2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
$350 Big Stack Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)

August 10th, 2015

Total Entries:  270
Total Prize Pool:  $81,000

Recap:

Many poker players go years without winning a live tournament.  In just eight tries in his career, Mathew Ferrante has already climbed that mountain winning Event 14 here in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.

Ferrante came in trying to chase down Steve Karp who came into the final table as the leader.  And Ferrante got off to a fast start eliminating Eric Wert in 9th.  The tide then turned for Karp as his stack was reduced in half by Robert Chusid whose kings beat Karp’s ace-king and put Chusid into the chip lead.

But Ferrante would come up big knocking out Conley Howard and take the chip lead which he would not relinquish.  After Mark Gaudino took out James Mankowski, the biggest hand of the final table played out.

Ferrante faced off with Karp and the short-stacked Sean Stoll.  Stoll was in with king-four but Karp pushed his whole stack with sevens and then Ferrante called him down with ace-king.  Ferrante hit a king on the flop and his bigger kicker knocked out Stoll and Karp to put him in complete command of the tournament.

Chusid, Oktay Altinbas and Gaudino thought better of it with Ferrante’s huge lead and the blinds escalating at a rapid rate deciding the best move was to walk away and leaving Ferrante with the title.

Ferrante reflected back on his run to the title.  “I finally started picking up some hands.  Even in the tournament yesterday I wasn’t picking up anything so it was good luck picking up the hands when it mattered.  I came from pretty far down – four big blinds.  When the cards were flipped up on the big hand, I was pretty surprised he (Karp) had sevens.  I was thinking he had some ace high and I was lucky to win the flip.  This is only my eighth live tournament. Now I gotta decide whether I want to play the Main or not.”

He was also very impressed with the entire Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open team.  “It’s great – they run it so well.  The dealers – I rarely see any mistakes with anything they do and the floor is very good.  And the reporting is great too.”

Congratulations to our Event 14 Champion – Mathew Ferrante!

Results:
1st: Mathew Ferrante (Brigantine, NJ) – $17,121
2nd: Robert Chusid (Miami, FL) – $11,000
3rd: Oktay Altinabas (Dania, FL) – $11,000
4th: Mark Gaudino (Plantation, FL)- $10,586
5th: Steve Karp (Dona, FL) – $4,860
6th: Sean Stoll  (United Kingdom) – $4,050
7th: James Mankowski  (Bummell, FL) – $3,240
8th: Conley Howard (Boca Raton, FL) – $2,430
9th: Eric Wert (Ellenton, FL) – $1,620

$350 Big Stack Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Level 28: 25,000/50,000/5,000 Ante

After Mathew Ferrante put two more players out of the tournament taking an overwhelming chip lead and the blinds skyrocketing, our final four players decided to get out of Dodge and call it an evening. With the chop, Mathew Ferrante was declared the champion of Event 14.

Ferrante will take home the title and $17,121 for the victory. Robert Chusid officially finishes in 2nd place winning $11,000 followed by Oktay Altinbas in third who also picks up $11,000.  Mark Gaudino winds up in 4th place taking home $10,856.

Congratulations to our Event 14 Champion – Mathew Ferrante!

$350 Big Stack Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Level 28: 25,000/50,000/5,000 Ante

Mathew Ferrante pulled off a double-elimination that may end up propelling him to the Event 14 title.

Sean Stoll pushed his short-stack in the middle and then Steve Karp did the same with his 750,000 chips.  Mathew Ferrante then snapped-called both of them and the battle was on.

Stoll:
Karp:
Ferrante:

Ferrante and Stoll both hit their kings putting Karp behind on the flop. The board ran out giving Ferrante the win, the double elimination and most importantly command of the tournament.

Steve Karp finishes in 5th place for $4,860 and Sean Stoll finishes in 6th place for $4,050.

$350 Big Stack Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Level 27: 20,000/40,000/5,000 Ante

James Mankowski pushed his last 75,000 in against Mark Gaudino. Mankowski showed vs. Gaudino’s .  Mankowski got no help on the board and was eliminated from Event 14.

Mankowski finishes in 7th place for $3,240.

$350 Big Stack Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Level 27: 20,000/40,000/5,000 Ante

Mathew Ferrante keeps getting big hands at the right time and this time Conley Howard was the victim.

Howard moved in for 275,000 and Ferrante made the snap-call. Howard saw the bad news as his ran into Ferrante’s .  The board brought Howard no help and ended his tournament.

Conley Howard finishes in 8th place for $2,430.

$350 Big Stack Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Level 26: 15,000/30,000/5,000 Ante

Eric Wert had only around five big blinds left and decided to take a stand.  But he ran into Mathew Ferrante and a huge hand.

Wert turned over but Ferrante had waiting.  The board ran out sending Wert to the rail.

Eric Wert finishes in 9th place for $1,620.

$350 Big Stack Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Level 26: 15,000/30,000/5,000 Ante

With 12 players remaining, there was a three-way preflop all-in situation. Here were their cards in descending order of chip counts:

Conley Howard:  
Brian Herzfeld:  
Allan Bieler:  

The board came , and Howard’s aces were never in much danger as they held up to win the pot, eliminating both players. The final 10 then redrew for random seats at a single table.

After a few minutes, there was almost another three-way all-in situation.

Jeffrey Trudeau, Sr. moved all in under the gun for 215,000, and Steve Karp called from the hijack. James Mankowski tanked for a while in the big blind before folding J-J face up. It turned out to be the correct play, as Karp showed and Trudeau turned over .

The board came — Karp flopped a set of kings to win the pot and eliminate Trudeau in 10th place. (And everyone notices that Mankowski would have rivered a jack-high straight if he had called.)

That pot propelled Karp to more than a million in chips, and it officially set the nine-handed final table as they headed to a 15-minute break. Here are their official chip counts:

Seat 1.  Sean Stoll  –  180,000  (6 bb)
Seat 2.  Mark Gaudino  –  110,000  (4 bb)
Seat 3.  Oktay Altiabas  –  560,000  (19 bb)
Seat 4.  Robert Chusid  –  345,000  (12 bb)
Seat 5.  Steve Karp  –  1,220,000  (41 bb)
Seat 6.  Eric Wert  –  205,000  (7 bb)
Seat 7.  Conley Howard  –  500,000  (17 bb)
Seat 8.  Mathew Ferrante  –  560,000  (19 bb)
Seat 9.  James Mankowski  –  375,000  (13 bb)

This is the remaining prizepool they’re playing for, followed by a summary of the recent eliminations:

1st:  $22,680
2nd:  $13,365
3rd:  $7,695
4th:  $6,237
5th:  $4,860
6th:  $4,050
7th:  $3,240
8th:  $2,430
9th:  $1,620

10th:  Jeffrey Trudeau, Sr.  –  $1,053
11th:  Brian Herzfeld  –  $1,053
12th:  Allan Bieler  –  $1,053
13th:  Mike Telker  –  $891
14th:  Bryan Munoz  –  $891
15th:  Dan Heimiller  –  $891
16th:  Joseph Duchman  –  $810
17th:  Jorge Gomez  –  $810
18th:  Eric Piderit  –  $810

$350 Big Stack Turbo No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Level 25: 12,000/24,000/4,000 Ante

Jorge Gomez was all in from the small blind for 160,000 with , and he needed to improve to stay alive against Robert Chusid’s in the big blind.

The board came , and the pocket tens held up for Chusid to win the pot and eliminate Gomez in 17th place.

Robert Chusid  –  340,000
Jorge Gomez  –  Eliminated in 17th Place  ($810)

Dan Heimiller was chipleader a short while ago, but since this is a turbo, any lead is likely to be short-lived. Heimiller doubled up two short stacks (Mathew Ferrante and Sean Stoll) to drop from 500K to 265K.

Then Heimiller got it all in with against . The board came — Heimiller turned a gutshot straight draw, but improved no further. Heimiller was eliminated in 15th place.

Dan Heimiller  –  Eliminated in 15th Place  ($891)