Climbing to the top of the largest World Poker Tour field in history (1,795 entries) would be considered an achievement for any poker player, but considering the talented final table that emerged from this large field, the victory of Eric Afriat tonight at WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown is even more impressive. Afriat had to contend with a tough collection of players at the final table including Chance Kornuth, Matt Stout, Jacob Bazeley, James Mackey, and Season XII WPT Player of the Year leader Mukul Pahuja.
Afriat eventually defeated Pahuja heads-up for the title, winning an invitation to the WPT World Championship next week, an inscription on the WPT Champions Cup, and more than $1 million in cash. This is his first WPT title at his second final table on tour (his first was a sixth-place finish at WPT Festa al Lago in Season IX) and puts him above the $1.5 million mark for career earnings.
Final Table Results:
1st: Eric Afriat – $1,081,184
2nd: Mukul Pahuja – $691,965
3rd: James Mackey – $441,128
4th: Jacob Bazely – $371,931
5th: Matt Stout – $308,501
6th: Chance Kornuth – $247,954
For Pahuja, it’s another runner-up finish (he finished as runner-up at WPT Montreal earlier this season), but there is plenty to be excited about. Already leading the POY race coming into this event, Pahuja has now opened up a huge gap, limiting the number of players who can catch him to just two, Shaun Suller and Dylan Wilkerson.
That’s it for WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL, and the World Poker Tour is now heading up the coast to Atlantic City for the last event of Season XII. It’s a big one, too, as we head to the Borgata for the $15,400 WPT World Championship, sponsored by partypoker, where the total prizepool will be at least $5 million.
See you there.