2019 Seminole Hard Rock WPTDeepStacks Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 7
$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 279
Prize Pool: $139,500
June 10-12, 2019

Event 7 on the WPTDeepStack Tampa schedule was a perfect warmup for the impending Main Event kicking off on Thursday. The $570 buy-in tournament had four starting flights and a six-digit prize pool. After three long days, Sidi Taleb survived a tough final table to take home the title along with more than $33,000.

There were a combined 279 entries over those four starting flights to push the $100,000 guaranteed prize pool up to $139,500. Only 44 players survived to return for Day 2 and they quickly hit the money before the first break.

Five hours after the start of Day 2, the field was down to the final table and it took another five hours to get home from there. There were three quick eliminations as Allauddin Khan, Zachary Hammons, and Wayne Daley dropped out and the last seven players settled in for a long grind with deep stacks and long levels.

James “Ping” Kerr held the lead for large portions of late play but fell in third place to set up the heads-up battle between Taleb and Mitchell King. Taleb held a big lead at the start of heads-up but King took over after several big hands.

But Taleb worked his way back on top when both turned a pair of aces and his kicker gave him a double. A few hands later, pocket eights were good for Taleb and he earned the outright win for $33,007.

Thanks to everyone for coming out and we look forward to seeing everyone in the Main Event.

Event 7 Results:

1st: Sidi Taleb – $33,007 + WPTDeepStacks Main Event seat
2nd: Mitchell King – $23,087
3rd: James “Ping” Kerr – $14,186
4th: Brian Arbaugh – $8,629
5th: Rocco DeFina – $6,664
6th: Tom Nguyen – $5,522
7th: Brent Pasquarella – $4,706
8th: Wayne Daley – $4,014
9th: Zachary Hammons – $3,301
10th: Allauddin Khan – $2,906
11th: Hassan El Hakim – $2,906
12th: Scott Swatcheno – $2,906
13th: Conor O’Neil – $2,491
14th: Karl Manouchakian – $2,491
15th: Thomas Betts – $2,491
16th: Woodrow Pass – $2,076
17th: Stephen Brite – $2,076
18th: Carlos Martir – $2,076
19th: Brian Trieglaff – $1,661
20th: Trevor Phelps – $1,661
21st: Jeffrey Baar – $1,661
22nd: Rodney Turvin – $1,280
23rd: Dani Mae – $1,280
24th: Troy Bercot – $1,280
25th: Wadie Khalaf – $1,028
26th: Ronald Brown – $1,028
27th: Tony March – $1,028
28th: Matthew Trizis – $958

$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 28: 40,000/80,000 with a 80,000 ante

Sidi Taleb lost the heads up lead early but turned it back around and won the tournament in two pivotal hands.

On the first, Taleb limped his button and Mitchell King raised to 250,000. Taleb called, the flop was , and King bet 225,000. Taleb called, the turn was and King checked.

Taleb bet 700,000 and King announced, “all in”. After a minute, Taleb called at risk.

Taleb:
King:

Both turned a pair of aces but Taleb was ahead with his jack kicker. The river finished the board and Taleb’s stack was counted. King owed him 2,740,000 and was left with five big blinds.

Those went in the middle a few hands later, all in for 475,000 and Taleb called.

Taleb:
King:

A tough spot for King against the eights, he paired his seven on the flop but came no closer as the dealer finished with the turn and river to finish off the tournament.

King earned $23,087 for his runner-up finish while Talbe took home $33,007 plus a WPTDeepStacks Tampa Main Event seat.

Full tournament to come later this evening.

1st: Sidi Taleb – $33,007 + WPTDeepStacks Main Event seat
2nd: Mitchell King – $23,087

$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27: 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 279

Sidi Taleb limped his button and Mitchell King raised to 175,000. Taleb called, the flop was and King bet 150,000. Taleb raised to 400,000 and King called.

Both checked the turn and the river was . King slid out two barrels of 25K ships for a 1,000,000 bet. Taleb checked his cards several times and folded the huge pot to King.

Mitchell King – 3,700,000 (62 bb)
Sidi Taleb – 3,275,000 (55 bb)

$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 27: 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 279

Sidi Taleb and Mitchell King decided to forgo the scheduled break and they continue pushing towards a winner. King dropped down, found a double, and now they are back to where they started heads-up.

Seat 5: Sidi Taleb – 4,825,000 (97 bb)
Seat 8: Mitchell King – 2,150,000 (43 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $33,007 + WPTDeepStacks Main Event seat
2nd: $23,087

$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26: 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 279

Seat 5: Sidi Taleb – 4,900,000 (98 bb)
Seat 8: Mitchell King – 2,075,000 (42 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $33,007 + WPTDeepStacks Main Event seat
2nd: $23,087

$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 26: 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 279

Seat 4: James “Ping” Kerr – 1,200,000 (24 bb)
Seat 5: Sidi Taleb – 3,600,000 (72 bb)
Seat 8: Mitchell King – 2,220,000 (44 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $33,007 + WPTDeepStacks Main Event seat
2nd: $23,087
3rd: $14,186

$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 25: 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 279

James “Ping” Kerr opened to 100,000 and Brian Arbaugh three-bet to 275,000 from the small blind. Mitchell King folded his big blind and Kerr announced all in. Arbaugh called with a similar stack and it was a race.

Kerr:
Arbaugh:

The board came to send the pot to Kerr. He was the all-in at risk player after counting the stacks. Kerr was all-in for 1,065,000 and Arbaugh was left with only 325,000. Three hands later, he was eliminated by Sidi Taleb when his was no good against .

James “Ping” Kerr – 2,210,000 (74 bb)
Brian Arbaugh – Eliminated in 4th Place ($8,629)

$570 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 24: 15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 279

Brian Arbaugh was down to 390,000 and moved all in from the cutoff. Rocco DeFina reshipped from the small blind for 590,000 to isolate.

Arbaugh:
DeFina:

DeFina was in great shape to knock Arbaugh out but fell behind on the flop. Arbaugh took the lead with two pair aces and sixes and they held on the turn and river to double.

DeFina was down to 200,000 and was eliminated on the next hand.

Brian Arbaugh – 840,000 (28 bb)
Rocco DeFina – Eliminated in 5th Place ($6,664)