$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 5: 250/500 with a 75 ante
Entries: 318

Shannon Shorr raised to 1,300 from under the gun and Jeff Gross called from early position. Andy Philachack three-bet to 6,000 from the cutoff and action folded back to Shorr, who quickly folded.

Gross thought for a few moments and then called. The flop was and Gross checked. Philachack bet 8,000 and Gross called.

The turn was the and Gross checked again. Philachack moved all in for about 20,000 and Gross tanked for a couple minutes before folding. Philachack mucked his hand and won the pot.

Andy Philachack – 48,500
Jeff Gross – 33,000

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 6: 300/600 with a 75 Ante
Players: 318

Uri Kadosh opened to 1,500 under the gun, Faraz Jaka called next to act, and Muhammad Abdel-Rahim defended his big blind.

The flop was . It checked to Jaka, who bet 2,500, and Abdel-Rahim check-raised with a big, uncounted stack of chips. Kadosh folded, but Jaka quickly called all in for 13,650 total to put himself at risk.

Jaka: (set of eights)
Abdel-Rahim: (straight draw)

The turn was a great card for Jaka, giving him an unbeatable full house and securing his double-up one card early. The river was the .

Faraz Jaka – 32,700

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 5: 250/500 with a 75 Ante
Players: 315

Tony Ruberto opened to 1,500 in middle position, Alex Haber called in the cutoff, and Andjelko Andrejevic three-bet to 6,000 on the button. Ruberto and Haber called the remainder to see a three-way flop.

It came , and it checked to Andrejevic, who continued for 9,000. Ruberto folded, but Haber check-raised all in for 36,250 total. Andrejevic instantly called, having Haber slightly covered to put him at risk.

Haber: (top two pair)
Andrejevic: (combo draw)

The turn gave Andrejevic even more outs, as an ace or an eight would win him the pot. He couldn’t get there, though; the river was the , and Haber doubled up.

Alex Haber – 91,700
Andjelko Andrejevic – 1,950

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 5: 250/500 with a 75 ante
Entries: 315

There was about 15,000 in the pot on the turn with the board reading and Farid Jattin checked from early position.

The player in middle position bet 9,000 and Jattin check-raised to 23,300. After a couple minutes of thought, Jattin’s opponent called and the river was the .

Jattin immediately moved a stack out into the middle that covers his opponent’s approximately 30,000 remaining. His opponent quickly folded and Jattin dragged the pot.

As he was stacking the chips, he flashed the to the table with a wry smile.

Farid Jattin – 134,000

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 5: 250/500 with a 75 Ante
Players: 313

Tony Dunst and Mike Sexton are both in the field today, both doing their best to represent the World Poker Tour at the tables.

Dunst’s day started relatively slowly, but things improved drastically somewhere along the way. Dunst had about 35,000 chips when we walked past once, then more than twice that the next time we checked. He’s currently working with about 70,000 chips at a table that includes Brian Altman, Nick Rampone, Nick Pupillo, SHRP Team member Mukul Pahuja, and recent WPT LA Poker Classic finalist Jared Griener.

A couple tables over, Sexton is sitting alongside the likes of Jake Schindler, Jacob Snider, and Miguel Use, and he’s having a similarly productive day so far. Sexton was involved in a heads-up pot as we approached.

The board showed , and Paul Kuzmich checked first to act. From the button, Sexton bet 5,500 into a pot of about that much, and Kuzmich check-raised to 11,500. Sexton re-raised to 30,500, and Kuzmich folded to let Sexton take the pot with no further drama.

Mike Sexton – 75,000
Tony Dunst – 70,000

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 4: 200/400 with a 50 Ante
Players: 305

Sean Perry is having as good a series as anyone at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. Perry has cashed four times so far, including a runner-up finish in the huge $2,200 event won by Joe McKeehen and a win in the $570 Turbo that ended barely 12 hours ago. Perry’s WPT Finale got off to a shaky start this afternoon, but he’s just recovered some of his early losses.

The pot began with Domingos Fernandes opening with a raise under the gun, and Mark Teltscher three-bet to 2,600 next to act. From the big blind, Perry four-bet shoved for 11,050, and Fernandes re-shoved for 14,000 total. That folded Teltscher out of the way, leaving Perry heads-up for his tournament life.

Fernandes:
Perry:

The board ran out , and Perry doubled up with kings up.

Sean Perry – 25,300
Domingos Fernandes – 2,950

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 4: 200/400 with a 50 Ante
Players: 300

Jason Wheeler is a fixture in some of the biggest buy-in tournaments all over the world, and he’s come ready to play poker this afternoon.

Wheeler opened a recent pot to 800 in middle position, and Shawn Cunix called in the small blind. Dimitar Danchev three-bet to 3,500 in the big blind, and Wheeler four-bet to 8,000 total. Cunix folded, Danchev called, and it was heads-up to the flop.

It came . Danchev checked, Wheeler continued for 5,200, and Danchev called. That was the end of the betting, as both players checked through the turn and river.

Danchev showed for aces up, but it was no good. Wheeler’s had run down a flush, giving him the pot and a tidy profit as a reward for his preflop aggression.

Jason Wheeler – 64,000
Dimitar Danchev – 22,000

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 3: 150/300 with a 50 Ante
Players: 293

Walking up to the table, Tony Cousineau was under the gun with 8,000 chips out in front of him, and Mike Leah was on the button with 15,750 strung out in a multicolored line across the felt. There was some dead money in the middle, too, so we can infer Cousineau opened the pot with a raise, and someone in the middle called before Leah three-bet, Cousineau four-bet, and Leah five-bet to the amount in front of him.

Picking up the rest of the action in real time, Cousineau took a long pause for several minutes before calling the five-bet to see a flop. “Unlimited rebuys, right?” he asked with a smirk. This event is a freezeout, as the dealer reminded him.

The flop came , and Cousineau checked. Leah bet 9,000, and Cousineau check-raised all in for 22,325 total. “All right,” he said as he slid the chips forward. “You win.”

Leah quickly called to put Cousineau at risk.

Cousineau:
Leah:

Oh, that. The turn made things interesting, though, as Cousineau’s flopped freeroll improved to a full-blown flush draw with one card to come. The river was red, but the was a blank, and the two split the pot.

“You know your best-case scenario is a tie, right?” Cousineau asked. He has a reputation for being as tight as any other player in the game, so it was probably no surprise to see him show down a premium hand. “Or did you think there was a chance I had jacks?” he laughed.

There was no answer from Leah, headphones on as he stacked his half of the pot.

Mike Leah – 43,000
Tony Cousineau – 37,000

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
End of Level 2: 100/200 with a 25 Ante
Players: 264

The first two levels are complete, and the field is on their first 15-minute break of the day. The board shows 264 entries, easily surpassing the $2 million guarantee and setting a strong early pace for attendance.

Here’s the top of the leaderboard at the moment, with five players who’ve more than doubled their starting stack since the start of play:

Eric Afriat – 96,000
Dani Dayan – 89,300
Francisco Picasso – 85,000
Rainer Kempe – 84,000
John Dolan – 83,000

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 2: 100/200 with a 25 Ante
Players: 258

While there are indeed players here from all over the world, there are (likely) only two of them that are related by blood. The Brothers Cappello, Joseph and Lucian, are both in the field this afternoon, here from their hometown of New Rochelle, New York.

Joseph, 36, is known casually as “Bobo”, and he has more than $2 million in career tournament earnings, including major wins in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Baltimore. He’s trying hard to add Hollywood to that list, and a win in this event would certainly fall into the career-defining category.

Lucian, who’s 37, has about $75,000 in tournament earnings, but Joseph insists that his older brother is the better player of the two. He’s also the only one who’s earned a cash so far in this series; Lucian finished 114th out of close to 3,000 runners in Event 9, adding another $1,900 to his results.