By Christopher Cosenza
The Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood kicked off the World Poker Tour’s unprecedented four-stop Florida tour in late October with the 18-event Rock N’ Roll Open, which culminated with the $2,500 main event that attracted 331 players and some of the finest poker talent in the country.
Farhan Madhani of Miami won the title and more than $172K. The win is by far the biggest in the career of the 33-year-old Madhani (his birthday was the day after his momentous victory).
The title came down to heads-up play with Alexander Venovsk. They agreed to a partial chop of $150K each and then played for $22K-plus and the trophy. Madhani, who plays regularly at Gulfstream Park, was ecstatic to win in the manner he did.
“It’s a milestone win that took place in my hometown in front of friends and family,” said Madhani, who’s been playing seriously for about 2.5 years. “That element was incredible. The win felt great, the title feels great, but it really just raises the bar for what’s to come. It fueled the hunger.”
Though the victory came on the final day, Madhani said two hands on Day 1 were key to his success, one in which he laid down top full house to quads, and the other where he was short-stacked with second pair on a “nasty board” and was all-in for his tournament life and survived.
“I just cruised from there,” said Madhani, who dabbles in PLO and recently chopped an Isle Poker Open event as well. “This serves as a bankroll boost, which means bigger cash games and more tourneys.”
One-time NAPT champ and 2009 Florida State champ Harrison Gimbel finished third ($76,130).
Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler was in town and made a strong run at the title, ultimately finishing fourth and cashing for $54,052 of the $761K prize pool.
HARD ROCK HOLLYWOOD
Oct. 26-Nov. 14
Event 1 • $350 NLHE
Entries: 1,104 • Prize Pool: $366,648
WINNER: Richard Freedman, $44,000
Event 2 • $350 NLHE
Entries: 81 • Prize Pool: $24,300
WINNER: Avery Clark, $8,261
Event 3 • $230 PLO
Entries: 46 • Prize Pool: $20,140
WINNER: Kwa Derrick. $7,500
Event 4 • $300 NLHE
Entries: 37 • Prize Pool: $9,620
WINNER: Brayden Fritzshall, $4,329
Event 5 • $350 NLHE
Entries: 89 • Prize Pool: $26,700
WINNER: Angelo Miele, $11,214
Event 6 • $150 NLHE
Entries: 189 • Prize Pool: $22,680
WINNER: Henry Fermin, $7,259
Event 7 • $230 NLHE
Entries: 142 • Prize Pool: $26,980
WINNER: Gebrehiweb Guiton, $3,500*
Event 8 • $230 NLHE
Entries: 83 • Prize Pool: $16,600
WINNER: Ed Wolf, $3,400*
Event 9 • $240 Omaha/8
Entries: 78 • Prize Pool: $15,000
WINNER: Gebrehiweb Guiton, $4,600
Event 10 • $230 NLHE
Entries: 372 • Prize Pool: $186K
WINNER: Eliyahu Levy, $25,000
Event 11 • $125 AIOF
Entries: 123 • Prize Pool: $12,300
WINNER: Jorge Rivera, $1,464*
Event 12 • $560 6-Max
Entries: 71 • Prize Pool: $35,500
WINNER: Alex Glamoclija, $14,910
Event 13 • $230 NLHE/PLO
Entries: 36 • Prize Pool: $11,970
WINNER: Uri Kadosh, $4,548
Event 14 • $150 NLHE
Entries: 192 • Prize Pool: $23,040
WINNER: Zohair Karim, $5,411*
Event 15 • $1,100 NLHE
Entries: 133 • Prize Pool: $133K
WINNER: Mike Beasley, $28,315
$2,500 Main Event
Entries: 331 • Prize Pool: $761,300
WINNER: Farhan Madhani, $172,408
Event 17 • $100 w/re-entry
Entries: 146 • Prize Pool: $11,680
WINNER: Jesse Chinni, $3,739
Event 18 • $300 NLHE
Entries: 109 • Prize Pool: $28,340
WINNER: James Ladeira, $6,153*
* Denotes victory via chop.
