The final table of the Season XVI WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown has been set, and it’s Brian Hastings leading the way.
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Final Table
Seat 1: Jeff Fielder – 4,320,000
Seat 2: Matt Stout – 3,190,000
Seat 3: Brian Hastings – 12,855,000
Seat 4: Faraz Jaka – 2,450,000
Seat 5: Joey Couden – 8,255,000
Seat 6: Scott Margereson – 8,195,000
“For one thing, this is the first WPT final table I’ve ever made,” Hastings said. “I’ve had some success at the World Series of Poker but for whatever reason, World Poker Tour, not so much. It felt good to make this deep run and it also stands out because it’s at Seminole Hard Rock, which is my home casino. I play a lot here year-round and it’s nice to be able to make a deep run.”
Hastings has had a lot of success at the WSOP, complete with three gold bracelets to date. He’s a player with more than $2.6 million entering this event, according to his HendonMob.com profile, and is making his fourth WPT cash. The best WPT finish to date for Hastings is a 36th-place result in the Season X WPT bestbet Jacksonville event.
“I’ve always wanted to but I don’t travel to play every WPT,” Hastings said of reaching his first WPT final table. “It’s something I would very much have liked to happen, but I wasn’t putting in the volume to ensure it happened as soon as possible. It’s cool that it happened this way.”
Hastings is joined by a tough group of competitors that includes two-time WPTDeepStacks champion Jeff Fielder, three-time WPT final tablist Matt Stout, and Season VIII WPT Player of the Year Faraz Jaka. Fielder will look to become the first player in WPT history to win both a WPT Main Tour and WPTDeepStacks titles.
“I guess you could say that,” Hastings said when asked if this event marked the return of Brian Hastings. “It’s the biggest final table I’ve in quite a while and I’m looking forward to it.”
The final six players are from a 1,309-entry field – the fifth largest field in WPT Main Tour history – and are all guaranteed $144,775 for reaching it this far. The final table will be filmed for broadcast as part of the WPT’s televised schedule for Season XVI and the winner will take home $696,740, which includes a $15,000 seat to the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions, plus a luxurious Hublot Big Bang Steel watch.
The other two players at the final table are Joey Couden and Scott Margereson. Margereson is an English player who entered this event with more than $570,000 in career live tournament earnings. He’s making his first WPT cash, and his previous best score was for $107,723. By reaching the top seven, Margereson achieved a new career-best score.
Couden entered this event with just under $1.4 million in live tournament earnings, including two very solid performances during Season XVI of the World Poker Tour. In January, Couden placed 20th in the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open right here at Seminole Hard Rock. In the same month, he took 43rd in the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open.
The final table is set to have the cards in the air at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Live coverage will be available right here on WPT.com, and there will be a stream on a 30-minute delay over on PokerGO.com.
Source : www.worldpokertour.com
