and Prasetyo folded.
Leger showed and had Piccioli’s drawing dead. The river is a meaningless and Piccioli was the first player eliminated from the final table.
Richard Leger – 5,285,000 (130 bb) Bryan Piccioli – Eliminated
Wednesday was the busiest day of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. Five trophies were awarded and only two more remain before the series concludes.
Scott Clements took the first title of the day. He came back at noon to finish the final table of the $2,200 Pot Limit Omaha. About five hours later, Clements was $47,400 richer.
The only event that kicked off on Wednesday was the last open event of the series. Jeremy Costa bested a field of 175 players to take home $10,657 in the $250 No Limit Hold’em Turbo.
Vanessa Wang took down the other three digit buy-in of the day. She came back for Day 2 of the $150 No Limit Hold’em re-entry and chopped heads-up for $16,118. She chopped it evenly with Billy Haworth, but since Wang had more chips, she took credit for the win and the title. The total field size was 625 and 67 survived to play Day 2.
The biggest buy-in of the entire series wrapped up on Wednesday as well. David Malka topped a field of 94 players to win $658,000 in the $25,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em. Malka has been on a heater of late. This is his second final table of the series and his second tournament win in the last three weeks.
Malka defeated former November Niner Sylvain Loosli heads-up to take home the trophy.
While everything was going on in the ballroom, the $3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship was playing its final table out in the Paradise Live theater. Justin Young came out on top of a stacked final table and defeated Garrett Greer heads-up to win $654,161 and a seat in the Tournament of Champions.
Thursday doesn’t have nearly as many tournaments running, but there is still a ton at stake. The final table of the $10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale kicks off at noon in the Paradise Live theater. It will be live streamed on WPT.com.
The only other event left on the schedule is the WPT Tournament of Champions. That kicks off on Friday at noon and is only available to those players who have won a WPT main tour event.
Here is a look at Thursday’s schedule:
12 p.m. – Final Day – $10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
$25,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 23: 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining: 3 of 94
David Malka raised to 135,000 on the button and Sylvain Loosli three-bet to 345,000 out of the big blind. Malka took a few moments in the tank and then put in a four-bet to 655,000 and Loosli tossed his hand into the muck.
A few hands later, Sylvain Loosli raised to 150,000 out of the small blind and David Malka defended his big blind. The flop was and Loosli bet 125,000. Malka raised to 315,000 and Loosli folded.
Malka dragged the pot and extended his already massive chip lead, crossing over the 7 million chip mark.
David Malka – 7,200,000 Sylvanil Loosli – 1,275,000
$25,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 23: 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante Players Remaining: 3 of 94
Nick Petrangelo
On a flop of , Nick Petrangelo checked from the small blind and David Malka bet 235,000 from the big blind. Sylvain Loosli called on the button and Petrangelo went into the tank for a minute.
Petrangelo eventually moved all in for about 2,000,000 and Malka hesitates for a few moments before moving all in for about 3,500,000. Loosli quickly folded and the cards were tabled.
Malka showed , good for the nut straight and had Petrangelo drawing to runners with his . The turn was the , giving Petrangelo some outs, but the river was the and Petrangelo hit the rail in fourth place.
Petrangelo took home $206,800 for his finish and Malka takes a massive chip lead into three-handed play.
David Malka – 5,750,000 (95 bb) Nick Petrangelo – Eliminated
Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood Event #25 $150 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry Total Entries: 625 Prize Pool: $75,000
Vanessa Wang Wins $16,119 for her win in the $150 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
With the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown winding down, Vanessa Wang won her first tournament of her poker career on Wednesday night.
She took down the $150 No Limit Hold’em in a heads-up chop with Billy Haworth for $16,118. She had more chips at the time of the deal, so she takes credit for the win and takes home the trophy.
With only about a year of experience in poker tournaments, Wang is new to the tournament scene. While she is happy about her win, she knows that she has plenty of room to improve if she wants to continue to succeed.
“It feels really good,” said Wang after her win. “I know I can do it if I try hard enough. I should’ve done better in the main event, but I will try to do better in the future. I need more experience because a lot of times I lose my patience.”
This is her second cash of the series after finishing 76th for $6,856 in the $3,500 WPT Main Event. She also netted a cash in the WPTDeepStacks main event here at the Seminole Hard Rock during the Lucky Hearts Poker Open.
Wang immigrated to the South Florida area two years ago from China and has enjoyed her time in the area.
“I make jewelry and play tennis and golf and enjoy life,” said Wang.
The Beijing native is a self-described homemaker, but is in the midst of starting her own jewelry business. She is in the process of creating a web site to sell the jewelry she makes and has a few vendors interested in selling her product.
From the start of the day, Wang seemingly dominated the tournament. She came into the final table with the chip lead and never was short on chips. She navigated her way to a heads-up battle with Billy Haworth. After a short battle, they decided to chop up the prize pool evenly between them.
Here is a look at the results:
1st: Vanessa Wang – $16,118 2nd: Billy Haworth – $16,117 3rd: Anibal Rodriguez – $7,875 4th: Hector Chevalier – $5,438 5th: Edgardo Rosario – $4,013 6th: John Cummings – $3,188 7th: Paul Tong – $2,438 8th: Chien Chiu – $1,763 9th: Wally Maddah – $1,275 10th: Scott Cowan – $975 11th: Dustin Tragethon – $975 12th: Albert Green – $975 13th: Guillaume Darcourt – $788 14th: Martin Robbins – $788 15th: Vincent Ortega Delgado – $788 16th: Barry Gallo – $675 17th: Jorge Chavez – $675 18th: Michael Benko – $675 19th: Irvin Block – $563 20th: Edina Pantinchin – $563 21st: Eli Levy – $563 22nd Luis Bueno – $563 23rd: Stephen Harris – $563 24th: Luiz De Farias Guimares – $563 25th: Colby Covington – $563 26th: Evan Lash – $563 27th: Corey Hochman – $563 28th: Stephane Keyser – $488 29th: Paul Prager – $488 30th: Julia Bindelglass $488 31st: Artur Chimchirian – $488 32nd: Julio Fernandez – $488 33rd: Gabriel Baffigi Mezzotero – $488 34th: Lawrence Edwards – $488 35th: Williaredward Stanton – $488 36th: Gianmaco Gaspare – $488
Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood Event #29 $250 No Limit Hold’em Turbo Total Entries: 175 Prize Pool: $36,750
Jeremy Costa Wins $250 No Limit Hold’em Turbo
Jeremy Costa won the final open event of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the 40-year-old Massachusetts native.
Costa was in bad financial shape before the final event, but found a way to outlast a field of 175 players to take home the title and $10,657.
“To be honest with you, I was almost dead broke,” said Costa after his win. “I was just deciding if I was going to just go back and regroup before Borgata or if I was going to play this last one.”
Costa made the right decision. He is leaving the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino with a five-figure score and his first career tournament win.
Costa has been surrounded by tournament success the last few weeks. His two roommates, Frankie Flowers and Charbel Azzi, booked a very successful series here in South Florida. Just 15 hours earlier, Flowers won a tournament of his own and Azzi made a deep run in the $3,500 WPT Main Evnet.
While many would be motivated by their friends’ success, Costa just continued to look within himself for the motivation to succeed.
“It was really just believing in myself and telling myself ‘You know what? there’s still one more tournament. If I got a chip and a chair, I’m going to try and win.’ That’s really what happened,” said Costa.
Away from the table, Costa is trying to put his money to good use. He started a company called Poker For a Purpose, which offers an understanding of the game for people who are looking for an alternative path in their life.
“You know, I didn’t have the greatest life growing up and stuff like that,” said Costa. “So I just want to give back to the community. This win will actually help me start doing that. I’ve got some motivational gear and some motivational things that I’ll be able to do now.”
Costa is from the northeast originally, but has been putting in lots of time at the tables at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa.
After having several close calls earlier in his poker career and a failed shot in the $3,500 WPT main event after satelliting in, he’s just grateful for the win.
“It’s just a blessing,” said Costa. “To be able to be here and win one of these trophies. It’s one of my favorite places to play and it just feels unbelievable.”
Here is a look at the results:
1st: Jeremy Costa – $10,657 2nd: Andy Spears – $6,248 3rd: Eric Kolodny – $3,675 4th: Jorge Gomez – $2,940 5th: Jerry Humphrey – $2,205 6th: Mario James – $1,838 7th: Michael Newman – $1,470 8th: Maurice Roy – $1,103 9th: Charles Dunker – $827 10th: Sheila O’Connor – $735 11th: Michael Lavoie – $735 12th: Adam Weinraub – $735 13th: William Massey – $643 14th: Francis Margaglione – $643 15th: Marsha Wolak – $643 16th: Thomas Neientimp – $551 17th: Thomas Gari – $551 18th: Richard Roeper – $551
$150 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry Level 23: 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante Players Remaining: 10 of 625
The field has been trimmed down to the final 10 players and they have re-drawn for seats at the unofficial final table of 10.
Xiaoyan Wang is leading the final table with 1,496,000 in chips. Everybody is guaranteed a cash of at least $975, but first place is worth $20,237. Here is a look at the seating arrangement and chip counts:
and Leger led out into the field for 125,000. Only Prasetyo called and the turn was the 
.
and Leger checked. Prasetyo checked bhind. Leger showed 
, giving him two pair and Prasetyo mucked his hand.
and Mateos checked.
and Mateos checked again. Prasetyo checked behind and the river was the 
.
, good for a straight. He dragged the pot against Prasetyo’s 
.
and both players checked. The turn was the 
drawing dead. The river is a meaningless 
and Loosli bet 125,000. Malka raised to 315,000 and Loosli folded.
, good for the nut straight and had Petrangelo drawing to runners with his 
. The turn was the 
, giving Petrangelo some outs, but the river was the 
and Petrangelo hit the rail in fourth place.
