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Monday, October 2, 2017 10:04 PM Local Time
Local part-time player wins $11,589 and a ring for one day of work
Monday was closing day at the WSOPC Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, with the schedule capped off by a $365 one-day turbo. Mike Russ took it down, outlasting a field of 138 entries to win his first gold ring. He also collected the top prize of $11,589 — about $1,000 per hour of work for the day.
Russ, 40, is a business owner from Kerrville, Texas. He’s earned nearly $100,000 in his career as a part-time player, including a handful of near misses on the WSOP Circuit. The most recent came just one day prior, when he finished in ninth place in Event #11.
He finally got one on Monday.
The Turbo structure presses the action from start to finish, but things were particularly thin for Russ. He entered the final table with the shortest stack, doing battle with just four big blinds. Just a couple hours later, he was posing for photos after outlasting his fellow finalists to claim the title.
[Full results]
Monday, October 2, 2017 7:01 PM Local Time
It took less than eight hours to play from 138 entries down ago a final table of 10 players. Here's the lineup:
Seat 1: Adam Singer - 111,000 (11 bb)
Seat 2: Chris Halkitis - 110,000 (11 bb)
Seat 3: Philip Wojtuniecki - 200,000 (20 bb)
Seat 4: Jonathan Hilton - 103,000 (10 bb)
Seat 5: Kevin Smith - 109,000 (10 bb)
Seat 6: Brent Ballentine - 160,000 (16 bb)
Seat 7: Ricardo Palacios - 130,000 (13 bb)
Seat 8: Nagui Yassa - 271,000 (27 bb)
Seat 9: Norge Mastrangelo - 162,000 (16 bb)
Seat 10: Mike Russ - 42,000 (4 bb)
Blinds are 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante, putting the average stack at a scant 13.8 big blinds. Play will continue until a winner is determined, with the series' final ring and $11,589 in cash reserved for the winner.
Monday, October 2, 2017 6:58 PM Local Time
Monday, October 2, 2017 10:31 AM Local Time