Cincinnati’s Mike Scarborough defeated one of the toughest final tables of World Poker Tour history to win the WPT Hollywood (Ind.) Poker Open and his first WPT title.
Scarborough took home $273,664, including a $25,000 buy-in to the season-ending WPT World Championship at Bellagio, a coveted WPT bracelet and 800 Player of the Year points.
To win, Scarborough had to face off against some of poker’s most feared pros:
• WPT Champion, Poker Hall of Famer and far and away 2011’s best poker player Erik Seidel;
• NAPT champ Tom Marchese;
• PCA High Roller champion William Reynolds;
• High-stakes player Ali Eslami;
• Andy Whetstone, a ClubWPT.com qualifier
Scarborough capped what must be one of the most amazing single-week runs in poker history. Entering the final table, he had already won two Hollywood Poker Open preliminary events and placed 2nd in another.
“This win is just a dream come true. It means so much more to me to win in my local casino,” said Scarborough. “Playing with Erik Seidel was very intimidating at first. The first thing that crossed my mind was what if he doubles up again. But I just told myself to play like you would with anybody else.”
Scarborough donated $2,500 from his winnings to the ALS Foundation for a Cure which was matched by an additional $2,500 from The Hollywood Casino.
Seidel’s second-place finish was his fourth WPT final table appearance, pushing his total career earnings to more than $14.7 million, including an unparalleled $4.4 million since the beginning of 2011. Currently No. 1 on the all-time tournament money list, Seidel is the only player to cash in all nine WPT seasons.
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