The night before the World Poker Tour (WPT) $3,500 Poker Showdown was slated to get underway at South Florida’s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, a special charity event was held. In conjunction with Matt Stout’s Charity Series of Poker (CSOP), the Seminole Hard Rock hosted the $300 Larry Frank Memorial Charity Event.

The late Larry Frank, also known as “Mr. Frank,” was a longtime employee at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood and was “instrumental in the success of tournament poker in South Florida.” Prior to the start of the charity event, both the WPT’s Matt Savage and Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood Poker Tournament Manager Jason Heidenthal remembered Larry Frank.

As the SHRP blog stated: “Larry Frank was a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Before he passed in 2021, he worked for Seminole Gaming and Seminole Hard Rock Support Services for more than 25 years in various roles, including General Manager of Poker Operations at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood and General Manager of Seminole Casino Classic.”

The event attracted 94 runners and offered up a prize pool of $13,700 plus $9,200 in non-cash prizes. Also, $12,620 from the entries went to Make-A-Wish Southern Florida, which was in addition to other funds raised via a silent auction.

In the end, it was Eric Diaz finishing as the last player standing to win $5,000 in cash plus a $3,500 seat into this weekend’s WPT Main Event. Interestingly, former Seminole Hard Rock Tournament Director Tony Burns, who earlier this year left that position to work with the new Moneymaker Tour, returned to his old stomping grounds and wound up finishing in second place for $2,000.

CSOP Poker Showdown Final Table Results

A couple of other participants also received some bonus money at the first break of the day. Vladimir Grechnikov, winner of last year’s RGPS Main Event Seminole Coconut Creek, was the chip leader and received a $1,000 bonus. Likewise, poker reporter Terrance Reid had the most entries into the event with six, meaning he too received a $1,000 bonus.

The first elimination at the final table was that of Las Vegas police officer Bryan Kirwin, who happened to be in town for a conference and decided to play a little poker. He wound up getting his last five big blinds all in preflop holding the K♦J♦ and was up against the Q♥Q♦ of Diaz. The A♦Q♠10♥ flop was a big one as Kirwin flopped the nuts, but Diaz had a set, meaning he was looking for the board to pair.

The 5♣ turn was a brick, but the 10♠ river did in fact pair the board to give Diaz a winning full house. That sent Kirwin out the door in eighth place for $700 plus a free entry into any $400 Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood Poker tournament before the end of the year.

As reported by SHRP officials, the final hand of the night came with the blinds at a staggering 25,000/50,000/50,000 when Burns moved all in from the button for 75,000 holding the K♥5♠ and David Moreno called off for 30,000 from the small blind with the 6♣5♣. Diaz, who held a massive chip lead, called out of the big blind with the Q♦6♠ and scored the double knockout after the board ran out K♦Q♥6♦3♦4♦.

Why You Shouldn’t Miss the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown

Cops 4 Kids Charity Event in Vegas

The CSOP will now head back to its Las Vegas stomping grounds for the CSOP Event #48: Cops 4 Kids Charity Poker Tournament, which will take place on Friday, May 5 at the Moon Nightclub at Palms. A VIP reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the tournament starting at 7 p.m. Players will start with 10,000 in chips with 5,000 per rebuy. Additionally, there will be a 20,000-chip add-on period at the end of registration.

The event will feature a silent auction, 50/50 raffle, and prizes for the final table, including a $5,000 first-place prize. Proceeds will benefit Cops 4 Kids through the LVPMSA Charitable Foundation, which supports children’s charities, and awards college scholarships to graduating high school seniors in our community.

_{*Images courtesy of Seminole Hard Rock.}