2014 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open: Colman, Leah, and Kuether Among Final 18
On Monday, the 2014 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, which had to put up more than $2.5 million in order to meet its $10 million guarantee, played down from 62 players down to the final 18. At the end of the night, Martin Hanowski topped the counts with 5.88 million.
Others remaining in contention include former November Niner John Dolan (5.29 million), Mid-States Poker Tour Team Pro Blake Bohn (3.495 million), Ivey Poker team member Mike Leah (3.29 million), World Series of Poker Big One for One Drop champ Daniel Colman (2.665 million), and Wisconsin poker pro Joe Kuether (2.195 million).
2014 SHRPO Final Two Tables
| Table | Seat | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | John Dolan | 5,290,000 |
| 1 | 2 | Blake Bohn | 3,495,000 |
| 1 | 3 | Brian Hawkins | 4,290,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Shawn Cunix | 3,940,000 |
| 1 | 5 | Martin Hanowski | 5,880,000 |
| 1 | 6 | Jacob Naquin | 1,285,000 |
| 1 | 7 | Joe Kuether | 2,195,000 |
| 1 | 8 | Russell Thomas | 1,050,000 |
| 1 | 9 | Curt Kohlberg | 1,540,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Uri Kadosh | 390,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Natasha Barbour | 1,310,000 |
| 2 | 3 | Mike Leah | 3,290,000 |
| 2 | 4 | Ron Ostrow | 525,000 |
| 2 | 5 | Dan Colman | 2,665,000 |
| 2 | 6 | Matthew Sedgeman | 1,535,000 |
| 2 | 7 | Roman Valerstein | 2,960,000 |
| 2 | 8 | Lenny Duvdivani | 1,888,000 |
| 2 | 9 | Farhan Madhani | 1,535,000 |
According to the SHRPO blog, action resumed in Level 24 (10,000/20,000/3,000), and it didn’t take long for the defending champ, Blair Hinkle, to fall. It happened when he got all in holding the A♠8♣ and found himself up against the 5♦5♠ of Octo-Niner Russell Thomas. It was a flip, but not after the flop came down 10♦5♣2♦. Thomas flopped a set, which improved to quads after the dealer burned and turned the 5♥. With that, Hinkle took his leave in 54th place.
Shoved the dead man's hand on @RunGoodRussell and he had 55 and called. He made quads. Dead in 54th. #SHRPO #fb
— Blair Hinkle (@blur5f6)
Not long after, Doug “WCGRider” Polk opened for a small raise and received a call from Roman Valerstein. A short-stacked John Racener then moved all in, both his opponents called, and the flop came down K♠7♠7♦. Valerstein led out for 111,000, Polk folded, and the cards were turned on their backs.
Valerstein held the A♣K♥, and Racener had the 10♦5♦. Neither the turn nor river helped Racener, putting an end to his tournament.
Others who hit the rail over the course of Day 3 included Polk, Joe Serock, Sergei Rybachenko (27th - $49,888), Ty Reiman (25th - $49,888), Jared Jaffee (24th - $49,888), Amir Lehavot (23rd - $49,888), Robert Park (20th - $49,888), and Michael Stembera (19th - $49,888).
Upon returning from dinner break, it took just two hands for the two-table bubble to burst. In the first, a short-stacked Stembera shoved all in and swiped the blinds and antes. He shoved for a second time on the very next hand, but this time Hanowski made the call with the A♥10♥. Stembera had the dominated A♠3♠.
Stembera had a kicker problem, but it got resolved when the K♦5♣3♥ flop paired his three. The K♥ turn made things interesting as Hanowski picked up a flush draw, but it would be the 10♣ on the river that gave him the win with kings and tens. With Stembra’s elimination, play came to an end for the night.
Day 4 will kick off at noon ET at the Seminole Hard Rock as the remaining 18 players look to play down to the final table. PokerNews will have a full recap with all of the day's highlights upon the completion of play.
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