Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida
Event 18
$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 441
Prize Pool: $52,920
April 12, 2019

Event 18 of the 2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown was a $150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) with a guaranteed prize pool of $30,000. A field of 441 entries easily surpassed that amount and generated a prize pool of $52,920.

After a long final table, the final three players agreed to an even chop. As the chip leader, Paul Gold was officially declared the winner. In addition to his first-place prize of $7,627, he also receives a $3,500 seat into the Championship event.

“I came here at 6 p.m. and in the first two hours I got knocked out on a flush draw that I didn’t hit,” Gold told us afterward. “I sat around and thought about it. I came from Palm Beach and I said you know what, I drove all the way down here – I’m going to buy a second bullet.”

That decision proved to be a good one for Gold.

“I was grinding the whole way with that second bullet. I never really had a big chip stack and was short-stacked the whole way through, and yeah, really long day. In the end, it was worth it.”

Final Table Results:
*1st: Paul Gold – $7,627 + $3,500 Championship seat
*2nd: Mirco Scharen – $7,627
*3rd: Kevin McGillicuddy -$7,626
4th: Earl Barron – $3,247
5th: Roberto Bendeck – $2,495
6th: Eric Ward – $2,072
7th: Mykel Comroe – $1,736
8th: Thomas Gari – $1,400
9th: Roberto Berrocal – $1,064
10th: Mike Zholendz – $902

*denotes three-handed chop

• Download: Final Results (PDF)

$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 32: 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 441

The remaining three players agreed to an even chop.

Here were the chip counts at the time:

Paul Gold – 3,075,000
Mirco Scharen – 1,850,000
Kevin McGillicuddy – 1,700,000

Here were the payouts:

Paul Gold – $7,627
Mirco Scharen – $7,627
Kevin McGillicuddy – $7,626

As the chip leader, Gold is officially the winner of Event 18 for $7,627 and he receives a seat into the $3,500 Championship!

$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 32: 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 441

Earl Barron raised all in for 1,025,000 from under the gun and Paul Gold called from the big blind.

Barron:
Gold:

The board ran out , giving Gold a pair of aces to eliminate Barron in fourth place.

Paul Gold – 3,075,000
Earl Barron – Eliminated in 4th Place ($3,247)

$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 32: 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 441

The previous two levels saw no all-in confrontations.

Here are the current chip counts:

Kevin McGillicuddy – 2,200,000 (11 bb)
Paul Gold – 1,550,000 (8 bb)
Earl Barron – 1,525,000 (8 bb)
Mirco Scharen – 1,350,000 (7 bb)

$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 29: 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 441

Roberto Bendeck raised all in from the cutoff for 350,000 and Mirco Scharen called from the big blind.

Bendeck:
Scharen;

The board came down , no help to Bendeck, ending his tournament in fifth place.

Mirco Scharen – 1,450,000
Roberto Bendeck – Eliminated in 5th Place ($2,495)

$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28: 50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 441

Eric Ward raised all in for about 700,000 from under the gun and Kevin McGillicuddy called from the big blind.

Ward:
McGillicuddy:

The board came down , not enough help to Ward, ending his run in sixth place.

Kevin McGillicuddy – 1,950,000
Eric Ward – Eliminated in 6th Place ($2,072)

$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28: 50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining: 6 of 441

Mykel Comroe raised all in from the small blind for about 575,000 and Earl Barron called from the big blind.

Comroe:
Barron:

The board came down , giving Barron an ace-high straight to double up.

Earl Barron – 2,100,000
Mykel Comroe – Eliminated in 7th Place ($1,736)

$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27: 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining: 7 of 441

Thomas Gari raised from middle position, Eric Ward called from the hijack and Earl Barron defended his big blind.

The flop was and action checked to Gari who shoved for 225,000. Ward folded and Barron called.

Gari:
Barron:

Barron led with an ace-high straight and held up through the turn and river to eliminate Gari in eighth place.

Earl Barron – 1,350,000
Thomas Gari – Eliminated in 8th Place ($1,400)

$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26: 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining: 8 of 441

Eric Ward raised to 175,000 from the button, Robert Berrocal three-bet all in for 600,000 from the small blind and Ward called.

Ward:
Berrocal:

The board came down , no help to Berrocal, ending his tournament in ninth place.

Eric Ward – 1,335,000
Roberto Berrocal – Eliminated in 9th Place ($1,064)

$150 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 25: 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining: 9 of 441

Mike Zholendz raised all in for 150,000 from the hijack, Robert Bendeck called from the cutoff and Earl Barron called from the big blind.

The flop was , Barron bet about 80,000 and Bendeck folded.

Zholendz:
Barron:

The turn and river completed the board, no help to Zholendz, ending his tournament in 10th place.

Earl Barron – 1,140,000
Mike Zholendz – Eliminated in 10th Place ($902)