$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 24: 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante
Players Remaining: 6 of 342
Average Stack: 2,280,000 (56 big blinds)

The $10,000 WPT Finale began with 342 players but only six remain with a chance to put their name on the WPT Champions Cup. They return at noon to the Paradise Live Theater and play down until we have our next big winner.

Richard Leger returns with the chip lead but there are other talented players trying to catch him. Chino Rheem is second in chips and already has his name on the Championship Cup. Adrian Mateos has a WSOP Europe Main Event bracelet (plus bonus EPT Grand Final title) while Aditya Prasetyo is making a fun habit of collecting WSOP C rings.

WSOP bracelet winner Bryan Piccioli returns with the shortest stack but the slow structure will allow him to pick his spots to move up the counts.

Players will take their seats at noon, fans are welcome to join the crowd, and we’ll be here with updates from start to finish.

Meet the  WPT Finale Final Table

Returning seat assignments:

Seat 1: Chino Rheem – 3,430,000 (86 bb)
Seat 2: Bryan Piccioli – 535,000 (13 bb)
Seat 3: Richard Leger – 4,010,000 (100 bb)
Seat 4: Adrian Mateos – 850,000 (21 bb)
Seat 5: William Benson – 2,230,000 (56 bb)
Seat 6: Aditya Prasetyo – 2,620,000 (66 bb)

Returning chip counts:

Richard Leger – 4,010,000 (100 bb)
Chino Rheem – 3,430,000 (86 bb)
Aditya Prasetyo – 2,620,000 (66 bb)
William Benson – 2,230,000 (56 bb)
Adrian Mateos – 850,000 (21 bb)
Bryan Piccioli – 535,000 (13 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st – $705,885*
2nd – $484,130
3rd – $311,305
4th – $200,510
5th – $154,585
6th – $127,905

*Top prize includes $15,000 WPT Tournament of Championship seat

With the $10K WPT Finale set to get underway at noon, here’s a look at the six players left with a chance for the title. Those six have combined for nearly $10.5 million in career earnings, two WPT titles, two WSOP bracelets (including a WSOP Europe Main Event), three WSOP Circuit rings, and one November Niner.

Seat 1: Chino Rheem
Chip Count – 3,430,000

Rheem became well-known thanks to an appearance at the 2008 WSOP November Nine when he finished 7th, then followed that up with a WPT win at the Five Diamond Classic the next month. He added another WPT title in 2013 with a win in the WPT World Championship.

Seat 2: Bryan Piccioli
Chip Count: 535,000

Piccioli earned a WSOP bracelet during the 2013 WSOP APAC in Melbourne Australia and made the WPT final table last month during the Bay 101 Shooting Star event. He also has a WSOP final table appearance from 2013 in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event.

Seat 3: Richard Leger
Chip Count: 4,010,000

Leger is the sole Florida resident at the WPT Finale final table and he went deep in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship in 2012. He’s looking for his first career tournament victory, his closest coming during the 2014 Coco Poker Open.

Seat 4: Adrian Mateos
Chip Count: 850,000

Mateos biggest success came with he scored the WSOP Europe Main Event championship in 2013. That win netted him €1,000,000 and he followed that up with an EPT Grand Final Main Event title for another €1,000,000.

Seat 5: William Benson
Chip Count: 2,230,000

Still waiting on his first tournament title, Benson made the last four tables during the 2015 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open. He came close to a WSOP circuit ring when he finished 2nd during a 2012 Biloxi tournament.

Seat 6: Aditya Prasetyo
Chip Count: 2,620,000

Prasetyo has a half dozen tournament victories to his credit and he earned his third WSOP Circuit ring less than a month ago. He has three runner-up finishes in other WSOPC events as well as a second place finish during the 2014 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open” $1,650 tournament.

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood
$25,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Total Entries: 94
Prizepool: $2,350,000

David Malka is the champion of the $25,000 High Roller event, outlasting a field of 94 entries to win the $658,000 top prize. Malka also collected the glass trophy for this event, one of the last pieces of hardware to be awarded during this series.

This event began on Tuesday evening with just a few tables in play, but the field ballooned to nearly 100 entries by the time registration closed. Among the elite field were a couple WSOP Main Event Champions — Joe Hachem and Joe McKeehen — along with former WPT Players of the Year Darren Elias, Faraz Jaka, and Mukul Pauja. None of them were able to finish in the money, however.

The same can be said for defending champion of this event, Jason Mercier. The Florida pro was eliminated by Malka on the direct money bubble, shoving his short stack with into Malka’s . Mercier flopped a flush draw on the , but that’s as close as he’d get to salvation. The turn and river bricked off, and Mercier’s elimination left the final 13 players in the money.

That knockout signaled the end of a long Day 1 around 5:00 a.m., and the survivors returned to play for the title on Wednesday, beginning at 4:00 p.m. Local high-stakes player Brian Benderoff was the chip leader when Day 2 began, and he rode his big stack to a seventh-place finish, good for more than $80,000.

When the final six players broke for dinner, Nick Petrangelo was the chip leader. Things went sour for him in the levels after the break, though, and he was eliminated on a cooler in fourth place, holding an overpair and a straight draw against Malka’s flopped straight. The turn and river failed to keep Petrangelo afloat, and his knockout gave Malka more than 60% of the chips in play with three remaining.

The champ continued his late domination of the final table, whittling Tim West down to less than 10 big blinds before Sylvain Loosli eliminated him in third place. Despite his opponent scoring the penultimate knockout, Malka still entered the heads-up duel with a 4:1 chip lead over the 2013 WSOP November Niner.

The battle lasted about a half hour before a coin flip decided the match. On the final hand, Malka shoved with ace-ten, and Loosli called all in with pocket sixes. The first four cards kept the Frenchman in the lead, and he was one card from drawing nearly even in the match. The river was the , though, giving Malka the pot, the knockout, and the title.

Malka is a 28-year-old pro from Los Angeles. Although he’s been playing poker since he was 19, he’s only recently started to dabble in tournaments, citing the desire to travel and the thrill of tournament poker as his motivations. Things seem to be going well so far. This most recent victory is the largest of his young career, and it brings his total earnings to just over $1 million.

Here are the full results:

1st: David Malka – $658,000
2nd: Sylvain Loosli – 481,750
3rd: Tim West – $298,450
4th: Nick Petrangelo – $206,800
5th: Nick Yunis – $133,950
6th: Yevgeniy Timoshenko – $101,050
7th: Brian Benderoff – $82,250
8th: Steffen Sontheimer – $70,500
9th: Lazaro Hernandez – $68,150
10th: Jake Schindler – $65,800
11th: John Dolan – $63,450
12th: Dan Shak – $61,100
13th: Fedor Holz – $58,750

High Roller Final Results

The above results reflect corrected finishing positions for 11th and 12th places.

$25,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 23: 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining: 1 of 94

David Malka opened to 135,000 on the button, and Sylvain Loosli three-bet to 345,000 in the big blind. Malka moved all in with the covering stack, and Loosli called all in for just over 2,000,000, putting himself at risk. It was a race:

Malka:
Loosli:

The board ran out , and the ace on the river gave Malka the pot and the title. Loosli was eliminated as the runner-up.

Malka posed for winner’s photos with his shiny new trophy, and he was handed a payout ticket for $658,000, by far the largest score of his tournament career. A recap of his victory will be published shortly.

$25,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 23: 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 94

Tim West moved all in for 565,000 in the small blind, and Sylvain Loosli called in the big to put him at risk.

West:
Loosli:

The board ran out , and West was drawing dead on the turn. Loosli won the pot with the nut flush, sending West to the rain in third place.

David Malka and Sylvain Loosli are now heads up for the title, the trophy, and the $658,000 top prize.

David Malka – 7,415,000 (124 bb)
Sylvain Loosli – 1,985,000 (33 bb)
Tim West – Eliminated

$25,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 23: 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 94

David Malka raised to 135,000 on the button and Sylvain Loosli three-bet to 345,000 out of the big blind. Malka took a few moments in the tank and then put in a four-bet to 655,000 and Loosli tossed his hand into the muck.

A few hands later, Sylvain Loosli raised to 150,000 out of the small blind and David Malka defended his big blind. The flop was and Loosli bet 125,000. Malka raised to 315,000 and Loosli folded.

Malka dragged the pot and extended his already massive chip lead, crossing over the 7 million chip mark.

David Malka – 7,200,000
Sylvanil Loosli – 1,275,000

$25,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Level 23: 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 94

On a flop of , Nick Petrangelo checked from the small blind and David Malka bet 235,000 from the big blind. Sylvain Loosli called on the button and Petrangelo went into the tank for a minute.

Petrangelo eventually moved all in for about 2,000,000 and Malka hesitates for a few moments before moving all in for about 3,500,000. Loosli quickly folded and the cards were tabled.

Malka showed , good for the nut straight and had Petrangelo drawing to runners with his . The turn was the , giving Petrangelo some outs, but the river was the and Petrangelo hit the rail in fourth place.

Petrangelo took home $206,800 for his finish and Malka takes a massive chip lead into three-handed play.

David Malka – 5,750,000 (95 bb)
Nick Petrangelo – Eliminated

Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood
Event #25
$150 No Limit Hold’em Re-Entry
Total Entries: 625
Prize Pool: $75,000 

With the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown winding down, Vanessa Wang won her first tournament of her poker career on Wednesday night.

She took down the $150 No Limit Hold’em in a heads-up chop with Billy Haworth for $16,118. She had more chips at the time of the deal, so she takes credit for the win and takes home the trophy.

With only about a year of experience in poker tournaments, Wang is new to the tournament scene. While she is happy about her win, she knows that she has plenty of room to improve if she wants to continue to succeed.

“It feels really good,” said Wang after her win. “I know I can do it if I try hard enough. I should’ve done better in the main event, but I will try to do better in the future. I need more experience because a lot of times I lose my patience.”

This is her second cash of the series after finishing 76th for $6,856 in the $3,500 WPT Main Event. She also netted a cash in the WPTDeepStacks main event here at the Seminole Hard Rock during the Lucky Hearts Poker Open.

Wang immigrated to the South Florida area two years ago from China and has enjoyed her time in the area.

“I make jewelry and play tennis and golf and enjoy life,” said Wang.

The Beijing native is a self-described homemaker, but is in the midst of starting her own jewelry business. She is in the process of creating a web site to sell the jewelry she makes and has a few vendors interested in selling her product.

From the start of the day, Wang seemingly dominated the tournament. She came into the final table with the chip lead and never was short on chips. She navigated her way to a heads-up battle with Billy Haworth. After a short battle, they decided to chop up the prize pool evenly between them.

Here is a look at the results:

1st: Vanessa Wang – $16,118
2nd: Billy Haworth – $16,117
3rd: Anibal Rodriguez – $7,875
4th: Hector Chevalier – $5,438
5th: Edgardo Rosario – $4,013
6th: John Cummings – $3,188
7th: Paul Tong – $2,438
8th: Chien Chiu – $1,763
9th: Wally Maddah – $1,275
10th: Scott Cowan – $975
11th: Dustin Tragethon – $975
12th: Albert Green – $975
13th: Guillaume Darcourt – $788
14th: Martin Robbins – $788
15th: Vincent Ortega Delgado – $788
16th: Barry Gallo – $675
17th: Jorge Chavez – $675
18th: Michael Benko – $675
19th: Irvin Block – $563
20th: Edina Pantinchin – $563
21st: Eli Levy – $563
22nd Luis Bueno – $563
23rd: Stephen Harris – $563
24th: Luiz De Farias Guimares – $563
25th: Colby Covington – $563
26th: Evan Lash – $563
27th: Corey Hochman – $563
28th: Stephane Keyser – $488
29th: Paul Prager – $488
30th: Julia Bindelglass $488
31st: Artur Chimchirian – $488
32nd: Julio Fernandez – $488
33rd: Gabriel Baffigi Mezzotero – $488
34th: Lawrence Edwards – $488
35th: Williaredward Stanton – $488
36th: Gianmaco Gaspare – $488

Event 25 Final Results