2016 Deep Stack Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Hollywood, Fla.
Event #7
$250 Holiday Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
Entries: 290
Prize Pool: $60,900
May 30, 2016

South Florida’s David Shmuel bested 290 entries in the $250 Holiday Deep Stack to close out the Seminole Hard Rock Deep Stack Series Monday night. Shmuel emerged victorious following a four-way chop and gave up $1,500 in prize money to secure the $5,250 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship seat.

Shmuel is 44  years old and works in electronics. He was born in Israel but now resides in Miami. This marks his second-largest tournament score to date, second only to a 17th-place finish in the $3,500 SHRP Showdown Championship this past April.

The 290-entry field Monday at the Seminole Hard Rock generated a prize pool of $60,900 more than doubling the $30,000 guarantee. Notables to cash included Lou Stadler (7th), Joel Harwood (13th) and Steven Bennett (27th).

$250 Holiday Deep Stack final results:

1st: David Shmuel – $11,283 + SHRPO Seat
2nd: Theo Prystal – $9,846
3rd: Nigel Murray – $8,338
4th: Jorie Damiani – $8,108
5th: Juan Madrid – $3,654
6th: Dong Sheng Lin – $3,045
7th: Lou Stadler – $2,436
8th: Lisa Teebagy – $1,827
9th: Nancy Thomas – $1,218
10th: Jonathan Brody – $792
11th: Cangir Elcin – $792
12th: Brian Breen – $792
13th: Joel Harwood – $670
14th: Jason Kwartler – $670
15th: Robert Kessler – $670
16th: Dominick Amore – $609
17th: Georgia Felger – $609
18th: Coskun Yalcin – $609
19th: Robert Cheng – $548
20th: Edward Mandel – $548
21st: Jessica Meir – $548
22nd: John Cummings – $548
23rd: Kenneth Bruno – $548
24th: Julio Sanchez – $548
25th: Jorge Cuesta – $548
26th: Moshe Tarich – $548
27th: Steven Bennett – $548

2016 Deep Stack Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Hollywood, Fla.
Event #4
$1,650 Deepest Stack No Limit Hold’em
Entries: 367
Prize Pool: $550,500
May 26-30,2016

Heiligman late registers Day 2 with less than 10 big blinds, emerges victorious nearly 36 hours later.

Seminole Hard Rock Poker team members Sheddy Siddiqui and Mukul Pahuja finish 2nd and 3rd.

Scott Heiligman claimed victory in Event 4 of the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood Deep Stack series Monday night. Heiligman, who resides in Naples, maneuvered through a field of 367 entries in the $1,650 Deepest Stack tournament to score $121,202 following a heads-up chop with Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Sheddy Siddiqui. In addition to the six-figure payday, Heiligman went home with an added seat in the $5,250 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship as well as the token guitar trophy.

While his short jaunt from across the state doesn’t seem like much at first glance, Heiligman’s road to the winner’s circle was anything but standard. He didn’t arrive at the Seminole Hard Rock until the morning of Day 2. He late registered the event with 10 big blinds, but skipped the first couple orbits. It wasn’t until he had 35,000 chips at the 2,500/5,000 level that he first took his seat. By 5 p.m., he held the chip lead.

The tournament required an extra day to finish and Siddiqui lead the final six that returned for Monday’s play. Heiligman chipped up during the early stages of play and took the chip lead an hour or so after cards went in the air. He watched as Siddiqui busted Samuel Wynder 5th and did some busting of his own eliminating Gil Haim 4th. Heiligman went into three-handed play with more than 10,000,000 of the just over 18,000,000 in play. He had Siddiqui doubled up and held an advantage of roughly 4-to-1 over Pahuja.  Pahuja chipped back up, but eventually busted 3rd. On his final hand, he called off holding top two pair, but was second best to Heiligman’s Broadway. Pahuja earned $51,362 for the deep run.

Heiligman and Siddiqui quickly came to a deal following Pahuja’s elimination. Heiligman held 10,930,000 chips to Siddiqui’s 7,430,000 and would take 1st place along with $121,202. Siddiqui settled on a runner-up finish and $110,000 score. For Siddiqui, this marked his third deep run in this event in as many years. He won the 2013 installment and finished 7th in last year’s. His 2016 finish marked his largest score of the three final table appearances.

Heiligman is 36 years old and works in real estate. The victory marks his third tournament win and nearly quadruples his reported lifetime earnings.

The $1,650 Deepest Stack was the headliner of the seven-event Deep Stack Series. It drew a field of 367 entries that obliterated the $300,000 guarantee before topping the prize pool out at $550,500. Other notable tournaments on the schedule included Event 1, a $350 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed tournament — which drew 1,075 entries — and Event 3, a $560 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed tournament — which 452 entries.

$1,650 Deepest Stack Final results:

1st: Scott Heiligman – $121,202 + SHRPO Seat
2nd: Sheddy Siddiqui – $110,000
3rd: Mukul Pahuja – $51,362
4th: Gil Haim – $41,288
5th: Samuel Wynder – $32,480
6th: Marcus Stein – $26,699
7th: Chris Bolek – $21,470
8th: Chad Eveslage – $16,240
9th: Qasem Jamhour – $11,010
10th: Daniel Blum – $7,157
11th: Jan Ziegler – $7,157
12th: Anthony Ruttler – $7,157
13th: Jeffrey Trudeau – $5,918
14th: Jonathan Marks – $5,918
15th: Steven Wolansky – $5,918
16th: Austin Peck – $4,707
17th: Ido Ashkenazi – $4,707
18th: Alexander Gambino – $4,707
19th: Paul Domb – $3,854
20th: Matthew Yorra – $3,854
21st: Jerry Wong – $3,854
22nd: Almog Biton – $3,854
23rd: Mark Dube – $3,854
24th: Michael Newman – $3,854
25th: Harvey Freedman – $3,854
26th: Theophilus Lawson – $3,854
27th: Frederick Goldberg – $3,854
28th: Joel Harwood – $3,413
29th: Brandon Setzer – $3,413
30th: Charlemagne Benjamin – $3,413
31st: Barry Pevner – $3,413
32nd: Kevin Chan – $3,413
33rd: Phil Woerner – $3,413
34th: Robert Oxenberg – $3,413
35th: James Kirvin – $3,413
36th: John Restrepo – $3,413

The 2017 Deep Stack Series runs May 18-29 right here in the Seminole Hard Rock poker room.

$1,650 Deepest Stack No Limit Hold’em
Level 30: 60,000/120,000/20,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 1/367

Chip leader Scott Heiligman and Sheddy Siddiqui came to a deal shortly after Mukul Pahuja’s 3rd-place elimination. Heiligman, who claimed 10,930,000 chips, earned $121,202 along with the Seminole Hard Rock guitar trophy and the $5,250 Seminole hard Rock Poker Open seat. Siddiqui, who claimed 7,430,000 chips, went home with $110,000 even.

A full report on the tournament will be posted shortly. In the meantime, here’s a look at the final table results:

1st: Scott Heiligman – $121,202 + SHRPO Seat
2nd: Sheddy Siddiqui – $110,000
3rd: Mukul Pahuja – $51,362
4th: Gil Haim – $41,288
5th: Samuel Wynder – $32,480
6th: Marcus Stein – $26,699
7th: Chris Bolek – $21,470
8th: Chad Eveslage – $16,240
9th: Qasem Jamhour – $11,010

$1,650 Deepest Stack No Limit Hold’em
Level 30: 60,000/120,000/20,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 2/367

Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Mukul Pahuja opened the button for 240,000. Sheddy Siddiqui folded the small blind and Scott Heiligman called from the big blind.

Both players checked.

Heiligman checked and Pahuja bet. Heiligman called.

Heiligman checked again. Pahuja bet what appeared to be 700,000. Heiligman quickly moved all in having Pahuja covered. Pahuja called.

Heiligman: for Broadway
Pahuja: for two pair

Pahuja busted 3rd earning $51,362. The pot gave Heiligman the chip lead heads up versus Sheddy Siddiqui.

Scott Heiligman – 10,930,000
Sheddy Siddiqui – 7,430,000
Mukul Pahuja – Eliminated 3rd ($51,362)

$250 Holiday Day Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
Level 21: 6,000/12,000/2,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 10/290

From 290 starting entries, the $250 Holiday Deep Stack is down to the final 10 and consolidated to one table. Each remaining player has locked up $792 with the tournament’s winner earning $17,051 as well as an added $5,250 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open trophy and, of course, the Seminole Hard Rock guitar trophy.

Seating assignments with chip counts, followed by remaining payouts and updated results:

Seat 1: Dong Lin – 741,000
Seat 2: Jon Brody – 539,000
Seat 3: Nigel Murray – 348,000
Seat 4: Theodore Prystal – 399,000
Seat 5: Juan Madrid – 380,000
Seat 6: Lou Stadler – 419,000
Seat 7: Jorie Damiani – 299,000
Seat 8: Lisa Teebagy – 1,253,000
Seat 9: David Shmuel – 1,048,000
Seat 10: Nancy Thomas – 375,000

1st – $17,051 + SHRPO Seat
2nd – $10,049
3rd – $5,786
4th – $4,689
5th – $3,654
6th – $3,045
7th – $2,436
8th – $1,827
9th – $1,218
10th – $792

11th: Cangir Elcin – $792
12th: Brian Breen – $792
13th: Joel Harwood – $670
14th: Jason Kwartler – $670
15th: Robert Kessler – $670
16th: Dominick Amore – $609
17th: Georgia Felger – $609
18th: Coskun Yalcin – $609
19th: Robert Cheng – $548
20th: Edward Mandel – $548
21st: Jessica Meir – $548
22nd: John Cummings – $548
23rd: Kenneth Bruno – $548
24th: Julio Sanchez – $548
25th: Jorge Cuesta – $548
26th: Moshe Tarich – $548
27th: Steven Bennett – $548

We will provide another update when the tournament concludes.

$1,650 Deepest Stack No Limit Hold’em
Level 30: 60,000/120,000/20,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3/367

Shortly after doubling through Mukul Pahuja holding to Pahuja’s all-in preflop, Sheddy Siddiqui got 2,090,000 in the pot preflop versus Scottil Heiligman. Pahuja had opened the button to 260,000 and Siddiqui shoved from the small blind. Heiligman called from the big blind and Pahuja surrendered.

Siddiqui:
Heiligman:

The dealer burned and turned a board earning Siddiqui the pot. With that, he’s gotten new life three-handed.

Sheddy Siddiqui – 4,620,000

$1,650 Deepest Stack No Limit Hold’em
Level 30: 60,000/120,000/20,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3/367

Scott Heiligman was in the small blind and opened for 270,000. Mukul Pahuja three-bet to 660,000 from the big blind. Heiligman called.

They checked down a board of and Heiligman flipped over for ace-high. Pahuja showed and earned the pot with a rivered pair of sixes.

Mukul Pahuja – 5,100,000

$1,650 Deepest Stack No Limit Hold’em
Level 30: 60,000/120,000/20,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3/367

In a battle of team Seminole Hard Rock Poker, Sheddy Siddiqui opened the button for 275,000. Scott Heiligman folded the small blind sending it to Mukul Pahuja in the big blind. He shoved for 1,965,000 and Siddiqui called putting him at risk.

Pahuja:
Siddiqui:

The board fell and Mukul doubled through his fellow team member Siddiqui.

Mukul Pahuja – 4,110,000
Sheddy Siddiqui – 3,225,000