Femi Fashakin Eager to Prove Himself Close to Home at WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open

By Kevin Taylor

Femi Fashakin is here to prove one thing: that he isn’t a one hit wonder. Fashakin broke onto the scene when he won the massive opening event at the WSOP last summer, taking home over $1.1 million. He has since cashed in a $2,650 event here at the Seminole Hard Rock, as well as the WPT Main Event at Borgata. But as he told us, he wants more than that. 

When asked about proving himself, he said, “I love that question because I’ve been dying to answer it. It’s funny how people trivialize a five-day event with a structure similar to the Main Event. 50,000 starting stack, 50-minute levels, limited re-entry. Obviously you have to run well and play well to get to win that kind of event.”

He continued, “I think I definitely want to keep playing and run deep in events which will only be a matter of time. I’m definitely going to final table and win one of these I feel.”

Well he is off to a fantastic start on Day 2. After starting the day with just under 200,000 chips, Fashakin has more than tripled his stack, and is one of our chip leaders with over 600,000. When asked what was going right for him, he kept it fairly straight forward.

“I think I’ve found myself in good spots. I’ve opened with very good hand selections, and a few of my opponents have made some mistakes that I exploited. I tend to play according to the tendencies of each player, and I think that’s the best part of today so far. If I think a player can get induced I’ll do that, and other times pure aggression has worked,” said Fashakin.

Fashakin understandably had difficulty putting into words what his breakout score last summer meant to him, but he did say that one thing he plans to do well is manage his newly-buffed bankroll.

“The big change is I like to play poker, but also I try to be responsible with bankroll management. So winning that large sum helps my bankroll and will let me compete at the highest levels,” said Fashakin.

Fashakin is a Florida native who has been coming to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino & Hotel for years, and he says that it’s amazing to see how far this property has come over the years. There are already three WPT events on the schedule in his home state, but he is eager to see even more big events here.

“The casino is amazing, and one of my favorites since it’s local in Florida. It’s less than a two-and-a-half hour drive for me, so I’m not too far from the family. I’m excited for the WPT to be here, we have three events now, maybe they can make it four to be even better. I plan to play all the WPT events here as well as some outside of the state,” said Fashakin.

Will this be the event where Fashakin gets his next big score? We will find out soon enough!