$2,200 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry) Level 20: 15,000/30,000 Players Remaining: 2 of 95
Joni Jouhkimainen
In a raised pot, the flop came . Joni Jouhkimainen was in the small blind and got about 125,000 in against Bryan Dillon. Dillon called and Jouhkimainen was at risk.
“I just have a pair,” Dillon said.
Dillon: Jouhkimainen:
They both had a pair, but Dillon’s aces were best.
Runout:
Dillon was best and Jouhkimainen was eliminated in third place good for $22,800.
$25,500 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 24: 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 Ante Players Remaining: 4 of 116
Anthony Spinella moved all in for 890,000 under the gun, and Justin Bonomo called in the small blind to put Spinella at risk.
Spinella: Bonomo:
The was a decent miss for Spinella, giving him eight additional outs with an open-ended straight draw. The turn added even more outs to the win, and the river completed his straight to give him a double-up.
$25,500 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 24: 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 Ante Players Remaining: 5 of 116
Olivier Busquet
Jason Mercier opened to 160,000 under the gun, and Olivier Busquet three-bet shoved for 2,140,000 in the big blind. Mercier quickly called to put Busquet at risk.
Mercier: Busquet:
The flop was a miss for Busquet, and the turn left him dead to one out. He needed to find the Ten of Diamonds to stay alive, but the river was the to seal his elimination in fifth place. Mercier won the pot with a queen-high flush, moving into a dead heat with Justin Bonomo atop the leaderboard
Jason Mercier – 4,740,000 (59 bb) Olivier Busquet – Eliminated in 5th place ($153,700)
2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, FL WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship Entries: 1,207 Prize Pool: $3,862,400 March 31 – April 5, 2017
Tony Sinishtaj, WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Champion
The 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown ran two full weeks of big tournaments and all were heading toward the last big set of three World Poker Tour events, kicking off with the $2,000,000 guaranteed Championship. After three long days and a tough final table, Tony Sinishtaj walked away with the WPT title, a seat in the WPT Tournament of Champions, a seat in the 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship, and $661,283.
The $3,500 buy-in tournament drew 1,207 entries in one starting day to push the prize pool up to $3,862,400. Only 476 players were able to advance a stack to Day 2 with Alejandro Duque leading the way.
The Day 2 field had a lot of work to do before making some money. The last 151 players earned part of the huge prize pool and it took most of the day to get them down that far. They hit the money late in the day and packed up for Day 3 with 27 players remaining.
Those 27 players showed off their skill as they tried to make it to the six-handed final table. It took until the early morning hours but the table was set when Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Matt Affleck was eliminated in seventh place.
The WPT live-streamed final table included six players with combined tournament earnings of nearly $40,000,000. The three biggest names left in the game were World Series of Poker Big One for One Drop winner Dan Colman, four-time WSOP champ Robert Mizrachi, and Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Darryll Fish.
Simeon Naydenov and Eric Beller were quick casualties at the final table and the four remaining players settled in to a long battle that saw the lead change several times.
Colman began the day with the chip lead and held it again during four-handed play but was the victim of a tough beat by Sinishtaj to send him out in fourth place.
“It was a tough field right down the stretch, but I got the right cards, got lucky a little bit, got unlucky a little bit,” Sinishtaj said later. “And at the end of the day it happened the way it was supposed to happen I guess and I came out on top.”
Crowd favorite Mizrachi followed him out shortly after to set up the heads-up match between Fish and Sinishtaj.
Fish erased an early deficit but Sinishtaj soon regained the lead for good when he doubled with sevens against deuces. A few hands later, Fish was all-in and at risk before Sinishtaj turned a flush to knock the the SHRP team member out in second place. Fish picked up $453,185 for his runner-up finish while Sinishtaj earned $661,283 for his efforts.
“It feels amazing,” Sinishtaj said. “I can’t wait, I just want to keep playing, it’s awesome.”
Sinishtaj won’t have to wait long to play again. His win today also earns him a seat in the $15,000 buy-in WPT Tournament of Champions that kicks off on Friday.
“I love playing here. It’s been a few years since I’ve been here, but I feel like I run great.” Sinishtaj said when asked about his experience at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood. “It’s a great place to play, [they] do an amazing job with the tournament.”
“The structure, the series, everything is great. The dealers are amazing, the staff, the floor, everything, I love the place.” He continued. “I should definitely be playing here more often, and I definitely will.”
Welcome back to Tony Sinishtaj and congratulations on the big World Poker Tour win.
Final table results:
1st: Tony Sinishtaj – $661,283* + $5,250 SHRPO Seat 2nd: Darryl Fish – $453,185 3rd: Rob Mizrachi – $293,864 4th: Dan Colman – $217,686 5th: Eric Beller – $164,438 6th: Simeon Naydenov – $132,889 * – Includes $15,000 WPT Tournament of Champions seat
$25,500 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 24: 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 Ante Players Remaining: 5 of 116
Action folded around to the blinds where Loni Harwood moved all in from the small. That put the decision on Olivier Busquet and his stack of 830,000 chips, and he quickly called all in to put himself at risk.
Harwood: Busquet:
The board ran out , and Busquet won the pot with aces up to double up.
2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood, FL $300 Turbo No Limit Hold’em Entries: 133 Prize Pool: $33,915 April 5, 2017
Ty Akbasli wins $300 turbo title
It was an anniversary of sorts on Wednesday for Ty Akbasli. Four years ago to the day, Akbasli won a tournament at the Hard Rock. On the four-year anniversary of his win, he came back to the Hard Rock to win another tournament.
Akbasli defeated a field of 133 entrants to take home $9,582 and a title in the $300 turbo no limit hold’em.
“I woke up this morning and I’m checking my Facebook and it said four years ago on this exact day, I won a tournament here at the Hard Rock,” said Akbasli. “I think it was a bounty and that was awesome.
“That got me riled up to play today, so I just hopped in the car and saw there was a tournament running and I got lucky again.”
Akbasli had to work hard for the title in the final preliminary event of the series. After coming into the final table in the middle of the pack, he found himself heads-up against Sean Perry with a huge chip deficit to overcome.
“I basically just waited it out,” said Akbasli. “I had a few favorable spots, nothing major. Just grinded it and then ended up coming in with a five-to-one chip deficit against a young hot shot guy that said he was 98% to win it. That gave me more motivatoin to show him what we do.”
What Akbasli did was deny Perry his second title of the series. Perry, who is only 20-years-old, had a monster series in South Florida. He had five cashes throughout the series, with two runner-up finishes and a win in the $570 no limit hold’em.
Akbasli and Perry were engaging in some back-and-forth banter heads-up, but Akbasli said that the minor trash talk was all in good spirits.
“It was all in good fun,” said Akbasli. “He was a big talker and had been talking the whole tournament. I told him with four tables to go that I was going to bust him and then somehow I ended up heads-up with him.”
Akbasli’s second Hard Rock trophy won’t be going far. Akbasli is a recreational player who lives in the area. He owns an internet marketing company, which allows him the freedom to get down to the poker room and put in some hours on the felt when he can.
The turbo format was appealing for Akbasli’s business life. It enabled him to come in and play for some good money without having to commit multiple days to the tournament.
“It’s very efficient,” said Akbasli. “I don’t want to sit around for two or three days. It’s good to just get one in and be able to finish in one day and get back to business afterwards.
After growing up in the Washington DC area, he moved down to South Florida five years ago. He’s been “loving life” ever since.
“I play poker for fun,” said Akbasli. “I play a lot, but I only play for fun. I’m not a pro or anything. I just wanted to get one for the good guys.”
Results:
1st: Ty Akbasli – $9,582 2nd: Sean Perry – $6,026 3rd: Andrey Plotnikov – $3,595 4th: Justin Conley – $2,204 5th: Dreyson Parker – $1,679 6th: Richard Katz – $1,424 7th: David Zemel – $1,238 8th: Seth Gilson – $1,085 9th: Ory Hen – $958 10th: Norman Zapcynski – $848 11th: Patrick Heneghan – $848 12th: Spencer Champlin – $848 13th: Adam Goldberg – $746 14th: Nicholas Baurichter – $746 15th: Ronald Magers – $746 16th: Angelo Castaldi – $653 17th: Ryan Dunn – $653
$25,500 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 24: 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 Ante Players Remaining: 6 of 116
Sam Soverel
Justin Bonomo opened the button to 180,000, and Sam Soverel three-bet shoved for about 1,100,000 in the small blind. Bonomo called the remainder to put Soverel at risk.
Bonomo: Soverel:
The after-dinner session has not gone well for the chip leader at the break, and this time was no different for Soverel. The board ran out , and Bonomo won the pot with trip kings. Soverel was eliminated in sixth place.
Justin Bonomo – 4,000,000 (50 bb) Sam Soverel – Eliminated in 6th place ($113,100)
$25,500 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 24: 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 Ante Players Remaining: 6 of 116
Loni Harwood
Sam Soverel opened to 175,000 under the gun, and SHRP Team member Loni Harwood three-bet shoved for about 1,300,000 next to act. Soverel called the remainder to put her at risk.
Soverel: Harwood:
The flop was pretty bad news for Harwood, giving Soverel a set of tens and leaving her dead to a queen or a running flush. The turn was a decent start, though, and the on the river got her all the way over the hump, filling her flush to earn her a double-up.
She’s now contending with Justin Bonomo for the lead with six players left.
$25,500 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 24: 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 Ante Players Remaining: 8 of 116
Ari Engel
Ari Engel waited as long as he could before ending up all in for his last 70,000 in the big blind. Action folded around to the button where Bryn Kenney moved all in for 935,000, putting the last action on Jason Mercier in the small blind. He spent a few minutes pondering, then called to put both players at risk.
Kenney: Mercier: Engel:
The board ran out , and Mercier flopped an ace to win the double knockout pot.
Engel had the shorter of the at-risk stacks when the hand began, so he took the higher finishing position. He’s out in eighth place, Kenney in seventh, and Mercier is now becoming a threat atop the leaderboard.
Bryn Kenney
Jason Mercier – 2,675,000 (33 bb) Bryn Kenney – Eliminated in 7th place ($92,800) Ari Engel – Eliminated in 8th place ($78,300)
. Joni Jouhkimainen was in the small blind and got about 125,000 in against Bryan Dillon. Dillon called and Jouhkimainen was at risk.
was a decent miss for Spinella, giving him eight additional outs with an open-ended straight draw. The 
turn added even more outs to the win, and the 
river completed his straight to give him a double-up.
flop was a miss for Busquet, and the 
turn left him dead to one out. He needed to find the Ten of Diamonds to stay alive, but the river was the 
