It is hard enough to make a final table in a tournament. Making a final table twice in a 24 hour time frame is almost unheard of. That’s exactly what Don Todd did today at the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open”. Not content with his 9th place finish in Event 10, Todd came back to give it another go today in Event 12, a $240 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better tournament. It is a good thing he did, as he turned the shortest stack once they were in the money into the largest stack, and ultimately was able to prevail for the $4,958 first place prize.

The final table was not in the money until we reached 7 players and once that money bubble was burst our final table looked as follows:

After doubling up Don Todd, Errol Massey, a 41 year old professional poker player originally from Queens, New York made a stand at the wrong time. All the chips went in on a flop and with Mike Bruyere holding , leaving Massey in bad shape. The turn and river did not help him any and Bruyere’s nut flush scooped the pot and Massey was our first in the money elimination.

Errol Massey (Queens, NY), 7th place – $603

25 year old Matt Ezrol would get involved in a cooler with Arnold Cohen when the two would get it all in on a flop with Ezrol holding and Cohen holding . The turn was the and the river was the giving Cohen runner runner nut flush. Ezrol had Cohen covered by just 3K and he  would get his chips in the very next hand. He would flop a full house on the T-T-4 flop but Don Todd had T-9 and would river a 9 to give him a bigger full house. Ezrol is a successful local who has a $100,000 tournament score and a WSOP Main Event cash for $44,655 to his credit.

Matt Ezrol, 6th place – $804

Having moved up the money ladder with the two eliminations, a short stacked Steve Roth could wait no longer and he moved all in pre-flop and was called by Michael Rosenberg and Don Todd. The two bigger stacks checked it down to the river on the board with Rosenberg finally making a small 5K bet on the river. Todd folded and Michael turned over for the nut low and a ten high straight. It was good as Roth held . Roth adds another cash to go along with the numerous cashes he has in live Omaha tournaments

Steve Roth, 5th place – $1,005

With four players remaining, Arnold Cohen limped, Michael Rosenberg limped, and Don Todd raised the pot from the small blind. The big blind, Mike Bruyere, folded and Cohen decided to make the call. Rosenberg got out of the way and we saw a flop. Todd bet pot, committing his entire stack and Cohen made the call having him covered by 10K. Todd turned over for a flopped set of Aces and Cohen was drawing to a queen or running hearts with his . The turn was the wrapping up the hand for Todd with a full house. Todd would finish Cohen off on the very next hand.

Arnold Cohen, 4th place – $1,273

In three handed play, a set is usually a monster in any variation of Pot Limit Omaha. Mike Bruyere learned the hard way though that even a set is not a guarantee. The chips went into the middle quickly on a flop and both Don Todd and Michael were both all in. Bruyere turned over for a flopped set of 4′s but hist set was second best as Todd had for a flopped set of 10′s. “What a cooler,” groaned a shocked Bruyere. The turn was an Ace giving him a few outs to a bigger full house but the river was a blank and we were now heads up as Bruyere was eliminated.

Mike Bruyere, 3rd place – $1,809

Don Todd went into heads up play with approximately a 2:1 chip lead on Michael Rosenberg. The two saw a flop and Todd bet out 10K. Rosenberg potted it to 40K and Todd quickly put in another pot raise, this one to 130K. Michael seemed perplexed and only had about 20K behind if he decided to make the call. With a “what the hell” look on his face, Rosenberg put the rest of his chips in and Todd quickly called. The hands:

Rosenberg for top two pair.

Todd for top two pair as well but he also had a low draw and a flush draw.

The turn would be the giving Todd a low and a flush. “Oh no, I don’t know why I did that,” said a flustered Rosenberg. The river was the and Rosenberg was out in 2nd place.

Michael Rosenberg, 2nd place – $2,948

A 46 year old software engineer from Davie, Florida, Todd has had some success here at Seminole including a win at the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown in April of 2011 for $39,721. This was surprisingly his first ever live Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better tournament. “They just don’t play it that often,” he explained, adding how much he loved the game because of all the mathematical decisions involved. Don told us that he loves playing at The Poker Room at Seminole Hard Rock and plans on playing the main event. Congratulations on your win Don!

Don Todd, Winner, Event 12 -$4,958

Final Results Event 12

Event 6 drew the biggest field of the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” other than Event 1 and its eight starting days. A total of 211 entrants put up the $150 buy-in to create a $25,320 prizepool for the 27 players good enough to make it into the money.

It was a long process to play down to the final three tables but once there, the action picked up as the short stacks slid began to get their chips in the middle now that they were in the money. The bigger stacks were picking them off when they could to build their lead for a final table run.

One day wasn’t enough to crown a champion and the tournament was shutdown at 3am with 13 players still in the mix. The players bagged and tagged their chips before a 10-hour break. The returned at 3pm and the table dynamics were a little skewed thanks to the random table draw.

Andrew Frier began the final day with the chiplead (212,000) but the other five players at his table were all under 10 big blinds. The second table held the majority of the chips in play with five players holding six-digit stacks.

Even with the unbalanced tables, it was the big stack table that produced the first knockout when Joshua Smith put his chips in the middle with the lead but fell in 13th to an unlucky river. Frier’s table then did the rest of the heavy lifting, Homer Molina specifically, when there was a double elimination of Albert Palma and Philip Tyson.

The last 10 players combined to form the unofficial final table and there was immediate talk of making a deal. Nothing came of it and Mike Filipelli was out not long after in 10th place. Action really moved along after Filipelli’s elimination with Frier taking out both Ron Blankenship and Derrick Simon when his Big Slick caught on the flop.

There were two short-stacks remaining and they were quickly taken care of as Lawrence Cone dropped in 7th and Paul Stanechewski in 6th. The remaining stacks were close in relation to the blinds and talk of a deal was begun in earnest.

Frier was the chipleader and the driving force behind a fair deal for all. Tournament staff did the math on a chip chop and all were satisfied with how to divide up the top five spot. Frier was declared the winner followed by Homer Molina, Arthur Rodriguez, Norman Guigui, and Keith Wagner.

Frier is a local regular in The Poker Room at Seminole Hard Rock and plans to come back for more series action. When asked what he would do with the money, he response was simple. “Play more poker,” he commented, “and buy some groceries.”

It was a great tournament where players were given a big prize pool for a small buy-in with a great structure. There are still two more weeks left in the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” for players of all bankrolls to get their tournament fill.

Complete Event 6 results:

$200 + $40 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Turbo

No Limit Hold’em Turbo tournaments are built for those who like action in their poker game. The fast structure dictates faster play and a wider range of starting hands. Event 5 drew 89 entrants to the high octane game with a pace that was quick and constant.

It took less than seven hours of play, including a few short breaks, to go from the start to a winner. Several players took advantage of the three hours of re-entry time to build up the field size and $20,000 was up for grabs. Even with the number of entrants, the action was so fact that the tournament was never running on more than six tables at once and was down to five as registration closed.

The Turbo structure produced huge, multi-way pots with hands to be more likely gambling than to be ahead. Aces were crack, gutshots hit, but plenty of enjoyment from the players who enjoyed the structure.

The tournament was down to the final two tables in under four and a half hours and players could start thinking about making it into the money. The average chipstack hovered around 10 big blinds for the latter parts of the tournament making the pre-flop all-in move the most popular.

The final table began with Peter Striano holding a slight chiplead before he took out the first two at the final table. Striano knocked out Luke Doolittle in 9th place when his out raced and followed up by taking out Ariel Rosello in 8th when his held up against .

Nigel Murray was a one-time chipleader with two tables remaining but ran into some bad luck and big hands. He quadrupled up in one hand and then lost a battle of the blinds with Andrew Friel to get sent out of the tournament in 7th place. The final big hand of the tournament had Oneil McCalla, 2013 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Event 19 winner, moving all-in from the small blind with the best hand only to be out-flopped by Bill Erwin to be eliminated in 6th place.

The final five remaining players made a quick deal after McCalla’s knockout to evenly chop up the remaining prizepool money among themselvs. Striano was the leader but also the driving force for the deal with him picking up the official victory thanks to his significant chiplead at the time.

The 43 year old amateur plays in The Poker Room at Seminole Hard Rock occasionally, most recently when he chopped the Big Slick tournament on November 10th for $19,249. The win in Event 5 adds another $3,360 to his bankroll along with the trophy and Leaderboard Challenge points.

When asked what he would do with the money, he simply said “Give it to my wife.”

Event 5 Results:

$260 +$40 No Limit Hold’em

One hand can make all the difference in a poker tournament. Whether it is losing on a two outer to get eliminated or winning a huge pot when you need it most, it is part of the beauty of the game of poker. Norbert Kara had one of those hands today in Event 4 at the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open” and fortunately for him it was one that led to him eventually winning the tournament when the five remaining players decided to make a deal. Having a significant chip advantage, the other four players gave Kara more money to get the deal done and he took home the trophy as well.

Full Results For Event 4

Paul Stanechewski had to be feeling good when he saw an ace hit the turn on a , especially since he was holding K-Q for the nuts, a Broadway straight. He was up against Lawrence Cone. Paul had to be feeling even better when Cone moved all in. He of course made the call and found out that he did not have the hand locked up since Lawrence had pocket tens for a set. The board pairing on the river would be the death knell for Stanechewski and much to his dismay that is precisely what happened when the dealer put out a second Ace. Paul got up in a hurry, visibly frustrated, put his jacket on and headed off wondering what could have been.

Racing is a key part of final tables in tournaments and it was no different today. A key race took place when Roberto Berrocal and Georges Boyadjian got it all in pre-flop with Berrocal holding A-K and Georges holding pocket Queens. The flop came with an Ace and when Boyadjian was unable to hit on the turn or river, an excited Berrocal stood up, clapped his hands twice and said “Yes” loudly three times.

We would see another all in and call minutes later when Zoltan Czintoka would move all in on a flop and was called by Oneal Doward. Zoltan held for top pair and Doward had for an open ended straight draw. The turn was the and the river was the and Zoltan more than doubled to approximately 140K. Zoltan would continue his hot run when he got it all in with against Lawrence Cone’s pocket 9’s and hit an Ace to double up yet again, crippling Cone in the process.

The key hand of the tournament would then take place when five people saw the flop in an unraised pot. The flop came and Lawrence Cone moved all in for his last 22.5K. Avraham Kalmis called. The dealer did not see that Norbert Kara still had cards and said “go ahead and turn them over guys”. Cone did that, revealing but Kalmis quickly pointed out that Kara had cards. Since those two were not all in yet, the floor told the dealer to proceed. Kara called the 22.5K bet as well.

The turn was the and Kalmis moved all in. He was snap called by Kara who had flopped a set of 3’s. Kalmis was drawing dead with . Cone still had a shot if he could hit a flush but the river was the and Kara had eliminated two players in one fell swoop. Since Kalmis had more chips he would finish in 7th place with Cone finishing in 8th.

One part of the luck involved with poker is getting hands at the right time and avoiding getting them at the wrong time. Georges Boyadjian would learn this the hard way when he picked up at the worst possible time as he ran into pocket aces of Edwin Vasconcelos. The board ran out and Georges was eliminated in 6th place which was good for $1,710. This was Boyadjian’s 2nd final table finish this week at the Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open”which moves him to the top of the Leaderboard Promotion.

Soon after Boyadjian’s elimination play was scheduled to end for the day. At that point, the five remaining players decided to make a deal that would give Norbert Kara, the commanding chip leader $7,000 and split the remaining money ($4,916 apiece) between the remaining four players. A thrilled Kara posed with his newly acquired trophy, telling us that he was originally from Hungary and now lived in Tampa, Florida. “I’ve been playing poker for 6-7 years,” he told us. “This is one of my biggest scores live.”

When asked what he would do with the money, Kara joked “I’m going to put it back into the poker economy.” For now, he can enjoy it though. Congratulations on your victory Norbert!