Dietrich Fast, Adrian Mateos Chop Seminole Hard Rock $50K
After he banked over $1.5 million and a World Poker Tour title in 2016, German pro Dietrich Fast remains on fire.
He's well on pace to notch another seven-figure year after chopping the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $50,000 Super High Roller Reentry with Spanish wunderkind Adrian Mateos. The two Europeans rose to the top of a 28-player field in the Florida venue, with Fast banking $483,693 and Mateos, $413,567.
It's the second-biggest cash for Fast after his win at the L.A. Poker Classic for $1 million last year. Mateos will move past $7 million in career cashes.
Complete Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dietrich Fast | $483,693* |
| 2 | Adrian Mateos | $413,567* |
| 3 | Rainer Kempe | $220,864 |
| 4 | David Peters | $151,844 |
| 5 | Jason Koon | $110,432 |
*Reflects heads-up deal
The tournament, which featured unlimited reentry, drew the usual cast of poker superstars, including Dan Colman, Jason Mercier, Tom Marchese, Scott Seiver and Byron Kaverman.
None of those players were able to advance to the final table, though, according to the live updates.
Fast registered at the dinner break just before the opportunity to play ended, but he didn't let that slow him down. He managed to double through Marchese when they got in a raising war with Marchese on the button and Fast in the big blind. By the time the money went in Fast's five-bet shove, the German was all in for a little over 30 big blinds with A♣Q♠ against 9♥9♦. Four spades hit the board to give him a flush.
Fast then coolered David Cohen with a set of queens against K♣Q♥ on a K♦Q♠5♠ flop, enabling him to take 140 big blinds into the eight-handed final table. Mateos sat in second with 107.
The money bubble arrived in short order. First, Bryn Kenney ran tens into Jason Koon's queens blind-versus-blind, then Kathy Lehne got her aces cracked by Mateos, who flopped a set of nines in a three-bet pot.
Erik Seidel had a short stack but nearly squeaked into the money to inch closer to Daniel Negreanu in the chase for the top spot on the all-time money list, but Koon found a fold with A♠K♥ when Fast four-bet shoved on him for almost 90 big blinds on the bubble.
In the end, Seidel wound up bubbling out to close Day 1, with Mateos and then Fast atop the counts.
Koon took a bad beat to start Day 2 when his overpair lost to the top pair of Rainer Kempe when the German made two pair on the turn. The American lost his remaining 31 big blinds when sixes failed to hold against Kempe's ace-king in a race.
After that, Fast went on a run, making some strong hands to pile up a stack of almost 150 big blinds. He eliminated David Peters when he paired with K♣Q♦ all in preflop against Peters' 6♥6♦ and moved into three-handed play with more than half of the chips.
Mateos took a big chunk of Kempe's stack when he flopped top pair with 9♦7♦ and called two bets on a 9♣5♠2♦4♠K♦ runout, winning the showdown when Kempe mucked.
Then, Kempe and Fast saw a J♣9♣9♦ flop in the blinds at 8,000/16,000/2,000. Kempe bet 19,000 and called a raise to 55,000 from his fellow German. He check-called 120,000 on the 5♥ turn, and the river was a 6♠. Kempe checked and called off his remaining 200,000 with A♦J♥, but Fast had the goods with 10♥9♥.
Fast had about a 2-1 lead over Mateos, but it seemed each player was more interested in hopping in the $2,200 event that was about to close registration than playing heads up. They quickly made a deal to secure more than $400,000 apiece, and it was on to the next.
Photo courtesy of Seminole Hard Rock
