2012 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Day 4: Joe Serock Leads Final 15
Day 4 of the $10,000 World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown began with 32 of the original 290 players trying to secure a minimum payday of $25,056. With the top 27 spots making the money, five would be sent to the rail empty-handed.
Joanne Dorin, Michael Zuckerman, Ashton Griffin and Gordon Vayo were the first players sent packing on Saturday, leaving one spot left before the money. Around 20 minutes after Vayo's elimination, Allie Prescott moved all in preflop with 9♥9♠ and was called byJason Koon, who had Prescott outchipped and in trouble holding J♣J♥. The board ran out 8♦7♥3♥4♣7♦ and Prescott received the hapless honor of bubble boy.
From there, many of the short stacks hit the wayside quickly. Kenny Nguyen (27th), Daryl Jace (26th) and Koon (21st) were among the players to collect a min-cash. Koon was unable to put Prescott's chips to good use as he ran pocket nines into Kyle Bowker's pocket aces.
Day 4 began with Bill Brown atop the chip counts, but the Nevada native wasn't able to gain any momentum on Saturday. According to the WPT Live Updates Team, Brown lost most of his chips to Robert Georato during Level 19. With the blinds at 4K/8K with a 1K ante, Brown raised to 22K from under the gun, and Georato and Clyde Hinton called. The flop came 6♦5♦2♦ and Hinton checked. Brown fired 25K, which prompted Georato to raise to 100K. Hinton folded and Brown called to see the 5♠ turn. Georato bet 140K and Brown called. On the 3♥ river, Brown opted to check-call a bet of 200K, but he mucked after Georato revealed 6♠6♥ for a full house.
Brown then lost his remaining chips with K♦K♣ to Jimmy Tran's A♠A♣ to exit in 19th place, leaving just two nine-handed tables in the tournament. After Hinton (18th) and Scott Zakheim (17th) busted, Zach Clark was the final elimination of the day when his A♣J♦ failed to hold up against Tran's Q♠J♠. Tran hit the Q♦ on the river, sending Clark to the cashier to claim his $29,232.
Joe Serock has the lead going into Day 5 with 1,061,000 chips, only 7,000 more than Georato. Serock has his eyes on a second final table of WPT Season X; he finished third at Bay 101 in March for $320,400. With a top four finish in this event, Serock will pass Will Failla to occupy the top spot in the WPT Player of the Year standings.
Bowker, John Dolan, Ravi Raghaven, Craig Bergeron and Fred Goldberg also have healthy stacks heading into Sunday's action. Like Serock, Goldberg could take over the WPT Player of the Year lead with a nice finish at the final table. The Hollywood, Fla. native will need to place in the top five to pass Failla, as long as Serock doesn't finish higher.
Here's a look at the 15 players heading into Day 5:
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Serock | 1,061,000 |
| 2 | Robert Georato | 1,054,000 |
| 3 | Kyle Bowker | 980,000 |
| 4 | John Dolan | 900,000 |
| 5 | Ravi Raghavan | 672,000 |
| 6 | Craig Bergeron | 650,000 |
| 7 | Fred Goldberg | 617,000 |
| 8 | Jimmy Tran | 593,000 |
| 9 | Jess Yawitz | 542,000 |
| 10 | Tommy Vedes | 378,000 |
| 11 | Eli Berg | 357,000 |
| 12 | David Paredes | 307,000 |
| 13 | Mark Rose | 224,000 |
| 14 | Sharon Levin | 208,000 |
| 15 | Justin Zaki | 204,000 |
Day 5 will begin at 1200 EDT (1700 BST) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, where the remaining 15 players will play down to the six-handed final table. Stay tuned to PokerNews.com for daily updates from the World Poker Tour.
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*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.
