It was a relatively short day at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Showdown on Sunday, as it took less than seven hours to determine the composition of the final table. Sure, seven hours to eliminate nine players may seem like an awful high average time between knockouts, but at this stage of the game it’s not too shabby. Besides, a seven hour day in a major poker tournament is a walk in the park. Joe Serock finished a hot Day 5 run with a dominant chip lead and should be brimming with confidence heading into final table play.
How dominant is that chip lead? There are 8,702,000 chips in play and Serock has 3,137,000 of them. That is over a third of the chips on table. He has more chips than the next two players – John Dolan and Sharon Levin – combined. He has more chips than the bottom three players – Craig Bergeron, Kyle Bowker, and Tommy Vedes – combined.
That’s not to say that Serock is a lock to win the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown. As we all know, all it takes is a hand or two to reverse the course of a tournament. There is really only one player in desperation mode: Tommy Vedes with his 590,000 chips. Within a few minutes of the start of play Monday, the blinds will increase to 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante, meaning that Vedes M-ratio is just 8 (technically, it’s higher than that because blinds will be lower for 8 minutes, but we’re just skipping to the next level for simplicity’s sake). That’s in Dan Harrington’s “orange zone,” so Vedes will have to make a move quickly; he’s dangerous close to total all-in or fold territory. Everybody else aside from Serock is in the “yellow zone,” with M-ratios in the teens. They need to take more risks, but still have time to pick and choose their spots.
Joe Serock is seeking his first recorded live tournament victory. He came oh so close just last month when he placed 3rd in the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, winning $320,400. He also has two runner-up finishes at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). The first came in 2009 when he fell to John Parker in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event ($341,783) and the second was in £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha at the 2010 WSOP Europe (£98,262/$151,587). In his career, Serock has earned $1,343,976, which includes 4 WSOP cashes and 14 WPT cashes.
The WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown final table is scheduled to start at 4:00pm ET on Monday. The action can be viewed via semi-live stream on the World Poker Tour’s website with just a 30-minute delay. Hole cards will be shown and commentary will be provided by Dan O’Brien and Tony Dunst.
World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown – Final Table Chip Counts
1. Joe Serock – 3,137,000
2. John Dolan – 1,454,000
3. Sharon Levin – 1,216,000
4. Craig Bergeron – 1,235,000
5. Kyle Bowker – 1,070,000
6. Tommy Vedes – 590,000
