Hyoung Chae leads the final 10 players in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship with 6.225 million chips, and Hublot WPT Player of the Year contender Cate Hall is the short stack at the final table with 1.14 million. Mike Shariati leads the POY race with 2,450 points, and Hall can take the lead from him if she finishes 1st or 2nd. A victory would also make her the first woman to win an open WPT title.
Also at the final table are a bevy of notables, including Matt Haugen, Tim Reilly, Justin Young, Garrett Greer, and Sam Soverel. Day 2 chip leader Andrey Plotnikov also reached the final table with 3.24 million.
The live-streamed unofficial final table will resume on Wednesday at 12 pm, allowing the finalists to late-register the $10,000 buy-in WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale that returns for Day 2 on Monday at noon. The live stream will kick off at 12:30 pm on a 30-minute delay.
Here are the official chip counts and seating assignments for Wednesday’s final table, followed by the remaining prize pool:
Seat 1. Cate Hall – 1,140,000 (19 bb)
Seat 2. Andrey Plotnikov – 3,240,000 (54 bb)
Seat 3. Hyoung Chae – 6,225,000 (104 bb)
Seat 4. Ben Tarzia – 4,540,000 (76 bb)
Seat 5. Matt Haugen – 4,425,000 (74 bb)
Seat 6. William Foxen – 880,000 (15 bb)
Seat 7. Tim Reilly – 5,795,000 (97 bb)
Seat 8. Justin Young – 3,660,000 (61 bb)
Seat 9. Garrett Greer – 2,035,000 (34 bb)
Seat 10. Sam Soverel – 4,715,000 (79 bb)
1st: $669,161*
2nd: $458,722
3rd: $297,336
4th: $220,207
5th: $164,113
6th: $132,560
7th: $110,357
8th: $87,880
9th: $65,404
10th: $49,627
* First prize amount includes a $15,000 buy-in to the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions that begins on Friday.
Tomorrow our updates shift entirely to the $10,000 buy-in WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale, which returns to action at 12:00 noon ET.
There was a field of 321 players on Day 1 of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale, and 179 have advanced to Day 2. The turnout surpassed the $2 million guarantee before the first break of the tournament.
The chip leader at the end of play is WPT Champions Club member Jared Jaffee with 222,500. Other top stacks were bagged up by Ben Zamani (195,000), Noah Schwartz (171,400), Justin Liberto (168,500), and Christian Harder (167,900).
In a field packed with as many pros as this one there were bound to be some big names to fall today, but the two most interesting eliminations came from the world of sports. Three-time Super Bowl champion Richard Seymour was eliminated earlier today, and international cricket star Shane Warne survived a little longer but eventually fell this evening.
Registration will remain open until the start of Day 2 at Noon on Monday, so the field will grow even more and the prize pool will be announced tomorrow. Check back at Noon for live updates, chip counts, and photos from the WPT live reporting team in South Florida.
Photos by Joe Giron