Planet Hollywood Phamous Poker Series GOLIATH Awards More Than $8 Million
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The 50th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) captured most of the headlines this summer, but they were far from the only game in town. One of the more popular tournament series every summer is the Phamous Poker Series GOLIATH at Planet Hollywood.
The series is basically a lower-stakes alternative to WSOP bracelet events. This year, the series ran from May 28-July 11 and hosted 67 official events plus a lot more dailies and nightlies side tournaments. All told, the series catered to nearly 33,000 entrants and awarded almost $8 million in payouts.
"This event was anything but stressful. Players and staff had a wonderful time and this will become a GOLIATH tradition.”
One of the more unique tournaments on the schedule was Event #46: 4100 All In or Fold NLH/Omaha Hi, a first for the poker world. Just 37 entrants braved the new variant, and while it wasn’t a huge turnout, it was still a success as everyone had fun. That included Jason Simcisko, who emerged victorious.
“I was thinking something that would be fun, twisted, and that required as little skill as possible,” tournament director Chris Gawlik said of the unique tournament. “There are enough events going on around town that cause stress levels to go up. This event was anything but stressful. Players and staff had a wonderful time and this will become a GOLIATH tradition.”
Other notables to win events during the series were Xuan Liu (Event #66: $600 NLH Monster Stack for $20,000), Ruth Hall (Event #28: $300 Ladies for $7,687), and Mickey Doft (Event #36: $200 Razz for $6,837).
Jennifer Shahade Wins PokerNews Family of Podcasts Event
Another tournament low on entries – 33 to be exact for a $3,960 prize pool – but high on the fun was the PokerNews Family of Podcast $150 NLH. Among those to fire the tournament were PokerNews hosts Sarah Herring and [Removed:139], Evan Jarvis, and WSOP bracelet winner Rulah Divine, just to name a few.
In the end, PokerStars Mind Sports Ambassador Jennifer Shahade defeated Yori Epskamp in heads-up play to win a $1,782 top prize. Epskamp took home $1,188 for finishing runner-up, while Platt and Reyna Binkley finished in third and fourth for $594 and $396 respectively.
Farrell Claims Another Major Summer Title
The 2019 Phamous Poker Series GOLIATH culminated with a $1,700 buy-in Main Event, which surpassed its $1 million guarantee by attracting 744 entries. That generated a $1,136,088 prize pool paid out to the top 81 finishers.
Among those to cash the tournament were Martin Kozlov (12th - $17,223), William Givens (13th - $14,012), Vincent Li (27th - $6,909), Steve Karp (31st - $5,196), Matt Lapossie (42nd - $4,084), Viet Vo (65th - $3,074), Dylan Linde (70th - $3,074), Aaron Mermelstein (74th - $2,825), and Tim Vance (78th - $2,825).
The tournament ended with a deal that saw the top three players lock up more than $152K each. Ultimately, the UK’s Ben Farrell was crowned champion and secured a $162,400 payout. The win came just two weeks after Farrell won the Zynga Poker WPT500 for $155,000.
Phamous Poker Series Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Farrell | United Kingdom | $162,400* |
| 2 | Ignacio Molina | Andorra | $154,700* |
| 3 | Remi Castaignon | France | $152,881* |
| 4 | David Fhima | France | $76,869 |
| 5 | Viliyan Petleshkov | Bulgaria | $58,057 |
| 6 | Elliott Peterman | United Kingdom | $44,419 |
| 7 | Mike Liang | United States | $34,412 |
| 8 | Hlib Kovtunov | Ukraine | $26,992 |
| 9 | Mufit Brahim | Australia | $21,432 |
Here’s a look at all those who won titles at Planet Hollywood this summer:
2019 Phamous Poker Series GOLIATH Results
| Event | Tournament | Buy-In | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casino Employee | $150 | 77 | $9,394 | James Lemke | $2,907 |
| 2 | Turbo Dealers Choice | $150 | 29 | $3,480 | Brandon Pastor | $1,220 |
| 3 | The C Note | $100 | 1,723 | $129,225 | Charles Brister | $12,152 |
| 4 | Weekly Seniors | $300 | 81 | $20,817 | Robert Mccormack | $8,002 |
| 5 | 50K In a Day | $260 | 638 | $141,636 | Everton Taylor | $21,266 |
| 6 | Short Deck | $200 | 80 | $13,200 | [Removed:321] Golestani/Cole Skye | $3,250* |
| 7 | 50K In a Day | $260 | 710 | $157,620 | David Feinstein/Howard Cornbleth/Jerod Smith/Jay Rogers | $19,303* |
| 8 | Tag Team | $200 | 234 | $19,539 | Faith Klimczak/Matthew Morin & John Connolly/Paul Moosavi | $4,632* |
| 9 | Quarter Milly | $250 | 3,167 | $655,569 | Klajdi Lika | $60,884 |
| 10 | Quarter Milly | $250 | 2,494 | $516,258 | Paul Schuman | $37,179 |
| 11 | Weekly Seniors | $300 | 154 | $39,578 | Antony Ringe | $10,614 |
| 12 | 50K In a Day | $260 | 302 | $67,044 | Justin Brezinski/Ronny Wheat/John Thai/Armando Del Pozo/Chengdong Xing/Kostas Kalathakis/Brian Jenson | $6,660* |
| 13 | NL 2-7 Single Draw Lowball | $200 | 63 | $10,395 | Steven Wardell | $3,639 |
| 14 | 50K In a Day | $260 | 297 | $65,934 | William Wong | $14,884 |
| 15 | Eight Game Mix | $200 | 99 | $16,335 | Simon Pindisle | $4,406 |
| 16 | 50K In a Day | $260 | 360 | $79,920 | Kathleen Vranek | $12,172 |
| 17 | Tag Team | $200 | 152 | $12,692 | Callum Hawker/Daniel Lowe | $4,266 |
| 18 | Low Roller | $140 | 609 | $63,945 | Malik Lewis | $9,975 |
| 19 | Bigger Than Yesterday Low Roller | $160 | 745 | $93,125 | David Karnafel | $13,473 |
| 20 | 200K GTD | $300 | 1,161 | $296,055 | Sang Leung | $43,815 |
| 21 | Seniors | $600 | 505 | $263,610 | Mark Bramley | $43,503 |
| 22 | Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw | $200 | 78 | $12,870 | Hrair Danielyan | $3,413 |
| 23 | 50K In a Day | $260 | 285 | $63,270 | William Latta/Frank Kelly/Oscar Montalvo | $9,000* |
| 24 | PLO | $500 | 153 | $67,626 | James Lenaghan | $18,849 |
| 25 | 50K In a Day | $260 | 291 | $64,602 | Sayid Elharrak | $8,296 |
| 26 | Tag Team | $200 | 102 | $8,517 | Melissa Flavin/Ray Flavin | $3,750 |
| 27 | Ultimate Goliath Stack | $600 | 664 | $346,608 | Michael Lech/Rambo Halpern | $36,441* |
| 28 | Ladies | $300 | 221 | $56,797 | Ruth Hall | $7,687 |
| 29 | 200K GTD | $300 | 1,186 | $302,430 | Shaun Zammit | $35,675 |
| 30 | PLO | $1,100 | 135 | $135,270 | Shaome Yang | $37,801 |
| 31 | Mixed Omaha/8 7-Stud/8 | $200 | 174 | $28,710 | Andrew Shanahan | $4,350 |
| 32 | Weekly Seniors | $300 | 137 | $35,209 | Antony Ringe | $9,789 |
| 33 | Ultimate Goliath Stack | $400 | 448 | $155,456 | Adriann Beukers | $31,539 |
| 34 | Bounty Only | N/A | - | No Prize Pool | - | - |
| 35 | 50K In a Day | $260 | 355 | $78,810 | William Hall/Jesse Boettcher/Oscar Montalvo/Sean Delaney | $10,800* |
| 36 | Razz | $200 | 148 | $24,420 | Mickey Doft | $6,837 |
| 37 | 50K In a Day | $260 | 278 | $61,716 | Chris Dasilva/Tom Wojciechowski | $12,863* |
| 38 | Tag Team Switch | $200 | 212 | $17,702 | Bernadett Burgess/Shelly Griffith & Todd Skinner/Barbara Skinner | $2,600* |
| 39 | Big Bill Returns | $100 | 266 | $20,482 | Andrew Hixson/Peter Kelly | $3,960 |
| 40 | PLO/8 | $600 | 174 | $90,828 | Stephanie Chung | $24,439 |
| 41 | DST with Bounties | $130 | 171 | $17,442 | Douglas Counze | $1,260 |
| 42 | Survivor | $1,100 | 42 | $42,000 | Jesse Jones/Chris Strom/Chris Fulton/Nan Li/Michael Lydon | $10,000 |
| 43 | TST | $130 | 165 | $16,830 | Christiane Chame | $3,266 |
| 44 | All In or Fold | $100 | 58 | $4,350 | Parker Drew/Philippe Sigrist | $1,322* |
| 45 | NLH Big Bounty | $1,100 w/ $500 bounty | 52 | $52,000 | Tobias Schwecht | $9,750 |
| 46 | All In or Fold NLH/Omaha Hi | $100 | 37 | $2,775 | Jason Simcisko | $565 |
| 47 | Weekly Seniors NLH | $300 | 121 | $31,097 | Alan Wentz | $8,647 |
| 48 | $50K In a Day | $260 | 560 | $124,320 | Eric Householder | $15,490 |
| 50 | Pot-Limit Omaha 8 of Better | $1,100 | 71 | $71,142 | Jan Kotrla | $14,876 |
| 51 | NLH Bounty ($100 bounties) | $300 | 138 | $35,466 | Mikael Johansson | $3,545 |
| 52 | $50K in a Day | $260 | 440 | $97,680 | Romildo Gomez | $11,740 |
| 53 | Tag Team Switch | $200 | 214 | $17,869 | David Oppenheim & Andrew Smith | $2,475 |
| 54 | NLH Survivor | $200 | 290 | $49,880 | 29 winners | $1,700 each |
| 55 | NLH Turbo Survivor | $100 | 176 | $13,552 | 8 winners | $1,650 each |
| 57 | $50K In a Day | $260 | 334 | $74,148 | Philip McCall & Michael Wexler | $9,500 |
| 58 | Bounty Fireworks | $240 | 134 | $27,068 | Stuart Jordan | $3,759 |
| 59 | Weekly Seniors | $300 | 94 | $24,158 | Paul Rigg | $7,504 |
| 60 | $NLH Survivor | $1,100 | 92 | $92,184 | 11 winners | $9,625 each |
| 61 | Seniors NLH | $300 | 129 | $33,153 | Luis Campelo | $8,408 |
| 62 | NLH $200K GTD | $300 | 737 | $200,000 | Laura Moreno Sarmiento | $31,098 |
| 63 | PLO Bounty | $300 | 142 | $36,494 | Paresh Doshi | $6,247 |
| 64 | PLO Bounty | $600 | 79 | $41,238 | Greg Koutelidakis | $9,513 |
| 65 | NLH $75K GTD | $300 | 36 | $10,800 | Patrick Brian | $16,639 |
| 66 | NLH Monster Stack $100K GTD | $600 | 156 | $100,000 | Xuan Liu | $20,000 |
| 67 | PLO 6-Handed $50K GTD | $600 | 117 | $61,074 | Sean Dunwoodie | $16,839 |
Images courtesy of Planet Hollywood.
PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
