Rockin’ Out: Sounds at Seminole Hard Rock Part II

By Sean Chaffin

The Seminole Hard Rock is the perfect spot for gamblers and music fans alike. A stroll through the property features drums, guitars, paintings of rock ‘n’ roll icons, and placards for upcoming shows at the property. With so much emphasis on music, WPT.com caught up some players at the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open to find out what they might be grooving to this weekend.

Ready for R&B

Mood is a big deciding factor for David Bradshaw when it comes to tunes selection at the tables. The full-time poker player from Atlanta, GA takes his poker seriously as well as his tunes.

He has $354,000 in live tournament winnings and mixes his music up depending on how the table is playing out.

“If I need to calm down, I need some heavy R&B like Anita Baker and sometimes I even go to Michael Jackson,” he says. “If my table’s pretty hectic with a lot of three-bettors and four-bettors, I need something to pick me up, like Dre or some rap.”

Rock and Roller

Wendy Lu likes to keep her energy up at the tables with some rock or high-energy pop. On Saturday, she was jamming to the rock band Daughtry, but will also soothe things out with some slower music.

“It takes my boredom away at the tables,” she says, “Sometimes you get card-dead and music makes dealing with it easier.”

When not playing cards, Lu owns a medical billing company in Jacksonville. The last few months have been nice. In July, she won a $350 Turbo event at the Goliath Phamous Poker Series at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas for $7,953. The following month, Lu won another event, the $570 Main Event at the bestbet Summer Series for $55,050. She’s hoping her tournament here in Hollywood ends again on a nice note.

Country Club

Russ Head is a regular tournament player, but only makes it out to about one WPT event a year. He plays a lot of WSOP events but decided to jump in the Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open this weekend.

“I’m really impressed,” he says about the tournament.

From Rome, GA, Head owns a stone importing business in Atlanta but plays quite a bit of poker. He has $710,000 in live tournament winnings including two WSOP Circuit wins. When at the tables, Head comes prepared with tunes and has a prepared “Poker Playlist” on his phone to pass the hours.

About 85 percent of his tunes are country, but he also mixes in some artists like Post Malone and others. He was grooving to country artist Kane Brown on Saturday, adding: “His songs really get me fired up.”

Some Sweet Soul

During Saturday’s action, Will Givens was mellowing out. He dialed in some Oshi for a bit of relaxation while he played. The 19-year-old artist is from London, but is now based in Los Angeles and produces electronica with a relaxing vibe.

“That’s just the mood I’m in today,” he says.

He also mixes in some Meek Mill, Nipsey Hussle, and Dr. Dre. Along with Oshi, the soulful sounds of Alina Baraz were filling his ears at the Hard Rock.

“Her voice soothes me when I’m on tilt or lose a big hand,” says Givens, who has $1.9 million in live tournament winnings.

Givens was hoping there weren’t too many of those situations this weekend, but Baraz keeps his mind focused and looking for a final table.

Merda Mixes it Up

Not only does Igor Merda mix it up at the table, but he also mixes it up when it comes to his musical preferences. Originally from Germany, he now lives in Miami and has $243,000 in live tournament winnings.

His musical tastes run the gamut – from house to rap to oldies to rock. Bon Jovi is a favorite when he’s in the mood to rock out while mulling over his cards.

“Just whatever enhances my performance and makes me feel motivated and focused,” he says.

The plan has certainly worked. He won the $1,500 Florida State Poker Championship in July for $145,517 at the Isle Casino in Pompano Beach, Fla. Merda has some success here at the Hard Rock as well. In January 2017, he won a $1,650 Bounty event for $33,361 as part of the WPTDeepStacks series. He’s hoping for a repeat performance here this weekend.

Instrumental to His Success

Dutch Boyd finds music without words tends to keep him more focused. A favorite is RJD2, the stage name for the musician Ramble Jon Krohn. National Public Radio says about Krohn: “He has a signature style, in which he layers together snippets of soulful melodies and hard-driving beats to create cinematic arrangements.”

The instrumental sounds help Boyd’s mind in the game, but his headphones aren’t always on just for the music.

“Sometimes it’s just good to have headphones at the table so you can at least pretend you’re listening to music,” he says, “if you don’t want to engage in the table chatter and get distracted.”

Country and Cash

After his big win at the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble, Tony Tran is hoping for another win here in Florida. The event may be rock ‘n’ roll, but Tran has a love of country after getting into the music while attending college in North Carolina.

Today, he’s chilling out with some Calum Scott, but says it’s usually country and particularly “just about any Rascal Flatts song.”

A little country music is good for his game and says it calms him down. His win in Jacksonville notched him a score of $341,486. That amount could buy quite a few pairs of cowboy boots.

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