$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30: 75,000/125,000 with a 125,000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 1,360

Two-time WPT champion Eric Afriat raised from the cutoff to 275,000, Ami Alibay called from the button, and Dan Chalifour defended his big blind.

The flop came , it checked to Alibay who bet 300,000. Only Afriat called.

The turn card was the , Afriat checked and Alibay moved all in. Afriat thought shortly before he called all in for 800,000.

Afriat needed to get lucky with his against Alibay’s .

Afriat called for the “Deuce of clubs. Let me do it one time.”

The dealer obliged as the river was in fact the .

Afriat said, “Wow. Sorry, guys, it’s just my lucky day.”

Eric Afriat  –  3,225,000  (26 bb)
Ami Alibay  –  6,900,000  (55 bb)

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30: 75,000/125,000 with a 125,000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 1,360

Ami Alibay raised to 275,000 from middle position and Jerry Wong defended his big blind.

The flop came and  Alibay continued for 225,000 with Wong check-calling.

The turn was the , Wong checked and Alibay bet 550,000. Wong called.

Both players checked the on the river. Wong turned up his for two-pair to win the pot.

Jerry Wong – 4,800,000 (38 bb)

$5,000 Eight-Handed NLH (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16: 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 10 of 83

Barry Hutter limped in from the small blind, Kristen Bicknell raised to 15,000 from the big blind, Hutter reraised to effectively 67,000 and Bicknell called all in.

Hutter:
Bicknell:

The board came down , giving Bicknell Broadway to double up.

Kristen Bicknell – 147,000
Barry Hutter – 160,000

Recent Eliminations
11th: James Romero – $10,450

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30: 75,000/125,000 with a 125,000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 1,360

Jason Marshman raised  to 275,000 from middle position and  Ami Alibay three-bet to 600,000 from the button. Marshman called.

It got checked down on the board.

Marshman tabled but was no good against Alibay’s .

Ami Alibay – 9,450,000 (76 bb)
Jason Marshman – 3,900,000 (31 bb)

$5,000 Eight-Handed NLH (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16: 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 11 of 83

George Wolff raised to 10,000 from the hijack, Philip Wojtuniecki reraised all in for about 75,000 from the small blind and Wolff called.

Wolff:
Wojtuniecki:

The board ran out , giving Wolff a set of queens to eliminate Wojtuniecki on the money bubble.

George Wolff – 185,000
Philip Wojtuniecki – Eliminated on the Money Bubble

2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida
$25,500 High Roller
$2,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 99
Prize Pool:  $2,445,300
April 15-16, 2019

The 2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown rolled into the final weekend and the $25K High Roller kept players in town after their Championship run came to an end. As the headliner played down in the Event Center, the High Roller packed Salon East with some of the best players in the world and Aaron Mermelstein outlasted them all to claim the title.

“This ranks right up there,” Mermelstein commented about this win compared to his other titles. “I live here part-time now so for me it’s nice to get a big win here especially against a lot of the tougher competition.”

“Feels sort of like home. It feels good. This is my first cash in a $25K so it’s nice to win the first one.”

The tournament drew 99 entries to push the prize pool past the $2,000,000 Guarantee and 16 of them survived to make Day 2.

They still had some work to do on Wednesday with only 14 of them taking home part of the $2,445,300 prize pool. Short-stacked Ray Qartomy was an early Day 2 exit and Jonathan Jaffe ran into Alex Foxen’s pocket kings to burst the bubble.

Joe McKeehen was the chip leader at the start of the final table with Mermelstein in the middle of the pack. The WPT Champions Club member found a big double, then took the lead when he eliminated Niall Farrell in sixth place.

McKeehen would never regain the lead and Mermelstein would never let it go as McKeehen went out in third place. He was heads-up with Foxen for the title and the battle lasted less than an hour. Foxen ran his flopped top pair into Mermelstein’s flopped top set and it was over.

“I doubled on Elio (Fox) pretty early,” Mermelstein said of his Day 1 run. “I kind of never looked back from there and it was sort of a smooth ride as far as tournaments go.”

“I busted the Main Event in pretty brutal fashion,” he continued. ‘I wasn’t even sure I was going to play so I’m glad that I did. It worked out well.”

“I’m happy to be in this position and close it out.”

Congratulations to Aaron and thanks to everyone for another great High Roller.

High Roller results:

1st: Aaron Mermelstein – $618,955
2nd: Alex Foxen – $545,000
3rd: Joe McKeehen – $305,665
4th: James Calderaro – $210,295
5th: Shannon Shorr – $136,935
6th: Niall Farrell – $100,255
7th: Alan Schein – $83,140
8th: Brandon Adams – $70,915
9th: Ben Yu – $68,470
10th: Sean Winter – $66,025
11th: Andjelko Andrejevic – $63,580
12th: Sam Sorevel – $61,135
13th: Ali Imsirovic – $58,690
14th: Rainer Kemp – $56,240

$5,000 Eight-Handed NLH (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 16: 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 12 of 83

Table 8
Seat 1: Michael Tureniec – 253,000
Seat 2: Paul Snead – 325,000
Seat 3:
Seat 4: Brian Altman –  92,000
Seat 5:
Seat 6: James Romero – 37,000
Seat 7: Barry Hutter- 178,000
Seat 8: Kristen Bicknell – 40,000

Table 9
Seat 1: Brock Wilson – 120,000
Seat 2: George Wolff – 181,000
Seat 3:
Seat 4:
Seat 5: Brian Yoon – 110,000
Seat 6: Eric Panayiotou – 150,000
Seat 7: Philip Wojtuniecki – 73,000
Seat 8: Brent Roberts – 101,000

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30: 75,000/125,000 with a 125,000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 1,360

Maria Ho raised to 275,000  from under the gun and both Ami Alibay and Dan Chalifour called.

The flop came , and Ho led out 325,000. Only Chalifour called.

Both players checked the on the turn. The river brought the , Chalifour bet 300,000 and Ho called.

Chalifour tabled for the winning pair of fives and Ho mucked.

Dan Chalifour – 4,500,000 (36 bb)
Maria Ho – 8,475,000 (68 bb)

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30: 75,000/125,000 with a 125,000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 1,360

James Carroll raised to 275,000 from  under the gun and got four callers.

The flop came , it checked to Chalifour who bet 550,000. Only Alibay called.

Both players checked the on the turn. The river was the , Alibay bet 1,000,000 and Chalifour layed it down.

Alibay showed for ace high as he raked in the pot.

Ami Alibay  –  10,400,000  (83 bb)
Dan Chalifour  –  3,300,000  (26 bb)

$3,500 WPT Poker Showdown Championship
$3,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30: 75,000/125,000 with a 125,000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 1,360

Chad Eveslage raised from the button to 275,000, Jason Marshman moved all in from the small blind for 1,950,000, and Eveslage thought shortly before putting in the calling chips.

Marshman turned over and was in great shape against Eveslage’s .

Marshman asked Eveslage “Is this the W you owe me?”

The board came and Marshman’s king kicker held to avoid elimination.

Jason Marshman  –  4,150,000  (33 bb)
Chad Eveslage  –  6,550,000  (52 bb)