The penultimate day of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Showdown came to a close Sunday with just the final six players remaining, setting up Monday’s television final table. Leading the way is Taylor Von Kriegenbergh, who used a gigantic late push to finish the day with a chip stack double that of his closest competitor.
Von Kriegenbergh was in good shape at the beginning of Day 5, sitting in second position with 1,341,000 chips, just one of four players of the final 18 with over one million in his stack. His big move came about four and a half hours into play, when there were just seven players remaining, or on the so-called WPT “television bubble.” Von Kriegenbergh opened the action by raising to 50,000 from early position, while Abbey Daniels re-raised him to 150,000 from the small blind. Von Kriegenbergh called and the two saw a flop of Kd-Qh-5h. Daniels led out with a 200,000 chip bet, Von Kriegenbergh re-raised to 600,000, and Daniels called. She then checked when the 2c fell on the turn, only to see Von Kriegenbergh push his remaining 1,146,000 chips into the pot. Daniels made the call, flipping over Ah-Kh for top pair and the nut-flush draw. Von Kriegenbergh revealed 5s-5h, giving him bottom set. When the river brought the 2d, Daniels thought for a moment that she had won with a flush, but the joy was fleeting, as she realized that the card that made her hand gave her opponent a full house and the pot.
That hand sent Von Kriegenbergh soaring to 3,800,000 chips and the chip lead, while Daniels dropped down to 1,400,000.
Just a few hands later, Von Kriegenbergh added to his lead and set the television final table. James Mackey was running low on chips and raised pre-flop to 450,000. Von Kriegenbergh moved all-in and Mackey did the same for just 100,000 more chips. Mackey had pocket 5’s, Von Kriegenbergh’s winning hand from his earlier double-up, while Von Kriegenbergh himself had a better pair, pocket 8’s. The community cards didn’t even give Mackey a hint of a draw to sweat and he bowed out in 7th place after five hours of play on Day 5.
Here is how the table will look when play resumes on Monday (ordered by seat):
Seat 1: Abbey Daniels – 2,192,000 chips
Seat 2: Tommy Vedes – 1,570,000 chips
Seat 3: Allen Bari – 1,984,000 chips
Seat 4: Taylor Von Kriegenbergh – 4,384,000 chips
Seat 5: Curt Kohlberg – 655,000 chips
Seat 6: Justin Zaki – 2,197,000 chips
While not filled with household names, this final table is comprised of some very tough players. Tommy Vedes has a WPT title to his name, having won the WPT Festa al Lago in 2009, cashing for over $1.2 million. He also has nine World Series of Poker (WSOP) cashes, including two final tables. Allen Bari is a well-respected grinder with over $1.5 million in live tournament winnings. His biggest score came in 2008 when he won the Championship Event of the Borgata Summer Poker Open for a half million dollars. He has one WPT top ten finish and has made two WSOP final tables. Curt Kohlberg has a live tournament history that goes back to 1997. In an example of how much poker grew in the 2000’s, he also won the Festa al Lago, though his 2003 triumph earned him just $280,960.
Von Kriegenbergh, a 2010 graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, does not have a long live tournament history because of his age, but he did place fourth in the $4,750 Main Event at The Big Event at the Bike in Los Angeles, scoring a $140,000 payday.
Play will start back up at 4:00pm ET at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida as the remaining six players battle it out for the $1,122,340 first prize.
