Justin Young Wins 2016 World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event

The penultimate World Poker Tour main event of the tour’s fourteenth season is now in the books. Justin Young has emerged victorious, topping a field of 1,222 entries in the 2016 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $3,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event to win his first WPT title and the first-place prize of $669,161. He has also won his way into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions which gets underway this weekend.

The 36-year-old based out of Henderson, NV not only overcame a huge field but also had to contend with some top-notch competition at the final table. Joining him heading into the final day where the likes of Cate Hall, who was at her third WPT final table of the season (9th – $65,404), 2016 WPT L.A. Poker Classic fourth-place finisher Sam Soverel (7th – $110,357) and 2014 WPT Five Diamond runner-up Garett Greer, who also ultimately finished in second place in this event for $458,722. Cate Hall had the chance to secure the WPT Player of the Year award with a top-three finish in this event, but fell short when she was the first player eliminated at the nine-handed final table.

Young entered the final day in sixth chip position among the ten remaining players. He was able to win some huge pots along the way and made it to heads-up play against Greer holding 14.2 million in chips to Greer’s 22,450,000.

The final showdown lasted only 23 hands, as Young was able to find a double up with A9 winning a race against Greer’s 44 early on. Young’s slight lead quickly grew and by the time the final hand arose he held roughly a 2.5-to-1 advantage.

With blinds of 200,000 – 400,000 with an ante of 50,000 Young raised to 900,000 from the button. Greer moved all-in for 10.3 million with the A8 and Young made the call with the KQ. The flop came down AK4, pairing both players but keeping Greer in the lead. The J on the turn gave Young additional outs in the form of a straight draw. The Q on the end gave Young two pair and the best hand, securing him the pot and the title.

Young also earned 1,440 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his first final table of the year so far, but it was a large enough score to propel him into 27th place in the overall POY standings on it’s own.

This was seventh-place finisher Sam Soverel’s third final table of the year. The 360 points he earned were enough to see him climb to 14th place in the rankings, with 1,830 total points and year-to-date earnings of $736,197.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at this final table:

Winner photo courtesy of WPT / Joe Giron.

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