He’s only 24 years old, but Blair Hinkle has already accomplished more than most poker players dream of. In his brief career as a pro, Hinkle has captured a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, a WSOP circuit ring, and a handful of major online wins, including a $1.1 million score in the FTOPS XIX Main Event in February.
Hinkle is now within view of what could be the biggest victory of his career. He’ll sit down with the chip lead at the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown with 18 players remaining on Sunday. A win in the event would give him his first WPT crown and a first-place prize of $1,122,340.
Day 4 of the event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., began with 51 players. Taylor Von Kriegenbergh led the way and the only female left in the field, Abbey Daniels, was close on his heels. Both managed to advance with Top 5 stacks to end the day, but it was Hinkle making the most noise as he built his stack in a hurry midway through the afternoon.
Hinkle took the chip lead with 31 players remaining after winning a massive pot against Tim Miles. He recapped the hand for the WPT Live Updates team during a break:
“Hinkle raised in late position and Miles reraised out of the big blind. Hinkle called and the flop came down A-6-X with two hearts. Miles bet 60,000 and Hinkle raised to 140,000. Miles announced he was all-in and Hinkle quickly called with a set of sixes. Miles showed Kh-Qh for a flush draw. The turn brought a king and the river the 3c and Hinkle’s set held to eliminate Miles.”
That hand boosted Hinkle to around 1.8 million in chips, and he coasted the rest of the way to finish with 1,783,000. Von Kriegenbergh is next in line with 1,341,000, and Bruce Snell is third with 1,235,000. Hinkle’s close friend and fellow WSOP bracelet winner James “mig.com” Mackey is fifth in chips; he’ll sit down with 958,000 when play resumes.
Hinkle posted the following on Twitter when Day 4 came to a close: “Day is over and I was player of the day! I ended with 1.783 mil and mig dominated the last orbit to end at 980k. 18 left.”
Among the ill-fated players sent home on Day 4 were Jon “FatalError” Aguiar, Sam Stein, Mike Sexton, Brent Roberts, and Day 2 chip leader Todd Terry. Shawn Cunix was the final player sent home on Saturday when he moved his short stack in preflop with Jh-6d and Nick Avena found pocket queens in the big blind. Cunix hit the rail with $31,176 and the remaining 18 players called it an early day.
Day 5 will get underway at Noon ET Sunday and play down to the six-handed final table. Here’s a look at the leaderboard going into the day:
1. Blair Hinkle — 1,783,000
2. Taylor Von Kriegenbergh — 1,341,000
3. Bruce Snell — 1,235,000
4. Abbey Daniels — 1,038,000
5. James Mackey — 958,000
6. Tommy Vedes — 907,000
7. Mike Shklover — 869,000
8. Allen Bari — 866,000
9. Charles Wiper — 828,000
10. Justin Zaki — 678,000
11. Kazu Oshima — 480,000
12. Nick Avena — 428,000
13. Curt Kohlberg — 403,000
14. Zuhdi Mansour — 365,000
15. Ronny Beda — 274,000
16. Derek Buonano — 233,000
17. John Dobson –156,000
18. Noah Schwartz — 152,000