2026 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 23
$800 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em
$1,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 2,937
Prize Pool: $2,070,585
April 15-20, 2026
“It’s a blessing,” said Johnny Bromberg. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with my daughter lately, and it’s emotional. I really won it for her.”
Bromberg hasn’t been playing as much poker this series, because he’s been with his four-year-old daughter instead. But he gave himself one day (last Friday night) to play a single flight of the mid-series $800 Platinum Stack No-Limit Hold’em event.
“I could only play one flight because I’ve been spending so much time with her,” said Bromberg. “Luckily I bagged, and then everything went right on Day 2 and Day 3.”
It was a huge event, with 2,937 entries generating a prizepool worth $2,070,585, more than doubling the $1 million guarantee. And by surviving Day 1 with a healthy stack, Bromberg was guaranteed a cash. He then cruised through Day 2, finishing third in chips with 11 players left.
Bromberg started Day 3 feeling strong.
“I felt really good because I’ve been in these spots before,” said Bromberg. “I felt like I had more experience than the other players, and I felt like they would make more mistakes.”
And things seemed to fall into place for Bromberg as he played his way toward the trophy.
“I made a lot of the right bluffs at the right time,” said Bromberg, “and all my hands held when I was ahead. So everything went right today.”
Well, not everything. Duc Vu went on a hot streak at the final table, knocking out two of the first four players before playing a pretty big pot against Bromberg. Vu raised preflop and bet every street on a board of 
, moving all in on the river.
Bromberg folded that hand, dropping down to just 22 big blinds as Vu took the chip lead with 133 big blinds.
“I got down to like 22 bigs,” said Bromberg, “but I never really panicked because I was just going to wait and I figured I could outplay everyone.”
Bromberg didn’t have to wait long.
Within the next 15 minutes, Bromberg took out the other two short stacks (Chase Hounshell in fifth place, David Moses in fourth). Bromberg was the shortest stack of the final three players, but he was sitting comfortably with 63 big blinds.
At that point, the average stack was worth 98 big blinds, and it looked like action could continue for hours before reaching a winner.
But it was only 15 minutes later that Bromberg and Vu played another big hand. Bromberg three-bet it to 10 million from the big blind, and Vu called. The flop came 
, Bromberg bet 11 million, and Vu called.
The turn card paired the board with the 
, Bromberg checked, Vu bet 13 million, and Bromberg check-raised all in. Vu tanked for a very long time before he folded, and Bromberg took that pot — and the chip lead.
It wasn’t long before Josh Hillock and Bromberg reraised back and forth, with Bromberg five-betting all in with 
, and Hillock calling with 
. The queens held up to knock out Hillock in third place, and Bromberg had a 2.4-to-1 lead for the start of heads-up play against Vu.
Heads-up play only lasted about 20 minutes before Vu four-bet all in with 
, right into Bromberg’s 
.
“He’s very aggressive,” said Bromberg about Vu. “He made it five million. I made it 20 million, and he thought I was full of shit. He just jammed, and I snapped. Luckily, it held.”
The board came 
, and Bromberg’s ace-king held up for him to win the pot, the title, the trophy, and $258,125. It’s the biggest live cash of Bromberg’s career, and as he said earlier, he did it for his four-year-old daughter.
This is Bromberg’s fifth trophy here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, so we asked him what keeps him coming back.
“This is the best casino,” said Bromberg. “It’s run the best, and I live in Miami, so this is like my home court. I got to win in front of all my friends.”
Day 3 Results:
1st: Johnny Bromberg – $258,125 + Showdown Trophy
2nd: Duc Vu – $176,000
3rd: Josh Hillock – $131,000
4th: David Moses – $101,000
5th: Chase Hounshell – $74,000
6th: Francisco Pulido – $56,000
7th: Tomas Schlesinger – $43,500
8th: Felipe Roldan – $33,500
9th: Jorge Guzman – $26,500
10th: Shane Dellus – $26,500
11th: Kayla Clackum – $21,900
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