2018 May Deep Stack Poker Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida
Main Event
$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 349
Prize Pool: $523,500
May 24-28, 2018

The May Deep Stack Poker Series began nearly two weeks ago and it rolled into Memorial Day weekend with the $300,000 Guarantee Main Event. It drew traveling pros and local favorites to the game and it was 2014 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Champion Chris Bolek taking top honors after a heads-up deal with fellow pro TK Miles saw them each walk away with $94,544.

The $1,650 buy-in Main Event drew 349 entries and seven of them joined before the start of Day 2. They combined to push the prize pool up to $523,500 with the last 44 players getting paid.

Event 1 winner Jose Reyes began Day 2 with the chip lead followed by Miles in second and Bolek returned to a top ten stack. Poker pro Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler made a last minute stop in South Florida for the Main Event but was unable to bag. However, his traveling companion and defending WPTDeepStacks Tampa champ Rex Clinkscales was able to advance.

We had 83 players in the poker room for the restart and the tournament progressed at a steady pace thanks to the 60-minute blind levels. They hit the money bubble three hours into the day and it was Bolek taking care of bursting the bubble after 20 minutes of hand-for-hand play.

Notable among those cashing include Jerry Wong and Ronald Young. Wong was one of the last to buy-in when he was a Day 2 entrant and he rode his ten big blinds to a 39th place finish. Young was here on a freeroll after winning the May Big Stack Special. Part of his win included a seat in the Main Event and he went all the way to 19th place.

The Main Event final table included some of the toughest players we get in our games. Besides Bolek and Miles, we had two-time WSOP bracelet winner/five-time WSOP Circuit champ Loni Harwood, former SHRP event winner Josias Santos, and poker coach/pro Ryan Ganquitti.

The clock was paused for Day 2 when the clock hit 3am and the seven remaining players returned for an extra day of final table poker.

Day 3 saw them play nearly four hours before the first player was eliminated. Joshua Zur was eliminated in seventh place and was quickly followed by Gianquitti. It took a bad beat to send Harwood out in fifth place and Santos dropped out in fourth place. A short-stacked Steve Duncker tried to battle back but fell short in third place.

“It was a tough table,” Bolek commented about his competition. “I just tried to stay in it and not bust myself.”

Bolek and Miles immediately began talking about a deal to chop up the remaining prize pool. Bolek held only 75,000 more than Miles and they split the money right down the middle with each earning $94,544. Bolek took the title and trophy home as a result of his chip lead and he adds more SHRP hardware to his mantle.

Both players were happy to lock down a big payday as they prepare for the summer in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker.

“Historically, one of my worst months for poker is May,” Bolek said. “It’s definitely nice to get a nice win and basically going into the summer on a freeroll.”

“It takes some edge off.”

Congratulations to Bolek on the title and thanks to a very talented group of players taking part in the Deep Stack Poker Series Main Event.

Main Event final table results:

1st: Chris Bolek – $94,544 *
2nd: TK Miles – $94,544 *
3rd: Steve Duncker – $50,078
4th: Josias Santos – $32,431
5th: Loni Harwood – $24,997
6th: Ryan Gianquitti – $20,678
7th: Joshua Zur – $17,354
8th: David Nowling – $14,213
9th: John Miller – $11,119
* – denotes results of heads-up deal

Complete Main Event results

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30: 75,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 349

The knockout of Steve Duncker propelled Chris Bolek to a slight lead and they never played a hand of heads-up. Bolek and TK Miles agreed to split the remaining prize pool right down the middle and Bolek took the win with the small chip advantage.

Chris Bolek – 8,750,000
TK Miles – 8,675,000

1st: Chris Bolek – $94,544
2nd: TK Miles – $94,544

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30: 75,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 349

Chris Bolek opened to 300,000 from the button and Steve Duncker moved all in once again. TK Miles folded his big blind and Bolek thought for a moment before calling.

Bolek:
Duncker:

Duncker needed to hold to double up but Bolek paired the flop. The turn was no help and Duncker’s comeback was cut short after the river.

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30: 75,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 349

The Main Event final table is back underway and Steve Duncker went into shove mode. He pushed four of the first five hands to virtually double up without a showdown taking down some early raises.

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Returning to Level 30: 75,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 349

The three remaining players are on a 40-minute dinner break. TK Miles moved ahead over the last 15 minutes of the level and will return with the lead.

Seat 1: TK Miles – 9,550,000 (64 bb)
Seat 2: Chris Bolek – 6,225,000 (42 bb)
Seat 3: Steve Duncker – 1,675,000 (11 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $111,196
2nd: $77,892
3rd: $50,078

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 349

TK Miles opened the action to 275,000 and Josias Santos moved all in for 3,100,000 from the big blind. Miles quickly called and Santos was in trouble.

Miles:
Santos:

Santos as a single over card but missed the entire board to exit in fourth place.

TK Miles – 7,850,000 (65 bb)
Josias Santos – Eliminated in 4th place ($32,431)

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 349

Chris Bolek is putting some distance between himself and the other three players. He holds nearly half of the chips in play at the four-handed table and Steve Duncker dropped to the bottom after his disappearance from the table.

Seat 1: TK Miles – 3,650,000 (30 bb)
Seat 2: Chris Bolek – 8,100,000 (68 bb)
Seat 3: Steve Duncker – 2,675,000 (22 bb)
Seat 4: Josias Santos – 3,020,000 (25 bb)

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 349

Steve Duncker, newly back in his seat, and Josias Santos folded and Loni Harwood moved all in for 1,575,000 from the small blind. After confirming the count, TK Miles called in the big blind.

Harwood:
Miles:

Harwood had suited connectors but missed the all-low board. She was never able to bounce back from the earlier bad beat and went out in fifth place.

TK Miles – 4,400,000 (37 bb)
Loni Harwood – Eliminated in 5th place ($24,997)

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 349

Josias Santos was the short stack at the table and took a shot for his final 1,810,000. Loni Harwood called and was dominating for the knockout.

Harwood:
Santos:

Santos needed a lot of luck to stay in the game and found it as the board put four hearts out there for his nut flush double.

Josias Santos – 3,740,000 (31 bb)
Loni Harwood – 1,945,000 (16 bb)

$1,650 Deepest Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 349

Four of the five remaining players returned to their seats after the break but we are still waiting on Steve Duncker nearly 20 minutes after the restart.

He has the chip lead but he will blind down pretty quickly at a five-handed table.

If you know Steve, please let him know the rest of the table are playing.