2012 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Day 5: Serock, Vedes & Dolan Headline Final Table
On Sunday, Day 5 of the $10,000 World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown took place as the final 15 players of a 290-player field had their eyes firmly set on making the final table of six. Leading the way at the beginning of the day was Joe Serock with 1,061,000, and by the time play came to an end, he had bagged up the most chips — more than twice the amount of his closest competitor.
Action on Day 5 began at Level 21 with blinds at 6,000/12,000 and a 2,000 ante. Right out of the gate, things turned south for Serock. According to the WPT Live Reporting Team, he doubled David Parades and lost some other significant pots, cutting his stack down to 475,000. It was about this time that Justin Zaki became the first elimination of the day when his A♣J♦ failed to improve against the A♥K♦ of Fred Goldberg as the board ran out Q♣2♣2♥6♣5♥. Zaki finished in 15th place for $33,408.
Not long after, Tommy Vedes doubled through Jess Yawitz in a seven-figure pot to take the chip lead, and Serock rebounded with a double of his own. That was followed by the eliminations of Eli Berg and Mark Rose in 14th and 13th place respectively ($33,408 each), and that was all in the first level of play.
In Level 22, with the blinds at 8,000/16,000 and a 2,000 ante, Vedes opened from early position and was called by Kyle Bowker in the small blind. Robert Georato came along from the big blind and there was three-way action to the K♦Q♠2♣ flop. Play checked around to Vedes, who bet 43,000.
Bowker got out of the way, Georato check-raised to 143,000 and Vedes called, leading to the K♥ turn. Vedes ended up calling Georato’s bet of 175,000 before snap-calling his all-in shove of 250,000. Vedes quickly flipped over K♠Q♣ for a full house, which stunned Georato as he held 2♥2♦ for an inferior boat. With that, Georato, who began the day as the second chip leader, was eliminated in 12th place for $38,976.
From there, Ravi Raghaven (11th - $38,976), Jimmy Tran (10th - $38,976) and Paredes (9th - $50,112), were eliminated. A rolling stone gathers no moss, and the same can be said of Serock who kept busy by eliminating Paredes in ninth and Goldberg in eighth place. Goldberg's elimination occurred when Serock raised from middle position to 52,000, Goldberg three-bet to 200,000 from late position, leaving only 23,000 behind, and Serock four-bet. Goldberg called off and was the favorite to double.
Showdowm
| Goldberg | A♠J♥ |
| Serock | Q♥10♣ |
Unfortunately for Goldberg, the flop came down 10♥9♣8♦ to give Serock the lead. The 6♣ turn and 3♣ river were both blanks as far as Goldberg was concerned, and he was left with $69,600 as a consolation prize.
Not long after, Serock raised to 52,00 from the cutoff and Vedes and Yawitz called from the small and big blind. Vedes checked the 10♦8♥5♦ flop and a short-stacked Yawitz move all in for 277,000. Serock made the call while Vedes got out of the way.
Showdowm
| Yawitz | 5♥6♦ |
| Serock | A♦A♥ |
The 3♥ turn changed nothing, and neither did the 2♠ river. Yawitz was eliminated in seventh place, earning the distinction of TV-bubble boy, and was rewarded with $94,656.
Here's a look at the Final Table headed into Day 6:
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Craig Bergeron | 1,235,000 |
| 2 | Tommy Vedes | 590,000 |
| 3 | Sharon Levin | 1,216,000 |
| 4 | Kyle Bowker | 1,070,000 |
| 5 | John Dolan | 1,454,000 |
| 6 | Joe Serock | 3,137,000 |
Day 6 will begin at 1600 EDT (2100 BST) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, where the remaining six players will play down to a winner. Stay tuned to PokerNews.com for the final recap from the event.
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*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.
