The WSOP Seminole Hard Rock Main Event title will remain in the host venue’s home town, Hollywood, Florida, after local player Joe Gotlieb took down the tournament hours ago. The former poker enthusiast who recently began playing the game professionally captured his first gold ring and the cash prize of $257,638.
His triumph also secured him with a seat into the season-ending Global Casino Championship, which is set to take place sometime next summer.
Gotlieb emerged as the winner from a field of 904 contenders. He made it through the tournament’s final day as one of a pack of fourteen. The player was positioned seventh in chips at the start of Day 3, the final one to be played within the Main Event.
By the end of the night, he was the last man standing, finding it hard to believe that he has made it all the way to the top. Although Gotlieb may have been surprised by his accomplishment, those around him witnessed his spectacular show and his unique playing style that helped him capture the Main Event title.
Here is a little bit more about how Gotlieb took down the prestigious tournament.
Day 3 Recap
As mentioned above, by the time cards were to be thrown in the air for Day 3 action, the original field of 904 had been whittled down to just 14 hopefuls. Those were led by Asher Conniff who bagged and tagged 3.23 million in chips on Day 3. The player was the only one to have passed the three-million mark.
However, the player lost some of his momentum over the course of Day 3 play. The unofficial final table of ten was set with another player heading the survivors and with Conniff being mid-stacked. Gotlieb, the eventual winner, was, too, somewhere in the middle of the chip counts chart. Mauricio Ameller with 3.845 million was the one to lead the final ten.
The final table was comprised of both WSOP Circuit regulars and newbies. And it was headlined by three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Brian Hastings. However, the player missed out on the chance to win his first WSOP Circuit gold ring after leaving the tournament in fourth place. He was eliminated by Conniff. The latter gained significant advantage over his two other remaining opponents by busting Hastings.
He kept that advantage through the beginning of the heads-up match. Conniff entered that final stage of play with 11.03 million to Gotlieb’s 7.05 million. Both players were quite deep-stacked and that only promised quality poker action.
Gotlieb began his crusade for the title immediately after heads-up kicked off. The player eventually took the lead and never looked back from that point on, despite Conniff’s effort to regain momentum.
The final hand occurred at around 6 pm local time last night. It saw Conniff limp to which Gotlieb responded with a raise. Conniff then moved all in for 8.6 million and Gotlieb called. Conniff held [Ad][Ks] on that key hand, while Gotlieb turned over [7d][7s]. The board ran out [Qd][7h][6s][Jd][Qc], sending Conniff to the payout desk to receive his $159,357 share of the prize pool for taking second place in the event.
