Meet the Rock 'N' Roll Final Table

By Sean Chaffin

The final table is set in the Season XVII WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The action picks back up on Wednesday at 12 p.m. local time with six players vying for the $504,820 in first-place cash and the chance to add their names to the WPT Champions Cup.

The winner also secures a $15,000 seat in the season-ending Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions along with 1,200 points toward the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race. Here’s a look at the final players battling for the title and big money.

Seat 1: Christopher Kennedy (3,800,000, 48 bb)

Kennedy may have the least amount of experience in big tournaments of the players at the final table but is no stranger to poker success. He has a bit over $124,000 in live tournament winnings and that does include one title in August. Kennedy won the Big Stax 1500 at Parx Casino for $124,211, which featured 371 entries.

Earlier this month, he added a second deep run at the Borgata in the $2,700 Fall Poker Open Championship for $21,195.

The 33-year-old was born in South Korea and grew up in Harrisburg, PA. This event marks Kennedy’s first WPT cash and he’s making it count. He is now guaranteed no less than sixth-place money of $103,310, but is hoping for much more.

Seat 2: Jim Gilbert (8,655,000, 108 bb)

With some nice wins and plenty of final tables, Gilbert has experience on his side as he enters the final table. The 30-year-old from Bensalem, PA has almost $1.5 million in live tournament winnings and recorded his first major in 2012 when he took down a $1,125 WSOP Circuit event in Atlantic City for $50,106. In 2014 he added another title, winning a $550 DeepStack event at the Borgata for $184,902. In 2015, he took third in a $2,700 event also at the Borgata for $97,558 and also came close to winning a WSOP bracelet in 2017 after finishing third in a $1,500 Bounty event for $119,479.

Along with a record of big cashes and deep runs, Gilbert’s nice results have carried over to WPT events. He has eight cashes for $482,802 including another big runner-up finish at the Borgata in Season XIV for $434,598. With plenty of nice results, no doubt Gilbert will be looking to etch his name to Champions Cup this time with a nice win at Seminole.

Gilbert graduated from Temple University and has been playing poker professionally since 2010. When not at the tables, he enjoys sports, live music, and yoga. He was one of the chip leaders for much of the day on Tuesday, and will be looking to make use of his big chip stack to bring home the title.

Seat 3: Pavel Plesuv (10,920,000, 137 bb)

Born in Moldova and now living in the Czech Republic, Plesuv has had some massive scores at the poker felt over the last few years. In 2016, the 30-year-old notched four EPT final table appearances. The first was a runner-up finish in a $3,500 8-Max event in Monte Carlo for $ 150,709, followed by a fifth-place in a $10,300 event in Barcelona for $150,709.  He also scored an eighth-place finish in the $5,300 Barcelona Main Event for $187,860. In December of that same year, Plesuv finally reached the EPT winner’s circle with a win in Prague in a $2,150 event for $54,664.

The stellar finishes continued in 2017 with a runner-up at the $2,200 PokerStars Championship in Monte Carlo for $113,846, and then a win in the $25,500 PokerStars Championship in Barcelona for $478,913. This year, Plesuv finished second in the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Germany in February for $924,841 and then won a Mid-States Poker Tour $3,500 Big Blind Ante event in June at the Venetian for $640,062.

Plusev has only one WPT cash, a runner-up in Season XIV at WPT Prague for $130,524. He was involved in a massive hand with ninth-place finisher James Rann on Day 4 that secured him a mountain of chips, when his pocket Queens beat Rann’s [AsKs] and sent the Englishman to the rail. A professional poker player for 10 years, Plusev was a pro billiards player for four years before that. With a second-place WPT finish already, Plusev will now be looking to a WPT title to his resumé and has the chips, and the experience, to make that happen.

Seat 4: Jeremy Joseph (5,045,000, 63 bb)

On the poker tournament scene since 2007, Joseph brings some chops to the tables and is approaching $1.3 million in live tournament winnings. Major cashes and final appearances have been regular for Joseph, who now lives in Las Vegas.

In 2012 he finished runner-up in the $1,650 Heartland Poker Tour Circuit Main Event in Daytona Beach for $78,166.

In February 2017, Joseph took third in another WSOP Circuit Main Event at the Rio in Las Vegas for $122,954, and then a few months later almost added a WSOP bracelet after finishing runner-up in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Championship for $315,911.

Originally from Buffalo, NY, Joseph has two previous cashes on the WPT for a total of $28,706. This is the deepest run he’s made on the tour and is looking to make his first final table even more special.

Married with one daughter, he’s been playing professionally for 13 years. He’s hoping that nice upward trajectory continues at the final table and he can bring home the biggest title of his career.

Seat 5:  Ravi Raghavan  (1,320,000, 17 bb)

Like Plesuv, Raghavan brings a ton of experience and big finishes to this final table. With more than $3.4 million in live tournament winnings, he’ll be looking for another big title to add to an already impressive career. In Season VIII, the 32-year-old from Northbrook, IL notched his first six-figure score in the $10,000 WPT Hollywood Poker Open Championship. He finished fifth for $105,234, and more big scores would follow.

In Season XI,  Raghavan took down the WPT Five Diamond Poker Classic for $1.3 million to cap off a great run that December at the Bellagio. Already with a win in a $2,620 preliminary event for $150,810, numerous other five- and six-figure scores. He added a WSOP-Circuit ring in 2016 for $132,798.

Raghavan has a degree in economics from the University of Illinois and been playing poker 12 years. With his name already on the Champions Cup once, he now has a nice opportunity to make it a second. He’s certainly got the skills to do it.

Seat 6: Marius Gierse (6,180,000, 77  bb)

This 26-year-old from Vienna, Austria, has several nice cashes in his career, but looking for a breakthrough win here at the Seminole Hard Rock. Gierse is fresh off finishing 31st in November in the $5,300 Main Event in the partypoker Caribbean Poker Party for $25,000. Many of his finishes have come in Europe and he finishes fifth in 2016 in a €5,300 EPT event in Prague for €203,800.

That same year at the WSOP, Gierse also scored a sixth-place finish for $132,030. He’s hoping he can add to those nice finishes with a big finish here and is guaranteed some nice money with even a sixth-place finish here in Florida. This is Gierse’s first WPT cash and he’s certainly making it count.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas. His work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.