WPT Hollywood Poker Open Won by Mike Scarborough

It must have taken a massive amount of guts to play heads up against Erik Seidel and come out on top, so we really must give Mike Scarborough props for managing this amazing feat at the WPT Hollywood Poker Open. He won $237,664, a prestigious title, and bragging rights for beating the world’s all-time money winner.

The Final Table

As always, the final table for this WPT Event was six-handed. The first elimination came after just three hands. Ali Eslami was already short-stacked and was unfortunate enough to butt heads with William Reynolds, who was the chip leader entering into final table play. Eslami won $51,000 for his efforts and exited at sixth place. Not long would pass before the next elimination. This time, it was Andy Whetstone’s turn. He crossed swords with Mike Scarborough and exited the game $62,000 richer. Though he exited early, Whetstone was a real winner since he got in to the WPT through the ClubWPT qualifier. Following Whetstone was Tom Marchese, eliminated by Reynolds. It was one of the most exciting hands of the entire tournament with Marchese seemingly set for the win with the turn coming out in his favor and Reynolds managing to miraculously bounce back when the river gave him a Full House. Reynolds was having a great run, but when he collided against Scarborough, his run was effectively cut short. Reynolds still won $110,000 for his efforts though so it was far from a loss.

Heads Up between Seidel and Scarborough

Seidel was like the silent shark throughout the whole tournament. His presence was quite intimidating, especially since he’s been having the biggest winning streak of his entire career. It seemed that he really was poised to rake in yet another victory. However, Scarborough’s aggressiveness at the final table really paid off because he had a chip lead of 4:1 over Seidel when they entered heads up play. When the final hand came, Seidel was holding A-9 of diamonds while Scarborough was holding J-10 of Hearts. Seidel went all in pre-flop and the flop was revealed to be 10-9-7. This gave Scarborough the top pair. As if that wasn’t enough, the turn gave him an eight, improving his hand to a straight.

Seidel needed at least a Jack in the river to stay afloat, but with a 10 appearing, there simply was no first place victory for him. Seidel went home with a check of $155,103, further widening his lead as all-time money winner. Scarborough, on the other hand, went home as the victor, with $237,664 as prize money.

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