United States
Hollywood, FL delivered a quiet but compelling WPT final table this week. Ian Cohen, a 2024 WSOP-C ring holder, claimed his first major title at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, banking $656,200 after a grueling 188-hand final table. Standing between him and the trophy: Richard Seymour, former New England Patriots defensive lineman and Super Bowl champion, who gave a performance that will be difficult to forget.
The event drew 1,417 entries at a $3,500 buy-in, generating a $4,534,400 prize pool with 178 players in the money. The six finalists were guaranteed at least $138,000.
Seymour's Resurrection Act
Seymour arrived at the final table as the short stack — 5.6 million chips against Cohen's leading 17.95 million. Within the first dozen hands, he was on the brink: his A-10 trailed Cohen's A-Q and needed a miracle on the river. The ten fell. Seymour doubled to 13 million, Cohen lost the lead, and the dynamic of the entire final table shifted.
What followed was a one-man demolition run. Seymour knocked out Raj Vohra in sixth, then turned his attention to Frank Funaro. He doubled through Funaro on Hand #85, eliminated him on Hand #93 with A-Q over 10-9, and somehow arrived at three-handed play holding the chip lead — from last to first.
Cohen put that to rest in a spectacular three-way pot. After calling down Amato's check-calls on a J-9-4-A board, Cohen shoved the river King. Amato's two pair (A-9) was crushed by Cohen's rivered Broadway straight (Q-10). Cohen went to heads-up with 43.9 million chips against Seymour's 26.9 million.
93 Hands of Heads-Up — Decided by One Seven
Seymour refused to fold. Over 93 heads-up hands, he clawed back the lead on multiple occasions. The match had real quality — two players who understood pressure, neither willing to concede an inch.
It ended on Hand #188. Cohen limped, Seymour re-raised to ten million, Cohen shoved. Seymour called with pocket tens — an 81% favourite over Cohen's pocket sevens. The flop came 7-6-2. Set of sevens. The turn and river changed nothing. Cohen scooped the pot, the title, and the check.
For Seymour, the $430,000 runner-up payout marks the largest tournament cash of his poker career. Not bad for a man who started the day on fumes.
- Ian Cohen — $656,200
- Richard Seymour — $430,000
- Michael Amato — $320,000
- Frank Funaro — $240,000
- Johnny Bromberg — $181,000
- Raj Vohra — $164,000
