Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open: Hinkle and Bonomo Lead Final Table
Only six players remain in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $10 Million Guarantee Championship Event, and leading the official final table is professional Blair Hinkle. Hinkle, a World Series of Poker bracelet winner and a player with more than $1 million tied up on Full Tilt Poker bagged 22.8 million chips. Following him on the leader board is fellow pro Justin Bonomo.
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blair Hinkle | 22,800,000 |
| 2 | Justin Bonomo | 18,500,000 |
| 3 | Ray Qartomy | 13,050,000 |
| 4 | Mukul Pahuja | 10,200,000 |
| 5 | Samuel Guilabert | 4,675,000 |
| 6 | Greg Lehn | 2,200,000 |
The fourth and penultimate day began with 21 players, and it only took four hours to reach the unofficial final table of 10. Chris Johnson was eliminated in 18th place when he tried to bluff all in on the river with just jack-high. Ray Qartomy called with a pair of sixes with two overs on board, winning the pot. A short-stacked Mark Radoja exited in 17th place when his A♣7♣ couldn’t hold against Hinkle’s K♥Q♣. And November Niner Amir Lehavot busted in 16th when he ran pocket deuces into Larry Klur’s pocket kings.
David “Doc” Sands was the next player to exit. With the blinds at 40,000/80,000/10,000, Qartomy opened to 180,000 from early position, and Sands moved all in for 1.45 million from the big blind. Qartomy called with A♠9♦, which was ahead of Sands’ K♠Q♥, and Qartomy held as the board rolled out A♣9♥4♥J♠3♣.
The next few players to exit were Griffin Benger, Ryan Olisar, Krystal Seiling, and Jeremy Kottler. Benger lost a flip, Olisar ran pocket fours into Bonomo’s kings, Seiling flopped top-top against a made flush, and, like Benger, Kottler lost a race.
Klur was the first player to exit from the unofficial final table, when he check-jammed against Hinkle on the river of a A♦8♠4♥2♠K♥ board. Hinkle snap-called with K♣K♠ for a set of kings, which had Klur’s ace-jack beat. Griffin Arnold and Derrick Cutler busted in ninth and eighth place respectively. Arnold open-jammed with jack-ten, losing to Hinkle’s ace-king, and Cutler was eliminated by Bonomo when both players flopped top pair – Bonomo held an ace kicker.
The final elimination provided high drama. Qartomy opened to 400,000 from under the gun with the blinds at 75,000/150,000/25,000, Samuel Guilabert moved all in for 2.2 million in the hijack, and Panagiotis Nifakos called all-in for less. The action folded back to Qartomy, who tanked for a bit before folding 6♦6♠ face up.
Nifakos: Q♣Q♠
Guilabert: A♦K♦
Guilabert won the race as the board came K♠10♦8♣2♦…6♥. When the 6♥ completed the board, Guilabert slammed the table in excitement, while Qartomy yelled in pain – he was very close to recording a double knockout.
The surviving six players will return on Wednesday at noon EDT to play until a champion is crowned. PokerNews will be on hand for coverage of this massive Championship Event. Players will once again be able to update their status immediately using the PokerNews MyStack App, and you can expect more features and interviews as well.
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