Meet the WPT Five Diamond Final Table

Seat 1.  Eddy Sabat  –  1,540,000  (38 bb)

Anyone who followed along with the coverage of last year’s World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic will be familiar with 27-year-old poker professional Eddy Sabat, who took 21st place ($31,714) but missed his ultimate goal of making the final table. The L.A. resident has achieved that personal goal one year later but now he is looking to win his first WPT title at Bellagio. Sabat comes into the final six in fifth chip-position so he will need to make some moves quick to challenge the chip leaders but he has the skill to accomplish that task. Sabat has been a regular on the tour for years and in addition to his $59,169 in WPT earnings, he has total career earnings worth $1,604,994. Sabat will have his girlfriend Melissa Castello on his rail tonight in Las Vegas.


Seat 2.  Barry Hutter  –  1,265,000  (31 bb)

Barry Hutter is another 27-year-old poker professional at the final table tonight. He has been playing poker for seven years and five of them as a professional. Hutter most often plays in his home state of Florida and has participated in a half-dozen WPT events before this tournament. He cashed in four of them at an impressive 66.6 percent cash-rate. Hutter has $44,322 in career WPT earnings and he will easily eclipse that number with even a sixth-place finish tonight. Hutter holds $552,885 in career earnings. Hutter will have his friend and fellow poker pro Jacob Schindler on his rail tonight. 


Seat 3.  Dan Smith  –  3,720,000  (93 bb)

Despite his young age of 24 years local professional poker player Dan Smith has won more than $4.5 million playing in live poker tournaments and he has added close to $1.2 million in online earnings. He is one of the most successful young players in the game and he will be a force to be reckoned with at tonight’s final table considering he is also the chip leader. Smith accumulated a ton of chips during the play-down stretch to the final table on Tuesday inside the Bellagio Poker Room. Smith has proved to be particularly effective when playing in high-roller tournaments in his career and he has a pair of million-dollar scores for his two victories in high-roller events.


Seat 4.  Gary Benson  –  3,110,000  (77 bb)

Gary Benson is a 51-year-old poker player from Sydney, Australia and he is one of the most interesting characters at the Five Diamond final table. Benson was one of the inaugural inductees into the Australian Poker Hall of Fame in 2009, and he won a gold bracelet in 1996. Benson holds $1,105,921 in career earnings but this is his first cash at a World Poker Tour event. He is guaranteed at least $175,766, but he should win more since he enters the final table second in chips. He graduated with a business degree from the University of Technology Sydney and worked as a chartered accountant for 21 years before becoming a gambler and entrepreneur. Benson will have multiple family members on his rail this evening.


Seat 5.  Joe Serock  –  1,615,000  (40 bb)

Joe Serock was the WPT Player of the Year for Season X and he has $807,292 in career earnings on the tour. He scored three top-ten finishes during Season X, including a pair of third-place finishes at the Bay 101 Shooting Star and the Seminole Hard Rock Showdown. The 25-year-old Albuquerque resident has total live earnings worth more than $2.1 million. Despite all of his WPT success Serock is not a member of the Champions Club so he will be looking to make a strong push to win his first WPT title tonight. Serock has been playing poker for nine years so he has the experience to overcome the fact that enters the final table fourth in chips.


Seat 6.  Shaun Suller  –  2,425,000  (60 bb)

Shaun Suller is a 31-year-old who lives in Honolulu, Hawaii. He formerly worked as an insurance professional but it appears he is now turning his attention to poker. Suller cashed earlier this season at the Legends of Poker, finishing in 58th place for $8,095. Suller has over $150,000 in career poker earnings so he will more than double that total tonight. He enters play in third chip-position so he could make some serious money at Bellagio. Suller already lives in paradise, so if he wins the tournament tonight he hopes, "To keep the dream I’m living going."