Dylan Smith Leads World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Final Table

The 2024 World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $3,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event drew 1,869 entries. That meant that the $3 million dollar guarantee was nearly doubled, with $5,980,800 to be awarded amongst the top 234 finishers. After two starting flights and three more days of tournament action, a stacked final table of six contenders is all that remains.

The final tablists have all locked up at least $176,000 by making it this far, with the eventual champion set to add their name to the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup. They will also walk away with $839,300 in prize money.

Action will resume in five weeks, with the televised WPT final table schedule to take place at May 29th at the HyperX Arena located in Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The chip leader heading into the final table is Dylan Smith with 28,400,000 (142 bb). The Florida resident has more $2 million in career tournament earnings to his name, and will be looking to add to that total in a major way with a strong showing in this event.

“This actual same tournament last year, I got 12th. So that was kind of heartbreaking,” Smith told WPT reporters after the final table was set. “I’ve been trying to get myself onto a WPT final table for a while now. So yeah, I’m excited.”

The second-largest stack belongs to 15-time World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner Joshua Reichard. The Wisconsin resident has accumulated $3,098,248 in lifetime earnings, with the majority coming from his success on the WSOPC scene. He is currently sitting in a three-way tie for second on that tour’s title leaderboard, with only 17-time ring winner Ari Engel having secured more victories. Reichard’s 20,575,000 will be good for 103 big blinds when play resumes.

Landon Tice sits in third chip position with 13,700,000 (69 big blinds). The Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian champion and Only Friends podcast co-host would secure a career-high tournament score by making it to the top five in this event. The Las Vegas resident already has more than $1.1 million in career earnings to his name. This deep run comes just before he is set to face off against Jeremy Becker in a widely-discussed bet that will run during the WSOP.

Reigning Borgata Winter Poker Open main event winner Alex Queen kicked off 2024 with the largest payday of his career, taking down the aforementioned event in Atlantic City for $613,063. The Bethlehem, Pennsylvania resident has a chance to set a new personal best in this event. He comes into the final table with 13,450,000 (67 big blinds), putting his in a virtual tie with Tice for third.

Two-time bracelet winner and current top Card Player Player of the Year race contender Jesse Lonis is not too far behind Queen, with his 12,350,000 good for 62 big blinds. Lonis has more than $8.7 million in lifetime cashes under his belt, including 12 final-table finishes already this year. He already sits in second place in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker, and could very well take a big lead in rankings depending on how this final table shakes out.

The short stack is Aaron Kupin with 4,925,000 (25 bb). The Boca Raton resident has nearly $600,000 in career earnings, with his prior top score being a seventh-place finish in the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better championship at the 2021 WSOP for $60,040.

Play concluded with 8:10 remaining in Level 30, with blinds at 100,000-200,000 with a big blind ante of 200,000. Bracelet winner and WPT champion Dylan Linde fell in seventh place, ensuring that a first-time WPT winner would be crowned in this event. In addition to Linde, other big names that ran deep in this tournament included Mukul Pahuja (19th(, Antony Spinella (21st), Michael Rocco (30th), and Josh Arieh (44th).

Here is a look at the chip counts for the final six:

The remaining payouts are as follows:

Photo credits: Joe Giron / WPT.