2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, FL 
Event 16 
$5,000 No-Limit Hold’em 
Entries: 98 
Prize Pool: $465,500 
April 16, 2018 

For a long time, Pete Walsworth’s job at a major financial firm precluded him from playing a lot of poker tournaments. He’s since made a career shift and began working for himself.

Now, running his own cyrptocurrency hedge fund, he has more freedom to play and it’s shown in his results. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Walsworth defeated a field of 98 entries to earn $141,976 in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em.

“The last year I’ve been kind of limited in the amount of tournaments I’ve been able to play,” said Walsworth after the win. “So, it feels really good to play a full series and get a victory. I think my last big win was two years ago.”

His win didn’t come easy. He was battling against some of the game’s best. He defeated a final table that featured Joe Kuether, Ben Yu, Tony Sinishtaj, Tim Reilly and Dylan Linde. He defeated Jonathan Poche heads-up for the title.

Battling the best players he can find is just the way Walsworth wants it.

“I actually prefer to play against some of the best in the world,” said the 37-year-old. “Because they like to bluff and I don’t like to fold top pair. So, it kind of works into my game. If I’m playing a $350 or a smaller tournament, I tend to call down a little too much and I pay them off. In this tournament, it’s a lot more likely that they are bluffing.”

It’s been a recurring theme in some of the higher stakes events that everybody is laughing, joking, sharing some drinks and just overall having a good time.

Walsworth feeds that atmosphere and tries to keep most of the tournaments he plays on the looser, funner side of the spectrum.

“I try to be friendly with everybody at the table,” said Walsworth. “I enjoy that atmosphere more than when it’s too serious.”

Now that he works for himself and not for Morgan Stanley, the Sarasota native will likely be at more series and in more events.

“Part of the reason that I didn’t play much poker was because they were not okay with the idea of poker tournaments,” said Walsworth. “When I left Morgan Stanley and started a crypto hedge fund, it kind of loosened me up in terms of poker because I didn’t have to explain to my employer that I played a poker tournament.”

Regardless of whether or not Walsworth puts in more volume at the poker table, he’s building his own business based on his own interests.

“Crypto is a passion of mine,” said Walsworth. “And I think it’s something that over the next 10 years, it’s going to get really big and I decided to make it a career move and hopefully it pays off.”

Results:

1st: Pete Walsworth – $141,976
2nd: Jonathan Poche – $89,281
3rd: Joe Kuether – $53,533
4th: Ben Yu – $34,913
5th: Filipp Khavin – $27,232
6th: Sam Ganzfried – $21,762
7th: Tony Sinishtaj – $18,504
8th: Tim Reilly – $16,060
9th: Almedin Imsirovic – $14,198
10th: Dylan Linde – $12,801
11th: Sergi Reixach – $12,801
12th: Adam Singer – $12,801
13th: David Malka – $11,638

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 24: 20,000/40,000 with a 40.000 ante
Players Remaining: 1 of 9

On a flop of , Jonathan Poche checked from the big blind and Pete Walsworth bet 60,000 on the button. Poche check-raised to 200,000 and Walsworth called.

The turn was the and Poche moved all in. Walsworth snap-called, tabling , giving him a straight.

Poche showed , good for top two pair and needed to fill up to stay alive. The river was the and Walsworth scooped the pot. After breaking down both stacks, Walsworth had the slightly bigger stack.

Poche was eliminated in second place and took home $87,281. Walsworth took home $141,976 for his win.

Pete Walsworth – $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Champion
Jonathan Poche – Eliminated 

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 24: 20,000/40,000 with a 40.000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 9

Joe Kuether got all in from the big blind for about 400,000 against Jonathan Poche in the small blind.

Kuether was dominated with against Poche’s .

The flop was , leaving Kuether drawing to runners. The turn was the , which left Kuether drawing dead to the river card.

Poche won the pot with a pair of aces and Kuether took home $53,533 for his third place finish.

Poche is dead even in chips with Pete Walsworth and the two will battle heads-up for the trophy and $141,976.

Jonathan Poche – 980,000
Joe Kuether – Eliminated 

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 22: 10,000/20,000 with a 20.000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 9

On a flop of , Ben Yu moved all in out of the big blind for about 100,000 and Joe Kuether called from under the gun.

Kuether showed and was in the lead against Yu’s .

The turn was the and the river was the . Yu hit the rail in fourth place for $34,913.

Joe Kuether – 450,000
Ben Yu – Eliminated 

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 22: 10,000/20,000 with a 20.000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 9

Filipp Khavin moved all in from under the gun for 200,000 and Jonathan Poche called on the button.

Poche was in a dominating position with his up against Khavin’s .

The board ran out , keeping Poche’s big slick in the lead and eliminating Khavin in fifth place for $27,232.

Jonathan Poche – 880,000
Filipp Khavin – Eliminated 

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 22: 10,000/20,000 with a 20.000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 9

Jonathan Poche moved all in from the small blind and Sam Ganzfried called from the big blind, all in for about 50,000.

Ganzfried showed and was behind Poche’s .

The board ran out and Poche sent another player home to extend his chip lead. Ganzfried earned $21,762 for his finish.

Jonathan Poche – 680,000
Sam Ganzfried – Eliminated 

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 21: 10,000/15,000 with a 15.000 ante
Players Remaining: 6 of 9

Tony Sinishtaj got all in preflop from early position for about 100,000 against Filipp Khavin in the big blind.

Khavin showed and had Sinishtaj’s dominated. Sinishtaj couldn’t find any help on the board and was eliminated in seventh place.

Filipp Khavin – 235,000
Tony Sinishtaj – Eliminated 

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 21: 10,000/15,000 with a 15.000 ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 98

Tim Reilly moved all in from the cutoff for about 150,000 and Jonathan Poche called from the small blind.

Reilly was in trouble with against Poche’s .

Reilly immediately got up and started exiting the tournament area, but picked up some equity with a flop of . He continued to walk away, but picked up even more equity on the , adding a pair and a flush draw to his straight draw.

The river was the and he hit the rail in eighth place, taking home $16,060.

Jonathan Poche – 650,000
Tim Reilly – Eliminated 

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 21: 10,000/15,000 with a 15.000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 98

Pete Walsworth raised almost the entirety of his stack from the small blind and Jonathan Poche moved all in from the big blind. Walsworth called and was all in for 155,000.

It was a flip with Walsworth’s and Poche’s .

The flop was , giving Walsworth the lead. The turn was the and the river was the .

Pete Walsworth – 310,000
Jonathan Poche – 500,000

$5,000 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$250,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 21: 10,000/15,000 with a 15.000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 98

Ben Yu moved all in from the cutoff and Joe Kuether called from the small blind. Kuether was the all in player for 185,000 and showed against Yu’s .

The board ran out clean for Kuether, coming , securing his double up.

Joe Kuether – 360,000
Ben Yu – 115,000