Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Event 1:  $560 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
March 27-31, 2014

Entries: 1,966
Prize Pool: $1,000,000

RECAP
For Daniel Piela, it was about visiting friends. The 42-year-old from Wheaton, IL works in the mortgage industry and felt like escaping the cold for the warm Florida weather to see a few friendly faces. Upon seeing the schedule for the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, he figured he would play in the first few events.

“I thought I would stay through the $350 (Event 8, beginning on Wednesday),” Piela told us. Little did he realize that he would rise from the masses with a six-figure score under his belt before heading back north. “I might stay for the Main Event now,” said Piela with a wry smile on his face. “Give it a shot, right?”

Piela can certainly afford to give it a shot after his victory. A total of 1,966 entries took to the felt over six starting flights in Event 1, the $560 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em. Among them was NBA Center Earl Barron, who finished in 48th place for $2,664. When it was all said and done, though, Piela was the sole survivor. Asked about his experience, Piela had nothing but good things to say.

“It was a great experience. I had a lot of fun, people are really friendly here, and I just had a really good time.” As for the tournament itself, Piela said the path to victory was far from easy. “It was really tough at times. I was short stacked a lot, especially going into the final table, but patience…it just took a lot of patience to get through it.”

Will this change his day-to-day life? Piela doesn’t think so.

“Obviously I’ll play a little more poker, but no, nothing else will really change.”

FINAL RESULTS

MAIN EVENT SCHEDULE