The Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $5,250 No-Limit Hold’em Championship’s original field of 847 entries has gradually been slashed to just nine finalists. Thomas Midena from Brooklyn, Michigan is leading the final pack with 4,395,000 in chips. The tournament’s final table is to be played today at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood.
A quick look at Midena’s tournament results shows that the player has cashed in 32 events over the past four years, collecting a total of $433,020 in live tournament winnings. He scooped his career largest cash in 2013 when he finished runner-up in the Heartland Poker Tour Mount Pleasant $1,650 Main Event for $96,031. Midena is also a one-time MSPT Main Event champion.
It all shows that the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event final table will be a tough one. It features one-time WPT champion Seth Davies, WPT Season 10 Player of the Year Joseph Serock, as well as Jason Koon, a player with live tournament earnings of more than $4.2 million. Here are the rest of the nine finalists, with these, too, being quite experienced on the felt.
Thomas Midena – 4,395,000
Paul Balzano – 4,120,000
Jason Koon – 3,595,000
Seth Davies – 3,350,000
Roman Valerstein – 2,895,000
Tim Burt – 2,575,000
Joseph Serock – 1,845,000
Ryan Fair – 1,335,000
Zo Karim – 1,295,000
The nine remaining hopefuls are set to return today to play down to a champion. Final table play is scheduled to begin at 2 pm local time. It is quite clear that all nine players are eying the $1-million first-place prize and the tournament trophy. Each of the finalists is secured with a minimum cash of $75,000.
As mentioned above, as many as 847 entries registered for this year’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event with a guaranteed prize pool of $5 million. Former November Niners, WPT and WSOP champions, including Main Event winners Jonathan Duhamel and Joe McKeehen, were among those to enter the prestigious tournament but failed to make it to the final table.
Today’s end of the Main Event marks the conclusion of this year’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open. Millions of dollars were distributed to thousands of players throughout the festival, which has turned into one of the most popular summer poker-related events in the world.
