2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Hollywood, FL
Event 4: $1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Entries: 86
Prize Pool: $83,420
August 1, 2016
Barry Pevner is the champion of Event 4, defeating a field of a 86 entries to win the $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em event. For his victory, he collected the trophy and the top prize of $29,197, the largest cash on his tournament record.
The champ is a 57-year-old primary care physician from Cooper City, Florida. His day job means poker remains a part-time hobby, but Pevner is a familiar face at Seminole Hard Rock when the tournament series are running. “Every 10 to 15 years, the deck will hit me in the head and I’ll go home with something,” Pevner laughed as he described his level of poker prowess.
“I came in(to the final table) pretty short, so I was just biding my time at the beginning,” Pevner said. “I basically got lucky on some hands.” Pevner eliminated T.K. Miles in eighth place, the first of three knockouts for which he’d be responsible over the course of the day. The most crucial pot he won wasn’t a knockout, though, but a flip against Loni Harwood for his own tournament life and more than 70 percent of the total chips in play. Pevner’s pocket queens held against Harwood’s ace-king, giving him a commanding chip lead with three players remaining.
Pevner went on to eliminate Day 1 chipleader Oscar Trestini in third place, setting the stage for a final duel against Harwood. Though the two had never played together before this event, they had some unusual history between them.
“I have a picture at home of me losing to her dad,” Pevner recalled the last time he was heads up against a Harwood. “I told Loni I couldn’t handle that again. I’ve waited since 1999 to get revenge on his daughter.”
Pevner did indeed get his revenge, quickly picking off the rest of the younger Harwood’s chips to seal the victory. On the final hand, he flopped a set of fours and induced a shove from Harwood, who turned top pair of kings. She was already drawing dead when the chips went in, and the two exchanged handshakes and well wishes as the river card completed the final board of the day.
Results
1st: Barry Pevner – $29,197 + trophy
2nd: Loni Harwood – $15,850
3rd: Oscar Trestini – $10,010
4th: Stuart Greenbaum – $7,508
5th: Richard Leger – $5,839
6th: Mark Smith – $5,005
7th: John Swope – $4,171
8th: Timothy Miles – $3,337
9th: Drew Johnson – $2,503