Vladyslav Shovkovyi Tops Field of 3,989 In $600 Event At Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida played host to a $1 million guaranteed $600 buy-in no-limit hold’em deep stack event over the weekend. A total of 3,989 entries were made by the time registration closed in the tournament, which is part of the ongoing 2023 SHR Poker Showdown series. In the end, Ukraine’s Vladyslav Shovkovyi emerged victorious from the sea of entries with his first recorded live tournament title and the top prize of $299,715.

“I think I still don’t understand what happened, but I am happy and grateful,” Shovkovyi told Seminole Hard Rock tournament blog reporters after coming out on top.

The tournament played out over the course of five days, with six starting flights held from April 20-22 before the field combined for day 2 on April 23. Shovkovyi entered the final starting flight and bagged up the biggest stack that evening. He slid towards the bottom of the chip counts during day 2 action, but managed to right the ship and ended up sitting in second on the leaderboard heading into the final day.

Shovkovyi entered the final table with the outright lead. He had some stiff competition to deal with, including two-time bracelet winner Ari Engel (5th – $94,300) and World Poker Tour champion Darryll Fish (4th – $124,600). Shovkovyi knocked out all but one of his eight opponents at the final table, busting the eighth through second-place finishers (including Engel and Fish) on his way to securing the title.

Engel increased his career earnings to more than $8.3 million with the score, while Fish’s lifetime total surpassed $5 million.

“The level of some players here is very good,” said Shovkovyi in his post-win interview. “The guys on the final table had millions in winnings, and I’m only just starting. So it was awesome to play with good players, and to put pressure on them.”

As a result of his knockout spree, he entered heads-up play against David Trager with a 5:1 chip advantage to start. Trager scored an early double-up and then whittled away at the lead. After a scheduled tournament break, the two returned and began hashing out a deal. It didn’t take long before an ICM chop was agreed based on their chip counts (87 big blinds for Shovkovyi, and 72 big blinds for Trager). The agreement saw Shovkovyi secure the title, the trophy, and $299,715 in prize money, while Trager earned $288,485 as the runner-up.

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

Photo credits: Seminole Hard Rock poker blog.

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