Dylan Smith turned his second World Poker Tour final table of the year into something special.
Smith won $662,200 in the $3,500 WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Championship that wrapped-up yesterday at Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Fla. The flagship event attracted 1,435 who built a prize pool $92,000 north of $4.5 million.
Included in the top prize is a $10,400 seat into the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas, a seat into the ClubWPT Gold Invitational $5 Million Freeroll, and his name on the Mike Sexton Memorial trophy.
Everything seems to be coming together for the pro.
The 33 year-old’s best lifetime tournament cash came in the same year he made it to the final six of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, the first time he made it so far in a WPT event. He finished fifth in that one, which was played under the bright lights at HyperX arena in Las Vegas a few weeks later in May. He won $230,000.
A player who has been at it since he turned 18, the last two years have been very good for him, as he collected his first of six six-figure scores starting in April 2023 when he finished as the runner-up in back-to-back high roller events.
He started 2023 with a victory in the $25,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure pot Limit Omaha High Roller event in January of 2023, and has kept the ball rolling.
“I feel really grateful,” Smith told WPT’s Tim Fiorvanti. “I mean, I’ve been working at the game for a very very long time, 15-plus years. And it feels like all of my success sort of happened at once. It was a long run, for sure, to get here, and yeah, it just feels incredible to have it all pay off.”
He beat Matthew Beinner heads-up. The $440,000 for second was also Beinner’s best lifetime cash, more than doubling the amount he won for finishing second in the $1,500 Big O event at this year’s World Series of Poker in June.
“I actually felt very locked in the entire day,” said Smith. “I was intensely focused, which is, I think, why I’m so exhausted now. I mean, Matt is a phenomenal player. I played a very, very unconventional style of heads up, which I’m sure you noticed, and that was only because of how good I thought Matt was. It’s mentally taxing, and I really felt like I had to be on my A-game to beat him. I’m just really happy that I was able to redeem myself from last time.”
The other members of the final table were Florian Ribouchon (third for $325,000), Landon Tice (fourth for $245,000), Francis Anderson (fifth for $184,000), and Paul Domb (sixth for $140,000).
Tice was the runner-up in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown for $550,000 and is also having a fantastic year.
The WPT will be at the Wynn starting Dec. 8, with its $1,100 Prime event. It’s $10,400 World Championship begins Dec. 14. Click here for the full schedule.
