Josh Riechard Wins WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship for $839,000

The latest World Poker Tour was one of the biggest of the year as Josh Reichard beat Landon Tice heads-up for an incredible top prize of $839,300. The victory, which takes Reichard from 636^th on The Hendon Mob to inside the top 500 players in poker history, was an epic one as he beat Matt Berkey’s Las Vegas prodigy heads-up for a massive top prize and a place in poker history.

Kupin Out Early as Reichard Takes Charge

With 1,869 entrants in total taking on the $3,500-entry WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship, a mouthwatering prizepool of $5.98 million would award $839,300 to the winner. The event, which initially took place in April before letting the final six players sweat until a Las Vegas showdown in late May, was a vastly popular one.

Just six players made the final table and with each player desperate to add their names to the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup, play got underway with players such as Alexander Queen, Landon Tice and Jesse Lonis all sitting behind eight-figure stacks in pursuit of the eventual champion Reichard, who was the outright chip leader with over 20 million chips.

The first player to leave lasted just 14 hands. Three-betting all-in pre-flop for 4.6 million chips, Aaron Kupin committed his final chips with . He was miles behind Dylan Smith’s , however, and needed a lot of help. The luckless Kupin got no such fortune on the board, other than the tantalizing possibility of a gutshot that never came and he left for a result worth $176,000.

Queen Loses the Crown

If play had begun like a train, the action was to enter a very different phase next, one of strategic standoffs. Another 80 hands had played out by the time Dylan Smith shoved pre-flop with and he was in great to double up when he saw Reichard make the call with .

Luck was not with the at-risk player, however, as a flop of was followed by a turn, meaning another club would give Reichard the flush. That club came in on the river, handing Recihard a big pot and sending Smith home with a score of $230,000. At that stage, Reichard’s pile of 49.9 million chips dwarfed each of his opponents, with Queen being the only player to have close to half of his chips with 23.8 million.

Talented American pro Jesse Lonis got a double through the chip leader when held against Reichard’s , only one club landing this time on the board – along with two queens for good measure for Lonis. Things were to get even better for Lonis as his held in a three-way all-in against Reichard’s and Queen’s . The perfect spot played out beautifully for Lonis, a king even coming on the river to underline the strength of his hand, sending Queen to the rail with $305,000.

Riechard Rules Supreme

With three players left, Jesse Lonis had made massive ground on Josh Reichard, with Landon Tice lagging behind. The popular player, who has a bet against Jeremy Becker this summer and is being coached by Matt Berkey (Negreanu is Becker’s coach), was well behind the others, but recovered dramatically as pocket aces beat Lonis’ king-queen.

That hand meant Lonis was short stack and soon he had the roundest number of chips possible – zero. As Tice took over the chip lead, Lonis was desperate for a double and shoved with . Called by Reichard with , Lonis was in big trouble and exited or $410,000 when the board came .

Heads-up, Tice had 43.8 million chips to Reichard’s 49.6 million as Lonis’ old chips put Reichard into the lead. Reichard built that lead to 5-to-1 and on a flop of bet and got a call from Tice. The turn led to another bet from Reichard and call from Tice before the river saw Tice check-call Reichard’s all-in. Tice turned over for two pair sevens and fours but Reichard had slow-played and became the World Poker Tour’s latest king, taking the crown at Tice’s expense.

The final table was a dramatic conclusion to an incredible event.

*includes $10,400 entry into the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December.