Istvan Briski of Hungary is the champion of this year’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open World Poker Tour Championship event at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida besting Rayan Chamas of Byblos, Quebec, heads up Wednesday night.
Briski earned $647,300 and a seat in the $10,400 World Poker Tour Championship for the victory in his first major victory in a live poker tournament, with Chamas settling for $600,000. Three South Florida players – Sandy Sanchez (third), Fred Goldberg (fourth) and Darryll Fish (sixth) made the Final Table in the $3,500 buy-in event that drew 1,447 entries.
The Championship event far exceeded the $3 million guaranteed prize pool, with a total prize pool of nearly $4.6 million. The 50-event series overall was a success, with the series-opening $400 buy-in event on Nov. 15 drawing 7,532 entries, the second most in Florida poker history. Richard Saunders of Hampstead, N.H., won the event for $192,398.
Other signature event winners included:
- Nathan Thrush of Post Falls, Idaho – $600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em ($48,961)
- Adam Hendrix of Anchorage, Alaska – $5,000 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em ($192,150)
- Aleksejs Ponakovs of Riga, Latvia – $25,500 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em ($682,238)
The next big poker series at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will be the Lucky Hearts Poker Open Jan. 11-24, with a championship event featuring a $2 million prize pool guarantee.
