After he finished on the top of the leaderboard on Days 3 and 4, Istvan Briski closed the deal on Wednesday to win the $3,500 Main Event at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open.
The win was good for $647,300 after a heads-up deal with Rayan Chamas to split up the prize pool and play for the trophy. The final two outlasted a field of 1,447 entries to take the biggest shares of the $4,630,400 prize pool. Briski will now claim a spot on the Mike Sexton Cup and he gains entrance into the exclusive WPT Champions Club.
Sandy Sanchez finished in third and Fred Goldberg finished in fourth, while Matt Bond and Darryll Fish rounded out the final table.
WPT Seminole RRPO Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Istvan Briski | Hungary | $647,300* |
| 2 | Rayan Chamas | Lebanon | $600,000* |
| 3 | Sandy Sanchez | United States | $366,500 |
| 4 | Fred Goldberg | United States | $274,000 |
| 5 | Matt Bond | United States | $206,900 |
| 6 | Darryll Fish | United States | $157,800 |
*Denotes heads-up deal.
”I Really Enjoyed Playing Live”
“It’s amazing,” Briski said in his post-win interview. “I felt really good in the tournament. I am very grateful.”
Briski didn’t have any big plans when he showed up at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. He came to prepare for an upcoming trip to The Bahamas after he qualified for the trip online.
“It is very fortunate I am here in the first place. I won a package to The Bahamas online, and I wanted to warm up so I came here to this tournament series to play. I was excited for the main event and I went all the way.”
Briski had a lively rail all afternoon and they supported his every need. “They helped me a lot. They brought me food, water, coffee, whatever I needed.”
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The win is the first big live score for Briski, who has found big success in online tournaments. The six-figure prize is a great start for what will likely be a 2024 with lots of live play. Not to mention the $10,400 seat he won to the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas next month.
“I really enjoyed playing live. I wanted to get into it anyway. But for sure, this will bring an extra boost for it.”
Briski also took the time to give special credit to Samuel Vousden, his friend and mentor. Vousden has provided emotional and financial support, for which Briski is grateful.
Final Table Highlights
The day started fast when Bond got the short stack in on the very first hand. Bond put in a big four-bet and Briski was the lone caller to a flop with three spades. After the flop, Bond moved in with ace-king and Briski called with ace-queen. Neither player had a pair and the board ran out with no help for Briski to hand Bond the all-important early double.
Chamas soon took the lead from Briski after the two clashed during the first orbit. Chamas then took from Goldberg and moved above 20 million. Briski bounced back and the first level of the day finished up with all six players still in the hunt.
Fish was the first to go in sixth place on the 33rd hand of the day. The only WPT champion at the table moved in before the flop with queen-seven offsuit, but he ran into the pocket kings of Briski and hit the rail with $157,800.
Bond wasn’t far behind in fifth place for $206,900 after his suited ace-nine didn’t get there against Goldberg’s pocket jacks.
The tides began to turn when Goldberg took a big pot from Briski to move into an effective tie for the chip lead with Chamas. Briski bet his missed straight draw and Goldberg called with a pair of aces to leap up the leaderboard. The final four continued to battle into the first break of the day with Goldberg and Chamas on top while Briski and Sanchez jockeyed for position with the smaller stacks.
Soon after, the tide turned back for Goldberg when he lost a big pot to Chamas, who extended his lead when Goldberg called a big bet to pay off a pair of queens.
Goldberg failed to find traction after that and he was out in fourth place for $274,000 when he shoved with ace-deuce and lost to Briski’s pocket jacks. The hand moved Briski to 34 million, while Chamas and Sanchez were now the ones battling for third with similar-sized stacks.
Ultimately, it was Sanchez who would fall in third place for $366,500 after his pocket fives were no match for the pocket nines of Chamas. The hand left Chamas with just over 41 million and Briski with 30 million, so the final two players stepped into the hall to talk about a deal.
After a break, the final two players emerged with an accord and agreed to finish it out with a small prize up top and the trophy at stake. The turning point came when Briski got it all in on the river with trip jacks. Chamas called with a pair of aces and Briski doubled into a commanding lead.
Chamas doubled back, but the big moment came when he shoved with ten-eight and lost to Briski’s queen-four.
The WPT now heads to Wynn Las Vegas for a festival that kicked off November 29 and is slated to run through December 21. That includes the $10,000 buy-in, $40 million GTD WPT World Championship.
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*Images courtesy of WPT/Joe Giron.
Live Reporting Executive
Las Vegas-based PokerNews Live Reporting Executive, originally from Chicago, IL