2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 2
$400 Limit Omaha 8
Entries: 92
Prize Pool: $31,280
August 1, 2019
David Levi has won more than 30 tournaments in his career, but it was his victory in Event 2 of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open that pushed his career earnings over $4 million.
When asked about the milestone, Levi said, “I’ve been around, and I’ve played a lot of tournaments.” Levi’s first recorded tournament victory came back in 1996, and this is his 195th tournament cash according to HendonMob.com. Levi continued, “I slowed down the last few years. I still need to win a really big one. I’ll keep going until I hit a big one, because I’ve never won a million-dollar tournament.”
While this one-day tournament didn’t have a million-dollar first prize, the 92 entries surpassed the guarantee to create a prizepool worth $31,280. The final 12 players finished in the money.
The day started out rough for Levi, who entered shortly before the first break. “I didn’t win a hand, and I dropped down to 500 — one chip. I was ready to leave, but I won the hand, and then boom, boom, boom. I made it to the final table, picked up a few hands, and that’s basically the way it went.”
Levi was fourth in chips when the nine-handed final table began, and even though he didn’t knock out either of the next two players, he built his stack up to the chip lead with seven players remaining. That’s when the final seven players agreed to a deal based on an ICM chop, and as chipleader, Levi was officially declared the winner, receiving the largest amount of money and the SHRPO trophy.
“I love to come here,” Levi said about the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. “I come here for a lot of the tournaments. It’s a nice atmosphere with nice people. The staff are really, really great, and they run the tournaments really good. These tournaments seem to get better and better all the time.”
Final Results:
1st: David Levi – $5,208 + SHRPO trophy
2nd: Stewart Yancik – $5,069
3rd: Aron Dermer – $4,455
4th: Jacobo Fernandez – $3,919
5th: Bryce Fox – $3,148
6th: Brian Gelrod – $2,477
7th: Robert Wachtel – $2,384
8th: Elias Nassif – $1,095
9th: Jeff Trudeau – $950
10th: Mike Soroka – $950
11th: Lee Jordan – $845
12th: Jason Lopesilvero – $780