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The 2023 World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $3,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event attracted a massive field of 2,290 entries. The impressive turnout saw the $3,000,000 guarantee easily surpassed, creating a final prize pool of $7,328,000. After two starting flights and three more days of tournament action, there are now just six contenders remaining with a shot at the title and the top prize of $1,128,250.
The final tablists have all locked up at least $238,000 for their efforts, but will surely have their eyes on the seven-figure first-place payout. They will have to wait a few weeks to find out where they all will ultimately finish, though, as this tournament is set to resume on May 25th at the HyperX Arena located in Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The chip leader heading into the final table is Bin Weng with 46,050,000 (good for 154 big blinds). The 40-year-old Philadelphia resident is having a career year on the live tournament circuit, with his two largest scores yet coming earlier in 2023. He first took down the $5,300 buy-in event at the Borgata dubbed ‘The Return’ for $1,000,000, before coming out on top in the World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Las Vegas $1,700 main event for another $227,344. With four final-table finishes, those two titles, and more than $1.2 million in year-to-date earnings, Weng is already among the top ten contenders in the 2023 Card Player Player of the Year race before determining his final placement in this event. Weng already has nearly $3.2 million in lifetime earnings to his name, and with nearly 40 percent of the total chips in play, is well situated to add to that total in a major way.
Weng scored the elimination that brought action to a close on day 4. Isaac Kempton got all-in on a A
Q
2
9
board with Q9 for two pair. Weng held A10 for top pair of aces, which was behind. The 10 on the river gave Weng aces up, ending Kempton’s run in seventh place ($183,000). Other notables that ran deep included Andrew Moreno (15th), Natasha Mercier (18th), WPT champion Asher Conniff (20th), WPT champion Taylor von Kriegenbergh (22nd), 2013 world Series of Poker main event champion and WPT winner Ryan Riess (28th), WPT champion Matthew Wantman (55th), and popular poker vlogger Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau (65th).
The second-largest at the end of day 4 belonged to Sridhar Sangannagari, who bagged up 19,100,000 (64 big blinds). Sangannagari has more than $309,000 in prior tournament cashes, which means the 47-year-old New Jersey resident can double his total earnings by surviving to the top five.
Hot on Sangannagari’s heels is Mitch Garshofsky with 18,550,000 (62 big blinds). The 63-year-old Las Vegas resident has nearly $1.9 million in prior tournament earnings, with his biggest score being the $333,000 he earned as the winner for the 2022 Wynn Summer Classic $1,600 buy-in event.
David Mzareulov ended up with the fourth-largest stack. His 13,350,000 will be good for 45 big blinds when action resumes at 150,000-300,000 with a big blind ante later this month. The 36-year-old based out of Houston has nearly $1.2 million in recorded tournament cashes to his name.
Davie, Florida’s Naing Thu has just $34,000 in prior tournament cashes, meaning he will 8x his lifetime earnings even if he ends up being the first player eliminated at the official final table. Thu sits with 13,250,000 (44 big blinds).
The short stack among the final six is Rafael Farah Jarufe with 4,275,000 (14 big blinds). The 55-year-old Peruvian’s biggest previous score was a $35,000 cash in the 2019 partypoker Caribbean Poker Party main event.
The button will be on Thu when action resumes on May 25 in Las Vegas, with just shy of 13 minutes remaining in the current blind level.
Here is a look at the chip counts heading into the final table:
| Rank | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Bin Weng | 46,050,000 |
| 2 | Sridhar Sangannagari | 19,100,000 |
| 3 | Mitch Garshofsky | 18,550,000 |
| 4 | David Mzareulov | 13,350,000 |
| 5 | Naing Thu | 13,250,000 |
| 6 | Rafael Farah Jarufe | 4,275,000 |
Here are the remaining payouts that ae up for grabs:
1st: $1,128,250 & a seat in the WPT World Championship
2nd: $745,000
3rd: $550,000
4th: $413,000
5th: $312,000
6th: $238,000
Photo credits: Drew Amato / World Poker Tour.
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