$570 Double Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 250

Dave Bradshaw Jr. raised all in from the button for about 120,000 and Yerandy Cruz called from the small blind with , trailing Bradshaw .

The flop came down , giving Bradshaw a big lead with top two pair. The fell on the turn to give Cruz a fair amount of outs with a royal flush draw. The river was the , giving Cruz an ace-high flush to eliminate Bradshaw in eighth place.

Yerandy Cruz – 870,000 (109 bb)
Dave Bradshaw Jr. – Eliminated in 8th Place ($2,100)

$570 Double Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 250

$570 Double Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 250

Anthony Utnage raised to 20,000 from early position, David Jackson called from middle position, and Martin Markov reraised all in for 128,000 from the hijack.

Utnage four-bet shoved for 330,000 and Jackson called after a few moments.

Utnage:
Markov:
Jackson:

The board came down , giving Utnage and Jackson aces and fives to eliminate Markov and split the bounty.

David Jackson – 510,000 (63 bb)
Anthony Utnage – 390,000 (48 bb)
Martin Markov – Eliminated in 10th Place ($1,466)

$570 Double Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em
Level 19: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 10 of 250

Yerandy Cruz opened to 18,000 from middle position, Matthew King three-bet to about 39,000 from the hijack, Michael Graffeo four-bet shoved from the button for 99,000, Cruz folded, and King called.

King:
Graffeo:

The flop fell , keeping Graffeo ahead. The turn was the , as good as it could get for King. However, the river was the , safe for Graffeo to double up.

Michael Graffeo – 238,000 (32 bb)
Matthew King – 240,000 (32 bb)

$570 Double Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em
Level 18: 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 10 of 250

Among the flurry of eliminations in Level 18 included Daniel Romano (14th – $1,260), Alain Rodriguez (13th – $1,260), Jeff Trudeau Jr. (12th – $1,466), and Joel Harwood (11th – $1,466).

Here is the final table lineup:

Seat 1: Anthony Utnage – 355,000 (59 bb)
Seat 2: Michael Graffeo – 125,000 (21 bb)
Seat 3: David Jackson – 460,000 (76 bb)
Seat 4: Dave Bradshaw Jr. – 235,000 (39 bb)
Seat 5: Martin Markov – 175,000 (29 bb)
Seat 6: Spencer Champlin – 160,000 (26 bb)
Seat 7: Yerandy Cruz – 545,000 (90 bb)
Seat 8: Joseph Buonodono – 165,000 (27 bb)
Seat 9: Eric Piderit – 460,000 (76 bb)
Seat 10: Matthew King – 320,000 (53 bb)

$570 Double Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em
Level 18: 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 14 of 250

Table 41
Seat 1: Anthony Utnage – 280,000 (47 bb)
Seat 2:
Seat 3: Matthew King – 310,000 (51 bb)
Seat 4: Martin Markov – 130,000 (21 bb)
Seat 5: Yerandy Cruz – 610,000 (101 bb)
Seat 6:
Seat 7: Alain Rodriguez – 60,000 (10 bb)
Seat 8: Michael Graffeo – 142,000 (23 bb)
Seat 9: Spencer Champlin – 183,000 (30 bb)

Table 42
Seat 1: Joseph Buonodono – 95,000 (15 bb)
Seat 2: Daniel Romano – 42,000 (7 bb)
Seat 3: Joel Harwood – 128,000 (21 bb)
Seat 4:
Seat 5: David Jackson – 175,000 (29 bb)
Seat 6: Eric Piderit – 470,000 (79 bb)
Seat 7:
Seat 8: Jeff Trudeau Jr – 78,000 (13 bb)
Seat 9: Dave Bradshaw Jr – 300,000 (50 bb)

1st: $17,227
2nd: $12,110
3rd: $7,688
4th: $4,676
5th: $3,611
6th: $2,993
7th: $2,513
8th: $2,100
9th: $1,724
10th – 12th: $1,466
13th – 14th: $1,260

2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown 
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino 
Hollywood, Fla.
$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Single Re-Entry)
Entries: 139
Prizepool: $90,000
March 26-27, 2017

Josias Santos is the newest winner at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, topping a field of 139 entries in the $1,650 Purple Chip Bounty to win the trophy and the top prize of $31,656 in a heads-up deal. Santos also earned a seat into the limited freeroll for the winners of the series’ first 14 events, where he’ll have a chance to snag either a $10,000 or $3,500 seat into one of the WPT events on the upcoming schedule.

Santos is a 53-year-old semi-professional poker player from Brazil, his previous career involving the management of soccer players in his home country. He now makes his home in Tampa, where he runs a transportation company as his new primary source of income. That may soon be changing, though.

Three years ago, Santos found poker for the first time, and it’s been a happy partnership, so far. After two years of studying and practice, Santos felt prepared to take the next steps. “I decided to play more this year,” he said. “And I choose tournaments with structures that fit my play.”

The Purple Chip Bounty met his requirements, and he stormed his way into Day 2 of the event with one of the biggest stacks of the 12 remaining players. By the time the field shrunk to nine, he was third in chips and breathing down the necks of chip leaders Jordan Meltzer and Phong Nguyen.

Those three were eventually the last three players left at the table, and Santos won the largest pot of the day against Nguyen to take a huge lead and leave the former chip leader with just two big blinds. Meltzer eliminated Nguyen one hand later, entering the heads-up duel with a significant chip disadvantage.

“I stared heads-up with two thirds of the chips,” Santos said in his postgame interviews. He actually had closer to three quarters of the chips, but that lead was short-lived. “I lost some hands so I had to slow down a little bit and wait for better spots,” he said of the encounter with Meltzer. “He’s a very tough player. Very good player.”

Meltzer put up a mighty fight, even taking the chip lead at one point in the duel before the stacks returned to even. Locked in a stalemate, the two finalists stepped away from the table to talk numbers, and they quickly agreed to an equal chop, with Santos’ big stack earning him the extra $1, the trophy, and the freeroll seat.

The champ has only been playing poker for three years, but he’s already racked up more than $300,000 in tournament earnings as a part-time player. A big chunk of that has come early in 2017, a year in which he’s decided to dedicate more time to the game.

So far, the decision has been a profitable one. This result is his third big five-figure score over the span of the last two months. Santos outlasted a huge field of 1,883 entries to win a $340 event at Parx, earning nearly $70,000 for that victory alone. A month later, he finished fourth of 482 entries in a $1,500 event here in Florida, and he’s just added more than $30,000 for this win at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.

If his heater continues like this, Santos will most certainly be someone worth watching when the big-buy-in events arrive on the calendar later this week.

Final Table Results:

1st: Josias Santos – $31,656*
2nd: Jordan Meltzer – $31,655*
3rd: Phong Nguyen – $14,526
4th: Marc Schiller – $8,757
5th: Hyon Kim – $6,811
6th: Christian Harder – $5,699
7th: TK Miles – $4,935
8th: Jack Duong – $4,385
9th: Victor Merkel – $3,885

*Denotes heads-up deal

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Single Re-Entry)
Level 23: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 139

After a few minutes of discussion, Josias Santos and Jordan Meltzer have reached a deal for an even chop.

Here were the chip counts at the time of the deal and the ensuing payouts:

Josias Santos – 875,000 – $31,656
Jordan Meltzer – 793,000 – $31,655

As the chip leader, Santos officially gets the victory. A recap of the event will be posted shortly.

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Single Re-Entry)
Level 23: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 139

Following a flop of , Jordan Meltzer checked from the big blind and Josias Santos bet 25,000 from the button. Meltzer check-raised to 100,000 and Santos called.

The turn was the and Meltzer bet 100,000. Santos called.

The river was the and both players checked.

Meltzer showed , while Santos tabled for a pair of queens to win the pot.

Josias Santos – 988,000 (82 bb)
Jordan Meltzer – 680,000 (56 bb)

$1,650 Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Single Re-Entry)
Level 23: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 139

Jordan Metzler raised to 25,000 from the button and Josias Santos called from the big blind.

They checked to the turn of   board where Santos bet 33,000. Meltzer called.

The river was the and Santos checked to Meltzer who bet 150,000. Santos called.

Meltzer tabled for a king-high straight, Santos mucked, and Meltzer won the pot.

Jordan Meltzer – 990,000 (82 bb)
Josias Santos – 678,000 (56 bb)