$100 + $25 No Limit Hold’Em Deep Stack

If you’ve played poker long enough, you will know that the best time to get a good run of cards is late in the tournament. There’s perhaps nothing more frustrating than getting a big hand early in the tournament and winning 200 in chips when you raise and everyone folds. Seminole tribal member Lee Stewart got hot at the right time in Event 1 of the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” and when the six remaining players decided to make a deal at three in the morning, Stewart was declared the winner.

Full Results For Event 1

The final table started with the following seating assignments and chip counts:

After picking up several uncontested pots, Willie Wiggins was gaining momentum. He continued to try and ride this wave by raising to 240K with the blinds at 40K/80K with a 10K ante. Allan Bieler was across the table and when the action got to him, he took a while before coming to a decision. Playing with chips and determining what to do, Bieler finally announced a raise and made it 500K to go. Wiggins had been starting intently through dark shades the entire time. “How much is that,” he asked. The dealer confirmed the bet for him and Wiggins made the call.

The flop came . Wiggins slid his two cards back and forth underneath his hands. He grabbed a large stack of 5K chips, 20 of them, and placed them on top of his cards. Acting as if he were going to place a bet, he counted out some chips but in the end taps the table twice. Bieler doesn’t take too long and checks as well.

The turn is the and Wiggins covered his mouth, carefully looking at Bieler’s stack. “Same check,” he said. Bieler, without hesitation, made a bet of 400K. Wiggins carelessly plays with chips in his right hand… trying to shuffle them but they kept falling out of his hand. He let out a huff and tossed his cards into the muck.  Bieler let out his own huff, a big sigh, as he flipped over pocket aces.

After that hand, a short stacked Crystal Utley decided it was time to put her chips into the middle. After Kimani McCoy raised with the blinds at 40K/80K and a 10K ante, Utley moved all in for 330K. Lou White called from the big blind and McCoy joined in on the fun. The flop came and both White and McCoy checked. The turn was the and after White checked, McCoy made a bet prompting a quick fold from White. McCoy showed a turned straight with the leaving Utley and her drawing dead.

Crystal Utley (Morganfield, KY) finished in 9th place winning $2,810

An interesting situation developed soon after when Willie Wiggins opened the action for 240K with the blinds at 50K/100K. It was folded to Lou White in the big blind who announced raise. Before White could even place his bet out, Wiggins announced he was all in. The floor was called and it was ruled White would have to raise at least the minimum, which is exactly what he did, making it 380K to go. “I’m still all in,” Wiggins said emphatically. White folded quietly and Wiggins took the pot.

Lou White and Kimani McCoy came into the final table as two of the chip leaders. Typically, poker players stay out of the way of other big stacks but on this particular hand the two decided to tangle. McCoy had fired a 1.5 million bet on the river of a 5c] board causing some notable discomfort from White. To call and lose would leave White with just about 2 million in chips. Ultimately he must have decided this was a good enough deterrent and he folded his hand. McCoy turned over a bluff in the prompting a visible reaction from White and the rest of the table.

“Nice play. Very nice play,” White said. Leaning back a little. “Wow. That took some kahunas.”

McCoy nodded. “It did. Figured only way I could win.”

Lou continued to leak off chips when he opened to 375K and called the 750K all in from Brett Bader. They were racing with White holding pocket 8’s and Bader holding . The flop kept Lou in the lead when it came but an on the turn and a on the river gave Bader the double up. He clapped his hands and gave a small fist bump to the friend watching him on the rail. “I know every one is rooting against me to go out,” Bader smiled as he stacked his chips. The double up brought him close to two million and knocked Lou down to approximately 2.75 million.

A short stacked Lee Stewart would start his ascension soon thereafter when he moved all in over the top of Kimani McKoy’s 300K opener for 1.08 million total. McKoy, biting his lip, muttered “Dang” under his breath. Stewart stared straight ahead, his hands fixed like a clamp on top of his cards. McKoy looked at Stewart and said “nice play” as he folded. Stewart showed the table his hand… pocket queens… leading to an exhale from McKoy who said he had pocket tens.

Willie Wiggins had trouble finding anything to play, so when down to 4 big blinds, he moved all in first to act with and was called by the big stack of Jeff Doan from the big blind with . It was a good mathematical call but it didn’t work in Doan’s favor as the board ran out to double Wiggins up to just under a million in chips.

Doan would then double up Lou White when White got tricky with a big pair by limping in from the button. Doan applied pressure with his big stack from the small blind and moved all in. Bader in the big blind quickly folded and White was even quicker to call, turning over . Doan was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and sheepishly turned over . The board would run out and Doan would send 1.675 million over to White.

Doan continued the double up fest and this time it was Wiggins who was again the benefactor. Willie moved all in for 850K from early position and was looked up by Jeff. Wiggins held and was ahead of Doan’s . The better hand prevailed and now Wiggins was approaching 2 million in chips.

Despite his earlier losses, White maintained his composure and right before the break was able to pick up a pot… again off of Doan… that would move him into the chip lead. Kimani McKoy got it started with a raise to 250K and was called by Lou from the button and Doan from the small blind. The flop came and Doan and McKoy checked. White, seizing the opportunity with his position, made a bet of 450K but found a taker in Doan. McKoy folded.

The turn was the and both players checked. The river was the and Doan led out for 550K. White sighed, grabbed a sack of chips, placed them into the middle and turned over his hand, the . Doan mucked his hand and White took the pot giving us the following chip counts at our first break at the final table:

Since Crystal Utley had busted out in 9th place, we had spent nearly 90 minutes playing eight handed. Surely something had to give soon, and finally it did when Willie Wiggins and Brett Bader and their near identical stacks would get all their chips in the middle. Bader held pocket 10’s and Wiggins . The board ran and the pair of kings causing Bader to slam his hand on the table and giving Wiggins a huge double up that left Bader with just 50K in chips, good enough for a 25K ante and a single 25K chip left behind.

He would miraculously win his all in hand with a straight to give him a small sliver of hope. The next hand after that Kimani McKoy opened for 425K and Lee Stewart moved all in for 1.15 million. It was a insta-shove from Stewart showing strength but that was not enough to deter Brett from putting his last 275K in. McKoy counted out a call but decided against it, folding A-2 face up. Stewart, sure enough, was strong as he held pocket Kings. Brett had and would need another miracle to not be eliminated. The board ran out causing McKoy to groan. “I didn’t want to give him a million,” he said, explaining his fold. The Kings of Stewart took the pot and Brett’s day was done.

Brett Bader (Jericho, NY) finished in 8th place winning $3,925.

An hour and a half without any eliminations and now we would see two knock outs in a five minute period as a short stacked Ronnie Aparicio called off his last 475K from the small blind after Jeff Doan moved all in for 1.325 million. Doan had and Aparicio . The flop came causing Aparicio to stand up, ready to exit. The turn gave him some outs though with the and the table told him not to leave yet. Any club, 8 or queen and he would stave off elimination. The river though was the and the end of the day for Ronnie. “What am I going to do,” he said, shrugging his shoulders as he set off to collect his winnings.

Ronnie Aparicio (Miami, FL) finished in 7th place winning $5,350.

A tired Kimani McKoy decided to make a loose call after opening to 425K and Jeff Doan moved all in for 1.7 million. It looked like it would be a chopped pot as McKoy had and Doan but a 7 on the turn would give Doan the double up. Those chips would be short-lived for Doan, however, as he would double up Stewart the very next hand when Stewart moved all in for 2.85 million with and Doan made the call with . Stewart’s hand prevailed to give him the chip lead and it would cause Doan to say “Comes fast, goes fast. It’s a sick game.” Allan Bieler, sitting to Doan’s left agreed, adding “It is. It’s ridiculous at this point.”

A few more hands went down and as the clock approached the end of the day, the players haggled over whether to return for another day or to chop up the prize pool. Deciding they’d had enough, a deal was made and the final payouts and finishers were determined as follows:

Lee has been playing poker since 2008 and said this is by far his biggest payday – his previous largest being around $2,000. When asked what he was going to do with the money, Stewart joked “spend it.” It’s only fitting that the winner of Event 1 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” is a Seminole. Congratulations on the win Lee!