2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, FL 
Event 13
$360 No-Limit Hold’em Black Chip Bounty 
Entries: 214
Prize Pool: $42,800
April 15, 2018

“Make sure you guys tip the dealer, especially you,” said an onlooker at the end of the $360 no-limit hold’em black chip bounty event, pointing towards Matt Vinke. “You got hit pretty good with the deck.”

Vinke seemingly ran away with the title in a four-way chop, taking nearly first place money in the process. He earned $9,500 for besting a field of 214 entries, giving the Miami resident his career-best score.

“I had two-thirds of the chips,” said Vinke about his stack at the time of the chop. “I had to convince them to make the deal. I took about $900 off the top and then they chopped up the rest of it.”

Dongjun Ji came into the final table as the chip leader with Vinke trailing him in second. Everything fell Vinke’s way, however, picking up multiple bounties and accumulating chips at a rapid pace en route to his first career live tournament win.

“I came into the final table in second place and just tried to grind it out,” said Vinke. “You know, I folded a couple of hands where I needed to, got lucky a couple times, won some races and won it all.”

Vinke lives and works in Miami as a transportation planner. Originally from Charlotte, NC, the 31-year-old doesn’t have a ton of time to play poker with a full-time job, but tries to get up to the Seminole Hard Rock and play a tournament when he can.

Eventually, he hopes to escape the grind of a normal job, but he needs to continue grinding out consistent results before he takes a plunge from the office chair to the felt.

“I want to play some smaller tournaments and see if I can keep making some big returns, like today,” said the die-hard Panthers fan. “But for the time being, I’m taking it slow.”

With the bounty format, Vinke picked up an extra $100 for every player he knocked out, allowing him to take home more than the $9,500.

With 214 entries, the top 27 players cashed and here are the results:

1st: Matt Vinke – $9,500*
2nd: Joshua Daff – $5,057*
3rd: Dongjun Ji – $5,057*
4th: Jeffrey Goodman – $5,057*
5th: Craig Witz – $2,061
6th: Michael Lin – $1,708
7th: Amelio Amato – $1,455
8th: Matthew Paul – $1,245
9th: Jack Battaglia – $1,040
10th: David Larson – $899
11th: Eric Ward – $899
12th: Patrick Chi – $899
13th: Dimitry Agrachov – $770
14th: Alan Percal – $770
15th: Alexander Carfagno – $770
16th: Marc Sacheli – $642
17th: Brandon Schwartz – $642
18th: Edgar Varas – $642
19th: Jerry Humphrey – $514
20th: Andre Rakusa – $514
21st: Timothy Cavallin – $514
22nd: Mario James – $396
23rd: Eduardo Christ – $396
24th: Jose Fong – $396
25th: Tom Nguyen – $319
26th: Daamarie Badermuse – $319
27th: Todd Gallaher – $319

*Adjusted payouts as part of a four-way chop