It was a relatively short day at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida for the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) as it took fewer than eight hours for the Day 3 field of 38 players to be narrowed to the final table of nine. Yes, I know that normally, a standard work day isn’t exactly “short,” but when poker tournaments often go until midnight or later, it’s nice for players to actually be finished early enough for a reasonable bed time. Leading the way into Tuesday’s Day 4 is Thomas Midena with 4.395 million chips.
It is shaping up to be a competitive final table, as Midena is trailed closely by local player, Paul Balzano, who has 4.120 million chips. After them, two players – Jason Koon (3.595 million) and Seth Davies (3.350 million) – are above the 3 million chip mark.
Interestingly, Midena may be the least accomplished player at the final table, but with $433,020 in live tournament earnings, he is certainly no novice. He has seven World Series of Poker cashes, but his largest cash came in 2013 when he won the Heartland Poker Tour Mount Pleasant Main Event for just shy of $100,000. Eighth place in the SHRPO is $100,000, so if he survives one elimination, he will clinch the top cash of his career. Methinks he has loftier goals, though.
On the other end of the spectrum is Joe Serock, who goes into the final table seventh in chips. Serock was the World Poker Tour Player of the Year for Season X. That was actually a slow year when it comes to a POY race, as Serock earned the top spot despite not actually winning a title; he had two third place finishes and a tenth place finish in the WPT World Championship. He has 18 total WPT cashes and 26 WSOP cashes, with a number of final table appearances and over $3 million in overall live tournament earnings.
The makeup of the final table could have looked totally different had luck gone Serock’s way late in Day 3. According to the SHRPO’s live updates, with just eleven players remaining, Midena limped pre-flop from the small blind and Serock checked from the big blind. The flop was J♠-8♠-4♥, the catalyst for some fierce betting. Midena bet 75,000, Serock raised to 220,000, and Midena re-raised him to 675,000. Serock made the call, bringing on an Ace on the turn (SHRPO didn’t identify the suit). Medina moved all-in for 1.47 million chips and Serock called after some solid pondering, showing J-8 (again, there was some suit confusion in the reporting, but it doesn’t really matter), good for two pair. Midena flipped over A♠ -7♠ for top pair and a flush draw, giving him a decent number of outs. One of those outs, the 4♠, landed on the river, giving Midena a flush and the pot. He was up to 4.450 million chips at that point, while Serock dropped down to 700,000.
The final table is just getting underway and will run until there is a million dollar champion.
2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Main Event – Final Table Chip Counts
1. Thomas Midena – 4,395,000
2. Paul Balzano – 4,120,000
3. Jason Koon – 3,595,000
4. Seth Davies – 3,350,000
5. Roman Valerstein – 2,895,000
6. Tim Burt – 2,575,000
7. Joe Serock – 1,845,000
8. Ryan Fair – 1,335,000
9. Zo Karim – 1,295,000
