WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Won by Andrew Wilson for $785,000

The latest World Poker Tour title has been won and it’s a big one. British player Andrew Wilson crowned a week where he led overnight twice by going wire-to-wire and winning the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open for $785,000 and a Wynn WPT World Championships ticket. At a final table featuring poker legends such as Chad Eveslage, Brian Altman and reigning 2021 champion Gediminas Uselis, Wilson was a deserving winner.

The Champion Bows Out

Just six players came into play and by far the shortest stacked of them was the American Robel Andemichael. He began the day with just 1.4 million chips, and he waited five hands to get his chips into the middle. When he did so, his ace-four was in horrible shape against his caller, Andrew Wilson, who held ace-queen. A king-high board never looked like helping the all-in player and Andemichael busted in sixth place for $167,000.

With five players left, a long battle was expected, with fairly deep stacks and no outstanding short stack looking like they were near the door. It was the reigning champion Uselis who would be heading to the rail, and once again, ace-high was not enough.

All-in with ace-ten, Uselis saw his chances right as true as the pronunciation of his surname as he was at risk against Wilson’s pocket kings. A flop of T-7-2 paired up Uselis’ ten, but he still needed more help and couldn’t find any on either the deuce turn or jack river, leaving the tournament in fifth for a score of $219,000.

Chad Eveslage was unable to continue the best year of his live poker career with another title but only helped his burgeoning reputation grow.

Eveslage Can’t Extend Superb 2022 Run

One player who has enjoyed a stellar year at the tournament felt is Chad Eveslage, who has cashed for over $7 million in his 11-year poker career, with $3 million of those earnings coming since June of this year. Despite those incredible statistics, the American, one of three in the final four, could not make the heads-up.

Before Eveslage busted, it was the turn of Brian Altman to head to the rail. In just the 16^th hand of the final table, the field was cut in half from the original half-dozen in dramatic circumstances. On a board showing J-9-8-T-Q, Joshua Kay moved all-in and Altman made the snap-call, beating the straight on board with a king in his hand of king-eight. That was not good enough, however, as Kay turned over ace-king for the Broadway straight, the only hand that could beat Altman, who cashed for $290,000 but missed the podium by the cruellest of margins in the harshest possible way.

Eveslage’s event came to an end in a less dramatic context. In Hand #53, after the chips had been passed around for 37 hands, Eveslage shoved with pocket jacks, a superb hand in three-handed poker. It was not as superb as Wilson’s pocket aces, however, as the coldest of decks left Eveslage on the outside looking in at the heads-up battle, his third-place money of $390,000 scant consolation for going so close to glory.

Taking Down the Title Heads Up 

Heads-up was a major battle, but going into the final duel, Wilson’s 58.8 million was well ahead of Kay’s 18.2 million and the British player, buoyed by eliminating consecutive Americans in building his heads-up lead, was in no mood to give it away. At one point, Wilson had a 10:1 chip lead and the game looked done, but two doubles in a row for Kay saw him flip his way back into contention and even take the lead by the 75^th hand of the final table.

Reclaiming the lead, Wilson pulled away for a second time, and this time Kay couldn’t stay with him. After a three-bet and call, the flop of T-7-2 hit Kay’s eight-seven hand hard, but Wilson had been trapping with pocket kings and all the chips went in post-flop. Kay needed a lot of help, but the queen turn was no assistance at all and the deuce river will have been a thing of beauty for Andrew Wilson as it confirmed him as the 2022 WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open champion, and the winner of the $785,000 top prize.

Wilson will also be entered into the WPT World Championship, which has a $10,400 buy-in and a ridiculous $15 million guarantee, which will feature Phil Ivey in his new role of WPT Global Ambassador https://www.gambleonline.co/news/phil-ivey-named-joins-world-poker-tour-as-global-ambassador/ too.

The Champion in his Own Words

“I’ve been in this situation a lot, especially online.”

After his stunning victory, first-time WPT champion Andrew Wilson was more than happy to chat in his winner’s interview, as much a prestigious part of getting your name on the WPT Mike Sexton Champions Cup as anything else.

“In all of these near misses, I have usually been the chip leader in most of these tournaments,” he revealed. “Even though I may have fallen short, it usually does get me to the very far end, so I’ve been in this situation a lot, especially online. Wilson admitted that the virtual felt is his natural home saying, “I enjoy being able to play a few more hands, play more pots post, and try to apply pressure to people. That’s kind of where I feel a little bit more comfortable.”

Playing in the World Poker Tour event live, he had to ‘fight for every pot’, adding: “These guys weren’t going to roll over at all. As far as WPT final tables are concerned, I think this is definitely one of the tougher ones. All of these guys have had success live and I assume they’ll continue to do so in the future.”

Wilson was in two minds about whether to attend. The Bolton Wanderers soccer fan almost stayed in England to watch the Qatar World Cup with friends instead.

“I decided to kickstart myself by coming to play this WPT when I have a Platinum Pass for January. I needed to kick myself back into poker mode. A single bullet later it’s been quite the decision.”

Wilson is excited about staying in Las Vegas and playing the Wynn-based WPT World Championship.

“It’s going to be one of the best tournaments of the year,” he said. “I’m really excited about that tournament.”