2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 6
$1,700 Purple Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  106
Prize Pool:  $108,650
Bounty Prize Pool: $53,000
August 4-5, 2019

The $1,700 Purple Chip Bounty had the biggest buy-in of the series to date and the 106-entry field easily surpassed its $100,000 Guarantee. The two-day tournament was dominated by A.J. Gambino and he walked away with the title along with $32,605.

Event 6 had a regular prize pool worth $108,650 while the bounty prize pool was $53,000. The last 14 spots were paid out and they burst the money bubble late on Day 1.

During that time, Gambino ran up a big stack with little trouble.

“Day 1 was very smooth,” Gambino commented. “One small hiccup for a big stack then I got it right back.”

“I just ran really well and got a lot of bounties,” he continued. “Had the best of it a lot.”

Day 1 came to an end after Level 16 and Gambino had a huge lead over the other six players advancing to Day 2. His stack had a three-to-one lead on second place Carlos Guerrero and he wielded it well.

Adam Zeltser and Guerrero were two quick eliminations and they were followed by Event 1 winner David Levi. Arthur Gavrilov went out in fourth place to leave them three-handed on the first break and that is as far as the tournament progressed.

Gambino had extended his lead and held 72% of the chips, enough information to prompt a chop discussion between Scott Zakheim and Paul Domb (the other two remaining players) during the break. They decided to evenly split second and third place money leaving the full first place amount for Gambino plus the eight bounties he collected. It was an easy decision for the chip leader and he locked up the win right there. All three players agreed to each keep their $500 bounty and the tournament was complete.

“That’s a first for me,” Gambino laughed when asked about the deal.

It was a dominant performance that saw the South Florida player add a major SHRP title to his two $1,100 Big Slick wins from 2017 and this past May.

Gambino is a 12-year poker professional and briefly moved to Canada to play online poker after Black Friday. He returned to Florida and calls the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood Poker Room his home.

Event 6 results:

1st: A.J. Gambino – $32,605 + SHRPO trophy *
2nd: Scott Zakheim – $16,080 *
3rd: Paul Domb – $16,080 *
4th: Arthur Gavrilov – $7,875
5th: David Levi – $6,085
6th: Carlos Guerrero – $4,995
7th: Adam Zeltser – $4,235
8th:  Alexander Gofman  –  $3,695
9th:  Scott Robbins  –  $3,260
10th:  Ci Zhou  –  $2,880
11th:  Ronit Chamani  –  $2,880
12th:  Haim Toorgeman  –  $2,880
13th:  Hans Taylor  –  $2,550
14th:  Tyler Brown  –  $2,550
* – denotes results of a three-way deal